Are fog nozzles not the answer?
Andrew Fredericks in his two part article, published in FIRE ENGINEERING in February-March 2000 entitled “Little Drops of Water: 50 years Later”, concludes with the following statement.
“Fifty years after Layman’s “Little Drops of Water”, it’s time to admit that fog nozzles are not the answer.”
The phrase “Little Drops of Water” is the title of a speech delivered to the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) at its meeting in Memphis, TN, in January, 1950. Chief Lloyd Layman presented the results of research that he conducted at the U.S. Coast Guard Fire Fighting School at Baltimore, MD, during World War II. He experimented with Navy type fog nozzles used to extinguish fuel oil fires on board ships. In this research, he devised a new method of fire attack, that he called the “indirect method of attack”. Chief Layman also explained how he later adapted these fog nozzles and the indirect method to fighting Class A structure fires in his hometown of Parkersburg, W.V.
It highlights the beginning of a new era in fighting fires. This speech, more than any other single event, initiated the change over from the use of solid stream nozzles to the use of fog nozzles, in the United States at least. So Fredericks title is certainly appropriate since it highlights the beginning of a new era in fighting fires. Chief Layman made the following comment about this new era.
This development has provided the basic weapon that is destined to revolutionize the art of fire fighting. “The development of equipment that enables fire-fighting personnel to apply water in the form of finely divided particles was the most progressive advance in equipment since the advent of the power-driven pumping unit. This development has provided the basic weapon that is destined to revolutionize the art of fire fighting. Little, if any, progress can be made toward improving the tactical employment of water in fire-fighting operations until the fire service recognizes the gross inefficiency of the solid stream form of application.” (FIRE FIGHITNG TACTICS, 1953, NFPA, p. 11)
Chief Layman added that the solid stream nozzle “will continue to have a limited degree of usefulness in fire-fighting operations, but it is destined to become the secondary form of application”. (ibid., p. 12)
