Are fog nozzles not the answer?
I must respectfully disagree with the author’s statement. Fire fighters can mess up even a one room fire if they do not know how to properly use their nozzles. This includes fog nozzles as well as smooth bore nozzles. It is easy enough to do this by using entirely too much water. In other words, excessive amounts of water applied to a confined fire produce thermal imbalance that hinders further operations. It is not massive amounts of air, but massive amounts of water that is the culprit.
I have always been impressed by a statement made by Floyd W. (Bill) Nelson in his book Qualitative Fire Behavior. He said:
In principle fire fighting is very simple. All one needs to do is put the right amount of water in the right place, and the fire is controlled.
I consider this to be the most profound statement that has ever been made about fighting fires. I consider this to be the most profound statement that has ever been made about fighting fires. The key to this statement is “the right amount of water”. Too little water, or too much water, will not work. In other words, almost anything does not work for a one room fire, or for any size fire. You must use the right amount of water.
The authors conducted a second series of nozzle tests this time with the nozzles located six to ten feet outside the compartment but inside the container with water being projected through a vent opening.. Various ventilation situations were provided in the simulated fire room, from no ventilation to a window opening or a door opening opposite the vent opening. (2-72) No measurements were obtained in any of this testing. Vinyl tape or twine was used to show the direction of airflow into or out from the simulated fire room. The same results were obtained as in the first series of nozzle testing. (2-74)
No fog nozzle should ever be used outside a structure with the fire fighter standing six to ten feet away. I consider this second series of tests to be completely irrelevant, because no fog nozzle should ever be used outside a structure with the fire fighter standing six to ten feet away. The only exception would be using a straight stream and then only if safety considerations prevent a closer approach to the building. This constitutes “outstanding” fire fighting and is the least efficient and least effective method of fighting fires. No matter what the air flow involved, it should not be done. I will leave it to the authors to state whether “outstanding” fire fighting is appropriate or suitable for smooth bore nozzles.
Keith Royer and Bill Nelson created the combination attack with the clockwise rotation of the fog nozzle. There is one interesting section in article 1 concerning nozzle movement in which the authors cite the Fire Department of New York 1989 engine company operations manual. (1-72) This manual advocates rotating the nozzle in a clockwise manner and details the results obtained. The five statements, including the exact wording, are almost identical to statements made by Keith Royer, Director of the Fire Service Institute at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. This statement appeared in the Iowa State University Bulletin, No.18, in the l950s. Keith Royer and Bill Nelson created the combination attack with the clockwise rotation of the fog nozzle. Incidentally the combination attack is not “outstanding” fire fighting, since the nozzle must be rotated inside the fire room with the nozzle person outside the window or door to the room.
