THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605110344
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALISON BOLOGNA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
Putting out a fire is difficult.
Even more so when the fire is on water instead of land.
That kind of firefighting requires more time and resources, according to fire officials who participated in the fourth annual Hampton Roads firefighting symposium which ended Friday.
In an exercise Thursday, about 40 firefighters simulated a fire control plan for a fire on a Reserve Fleet ship on the James River.
Because no fire department in Hampton Roads owns a fireboat, part of the exercise was focused on the first test of a new water pump. The pump was purchased last June.
``We're happy with this as an alternative to a boat,'' said team leader and master firefighter Bill Burket Jr. of Virginia Beach. ``It's been working so well that we're buying another pump after July, and eventually we hope to have four throughout Hampton Roads.''
The $90,000 pump can spray 3,000 gallons of water per minute. Except for occasional oil changes, it's virtually maintenance free, Burket said.
A fireboat, on the other hand, typically costs $1 million and then about $1 million annually to staff and maintain.
In Thursday's exercise, firefighters used a tugboat to transport the water pump to a ship, then established a water link to extinguish the fire.
``We're not teaching firefighters how to fight a fire,'' Burket said. ``We're educating them about the maritime environment.''
Part of that education involves teaching land-based firefighters how time-intensive a ship fire can be.
``Putting out a fire in a house may only take five to six minutes, whereas extinguishing a fire out here can take as long as an hour,'' said Virginia Beach Fire Capt. W.H. Loyd.
That's one of the major challenges behind this kind of operation - gathering the needed equipment and manpower and then getting to the ship in trouble.
``It's dangerous just getting the equipment out here,'' Burket said. ``We have to strip a fire truck and load it onto a tug while we get the appropriate people in the right places.''
Craig Shelley, chief of maritime operations from the New York City Fire Department, agreed.
``You don't snap your fingers and get everybody out here,'' he said. ``There are logistic problems that we have to deal with, like getting the hoses together.''
It took firefighters about 45 minutes Thursday to perform the exercise. After they lined the tugboat up next to the ship, they dropped hoses from the deck and attached them to the pump. Shortly after, they put out the imaginary fire.
Although there hasn't been a ship fire in Hampton Roads recently, exercises like this one keep firefighters prepared.
``This is a unique exercise that involves a lot of teamwork,'' Loyd said. ``And we've been able to do this each time without anyone getting hurt.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, The Virginian-Pilot
Firefighters man the hose for a simulated ship-fire drill, one of
the exercises performed during training sessions this week on the
specialized techniques used to put out fires on water.
by CNB