Altus Air Force Base News

 

Less water, more pressure yields savings and safer firefighting

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kenneth W. Norman
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Members of the 97th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department trained April 25, 2013 with a new piece of firefighting technology that will not only save the Air Force money, but will also give them the upper-hand while battling fires.

The 97th CES fire department trained with the new P-34 Rapid Intervention Vehicle, the newest addition to the Air Force's crash response fleet and the first vehicle to use Ultra High Pressure firefighting technology. It is able to discharge 100 gallons of firefighting agent per minute at 1,350 pounds per square inch with a range of 100 feet.

"The P-34 rapid intervention vehicle uses an ultra high pressure system, which takes our 438 gallon tank and multiplies it by three or four, giving us the capacity of about a 1500-gallon water tank," said Senior Airman Jonathan A. Kidd, 97th CES fire department driver operator. "We only use a 15-gallon per minute hand-line so it's easy for us to use less water to do the same job."

The UHP expels smaller water droplets than a low pressure system. The smaller droplets mean an increase of up to four times the total water surface area, yielding more surface area contact with less water wasted. This technology allows the P-34 RIV to perform 3 to 3.5 times more effectively than conventional firefighting vehicles.

"Water droplets from the UHP are approximately 90 times smaller than low pressure water flow, which makes UHP more efficient to absorb high temperatures of fire," said MSgt. Scott Slattery, 97th CES firefighter. "Also, due to its very efficient use of water and mobility, the RIV provides versatility compared to the traditional firefighting apparatus. The RIV is used to extinguish aircraft, grass, structure, vehicle and miscellaneous fires such as dumpsters and equipment."

According to Slattery, the new P-34 RIV costs $160,000, while a new P-19 firefighting apparatus costs $564,000.

"It saves us money by using less water [and more pressure]," Kidd said. "We don't have to refill it as much. It is a lot more fuel efficient, so we save money on fuel. When it comes down to the firefighting, it uses less water and prevents more property damage and it makes our job a little quicker."

The P-36 is not only more cost efficient, it is also making the job of battling fires safer.

"When we were doing a training burn it dropped the temperature from 600 degrees down to 120 in a matter of seconds," Kidd said. "It makes it a lot safer for us as firefighters to go in and fight fire. We hardly go into [the room] any more. We go maybe two or three feet inside, shoot a 10 to 15 second burst [of water] up top and close the door and let the fire smother itself out."
Altus AFB has one P-34 RIV currently in use. Firefighters from the 97th CES have been training with the new vehicle since the beginning of this year. It takes a minimum of 36 training hours to be fully qualified.

"I feel good," Kidd said. "It is always good to come out here and train and learn from our mistakes. This is definitely the time to do it and not on the real scene."