PDP, FL. NP, GPM. You ARE the engineer, figure it out!

  This blog is directed at the engineers.  Do you know what those initials above mean?  You should.  Do you know what nozzles your department utilizes?  Automatic? Manual?  You should.  Do you know what PDP you, as the engineer, should be supplying on each of those lines?  You should!

  I did a TON of math last shift.  Although it gave me a headache, it was also like a cool breeze in the face.  Because of our new Chief, I'm not afraid to propose this kind of stuff anymore.  Yes, I'm still a little gun shy.  Had the "I'm the god damn Fire Chief!" mentality for 21 years, so it's understandable.  But halfway through it, Chief Mudryk was "YES YES YES!!!  Go with it!"  So, I did!  And my research results surprised me!

  Do you know what your crew is flowing at the end of the line that you are in control of?  I bet you think you do, and I'd double the odds that you really don't know.  Nothing personal. But you're probably wrong.  If you got it right, I apologize! But, I'm here to tell you that my FD has been doing it WRONG as long as I can remember.

  This blog is just an introductory.  We'll get into the math, algebra, and physics later. And I hope a discussion!  This is important stuff.  For example, I discovered that even though my FD has our nozzles set at 125 GPM, we were flowing MUCH less.  Like in the 92 GPM range!  There have been times when we were down in the 45 GPM range!  My friggin garden hose will flow 20 GPM!  Think about that for a second.

  Watering my flowers is NOT the same as protecting my crew when things go south.  What the hell are you gonna do in a flashover, a SPLIT SECOND DECISION, with 45 GPM?

  You're gonna die, and take your crew with you, that's what your gonna do.

  We're gonna get in to GPM vs BTU in the next blog, and all kinds of other cool hydraulics.  But it all boils down to doing the best we can do, taking your crew to Hell to do what they're trained to do, then bringing them home!

  I'm excited about this one, look for the next blog later this week!

Stay safe out there gang, it's a jungle!

PDP -  Pump Discharge Pressure
FL - Friction Loss
NP - Nozzle Pressure
GPM - Gallons Per Minute