WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: The Tech of Firefighting 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.160 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:13.960 stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:16.680 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:19.279 How Stuff Works and I love all things tech and 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:25.560 it is time for another tech Stuff classic. We're not 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.360 doing how air horns Work. I tried to convince try 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.200 to let me do that one, but she said it 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.240 was far too loud and distracting. Instead, we are taking 0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:37.680 a look at a life saving suite of technologies, the 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:43.400 technology of firefighting. This episode originally published on July two 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:47.360 thousand eleven. I hope you guys enjoy Chris polettin myself 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:52.760 going through the entirety of all tech associated with firefighting. 0:00:53.520 --> 0:00:58.880 As of enjoy, we wanted to talk about firefighting technology. 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:01.279 We actually had a request come over Facebook for this 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:03.520 and we wanted to. Uh. I thought that was a 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.000 good request, you know, it's an interesting concept. We also, 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:07.680 I think I got an email about it as well. 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:11.919 So we've had some some people enquire about the technology 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:15.960 used in firefighting and there's a wide range of tech 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.960 that we can talk about. Some of it is stuff 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.000 that is based off of technology that's been around for 0:01:22.040 --> 0:01:24.840 more than a century and some of it is really 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:31.000 like space age type stuff. So, um, I thought I 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.080 thought i'd start with one of the most um iconic 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.560 images when you think about firefighting, which of course, is 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:43.320 the fire engine or fire truck. So, uh, I actually 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.800 live not too far from a fire station, and by 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:50.600 not too far, I mean adjacent, and uh so I 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.040 get to see fire trucks a lot. As it turns out, 0:01:54.520 --> 0:01:57.760 they're pretty cool things. And of course, you know, the 0:01:58.160 --> 0:02:02.040 main uh, I think the main feature on a fire 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:05.440 truck has to be the water tank that that it holds, 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.400 you know, and and the water tanks. Depending on the 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:09.920 size of the truck, the water tank can be a 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.240 different size as well. Like you know, it's not unusual 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:14.040 to find a fire truck that can hold a thousand 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:16.799 gallons of water on its own. And of course that's 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:20.679 important because there's no guarantee that wherever the fire is 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:23.360 is going to be close to either a pool of 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:27.919 water or a fire hydrant. Um So a fire truck 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:30.360 has to be able to carry its own portable water supply. 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.640 But having water on a truck is not enough. You 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:38.200 have to have a way of getting that water out right, 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:40.919 So you would need some kind of pump. Yes, and 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.880 UH and fire engines have pumps. They have an impeller 0:02:43.919 --> 0:02:46.960 water pumps, and an impeller water pump is a diesel 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:50.760 powered pump. So it's got its own independent diesel engine 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:54.320 and it has a rotor like device that's got some 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.000 curved blades on it that spin in the water tank. Now, 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.359 this actually slings the water around starts to move it 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.680 in a circular fashion. It builds water pressure, and you 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.520 relieve that water pressure by allowing the water to escape 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:08.200 through water lines also known as hoses. So they have 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.000 to go through a valve and then it goes through 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:16.680 the hose and at the whatever is burning thing, whatever 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:18.680 is burning thing, Yeah, that's a technical term in the 0:03:18.680 --> 0:03:22.360 fire fighting trade. So the whatever is burning thing gets 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.160 deluged with water. And there's actually some interesting controls on this. 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.560 There's a series of controls. There's a pump panel that 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:34.040 allows you to either manually control the pumps or some 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.080 of them are automated. They have like a Mastermind control 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:42.520 system that actually does this automatically. But a typical pump 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.520 panel will have levers on it that allow you to 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:47.760 direct where the water is going to go through like 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:49.440 which lines it's gonna go through, and of course that's 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:51.440 all going to depend upon which lines have been connected 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:54.600 to the truck. And there are lots of different kinds 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:57.880 of water lines also. And again when I say water 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.120 lines there, those are essentially the fire hose is right. Yeah, 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.760 These are a lot different from your garden variety hoses, Yes, 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.000 because they can handle a whole lot more pressure and 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.320 deliver a whole lot more water. As Jonathan was saying 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.720 just a moment ago, you can't be certain that you're 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:15.520 going to be right next to a fire hydrant where 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.960 the fire is and the fire truck is going to 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:20.640 park on the street. Now, if the building, let's say 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.279 it's the building is burning and it's away from the street, 0:04:23.760 --> 0:04:26.280 you've got to have enough water pressure to get to 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:30.840 the fire itself. So the hoses are long, they're there, Uh, 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:33.200 they've got some diameter on them, so you can really 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.080 carry the a good amount of water and they've got 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:39.240 to be able to withstand a lot of pressure. Yeah, 0:04:39.240 --> 0:04:41.520 and they're also they tend to be treated for a 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:44.560 mildew resistance as well, because one of the big problems 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:49.600 with fire hoses before the mildew resistant um film was 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:52.880 developed was that you had to dry them out after 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:55.760 you use them, because otherwise you would have mildew develop. 0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:58.080 It would start to rot the hoses, and then the 0:04:58.120 --> 0:05:00.640 hoses would not be stable. You could have a hose 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:03.560 rupture while you're trying to fight a fire because it's 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:07.919 been weakened by mildew. So uh, yeah, there's a lot 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.040 of elements that go into creating these these hoses, and 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.960 I've got a few different types I can talk about. Um, 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:18.520 there's usually there's a booster line, which is only about 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.640 an inch diameter, and it's usually used for small fires 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:27.320 like uh, a minor fire inside a building or something 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:30.640 like that, or a minor brush fire even. Um, then 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:34.080 you've got the cross lay hoses. These are the main hoses. 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:37.279 These are like the workhorses of a fire engine. They're 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:39.840 located below the pump panel and they can pump up 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.560 to gallons of water per minute. Uh. They tend to 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.960 be about two feet long and they've got a diameter 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.560 of an inch and a half. So then you've got 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.640 the preconnect lines. So, like I said, you know, you've 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:53.760 got all these valves that are attached to the fire 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:55.680 engine and they're on all the different sides of the 0:05:55.680 --> 0:05:57.920 fire engine, because you never know where you're gonna be 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:02.400 able to orient the engine in station to the fire. Normally, 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:05.760 there is UH there are at least three lines that 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.839 are pre connected when an engine rolls out of the station, 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.640 so that way the fire fighters have a chance to 0:06:12.839 --> 0:06:15.880 immediately jump out of the truck and start fighting the 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:20.840 fire without having to fuss with unloading hose, connecting it 0:06:20.920 --> 0:06:23.960 to the right valve, and then engaging the valve and 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.080 fighting the fire that way. So preconnect lines tend to 0:06:27.200 --> 0:06:29.120 be between an inch and a half to two inches 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:30.960 in diameter, and they tend to be able to pump 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:34.360 out around two fifty gallons of water per minute. UH. 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.920 You've got hoses that are designed specifically to hook up 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.560 to hydrants fire hydrants. Those are five inches in diameter, 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.120 and a fire engine may carry up to a thousand 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.520 feet of this hose, but it's in one foot segments. 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:53.200 But there are also other shorter segments called curb jumper hoses. 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.600 So let's say that the building that you need to 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.680 get about a hundred and fifty feet of hose UH 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.880 to get to the fire at whatever location you're at, 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:06.920 and you're hooking it up to a hydrant. You might 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:09.800 not want to grab two lengths of the hydrant hose 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.120 that's two feet and you know you don't only need 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:15.480 a hundred and fifty um that that means you're gonna 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:17.560 have an extra fifty feet of hose that you're gonna 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:20.520 have to maneuver around. Well, these curb jumper hose segments 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.720 are typically in links between twenty ft lengths and fifty 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:27.440 foot lengths, so that way it's easier just to grab 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.480 a smaller section so that you have enough length of 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:32.840 hose to get to where you're going without having excess. 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.520 Then you've got your hose pack, which is a lighter hose, 0:07:37.840 --> 0:07:40.480 usually a smaller diameter, and this is what is used 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:42.600 by firefighters if they have to go into a building 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:45.440 and climb up levels. That has to be more portable. 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:48.520 You've got the ladder line. You know, most of these 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:50.520 fire engines have a really long ladder that's on the 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.680 back of them. Well, there's a there's a line that 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.240 is part of that ladder. It's actually it's it's uh 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:00.440 a direct connection to the ladder. It's actually built in. Yeah, 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:03.480 it's built in, and there is a nozzle at the 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.320 top of the ladder that can shoot out well, it's 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.560 it's usually around three hundred gallons per minute, so it's 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:14.920 a pretty powerful hose. And then you've got your deluge 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:18.800 gun or deck gun. That's what's mounted on the top 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:20.920 of the pump panel. That's the one that you know 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:22.560 that if you ever look at the fire engine, you 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:24.720 see something that looks like a turret that's on the 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.520 fire engine. That's the thing I'm talking about. All right, 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.520 So we've been talking about hoses that can shoot out 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:35.320 between gallons and three gallons of water. The day lug 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:39.920 gun is no joke. We're talking a thousand gallons a minute. Yeah. 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:42.120 And you may say, well, if you've got a thousand 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.360 gallons at the tank, does that mean that after a 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:50.360 minute you've completely exhausted your water supply? And the answers, well, yeah, 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:52.360 that's what you're if you were just using the water 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.280 in the tank. But you can also hook up a 0:08:55.520 --> 0:09:01.280 a line to a a pool or acre pond and 0:09:01.480 --> 0:09:06.360 use that water to pump into the the various lines 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:10.560 that you're using now. For that, they use a uh, 0:09:12.440 --> 0:09:15.120 a strainer. It's a it's called a barrel strainer and 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:19.000 that's what is used to filter out debris in ponds 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:20.599 and pools and that kind of thing in order to 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:22.600 be able to use that water to fight fires. Because 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:24.400 of course, if you get debris caught in the line, 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:28.120 then you've fouled the line. You are you know, in 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.920 danger of losing the fight against the fire. But plus 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:33.680 I imagine it would do quite a bit of costly 0:09:33.800 --> 0:09:37.199 damage to the equipment as well. Sure, yes, all of 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:39.800 that is is uh, you know, an important thing to 0:09:39.880 --> 0:09:43.160 remember when you are trying to to fight fires. And 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.560 then there's also they tend to trucks tend to also 0:09:46.640 --> 0:09:50.760 carry foam, and there's different kinds of foam UH that 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:53.199 are that's used for different types of fires. Usually a 0:09:53.280 --> 0:09:55.800 fire engine may only carry one type of film, especially 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.160 if it's if it's in an area where UH fires 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.240 are typically one type versus another. For example, a Class 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:05.319 A foam is a kind of foam that's used to 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:09.720 soak down an area after you've put out a fire 0:10:09.800 --> 0:10:13.719 to prevent reignition. It's kind of a flame retardant. And 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.559 then you've got like Class B foam that's the stuff 0:10:16.600 --> 0:10:19.959 that you use to fight flammable liquid fires. So like 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.319 a car fire, you might want to use that because 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:28.240 of the gasoline problem. So uh. And then the other 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.760 part about fire engines, they are like mobile tool kits. 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.400 So that's where all the fire fighting tools are are 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.520 mounted in that and you may have some pretty low 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.240 tech stuff in there. I mean things like hooks and 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.839 pikes that are used to tear down walls so that 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:45.760 you can get at the places where the fire is 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:47.240 to put the fire out. There's not a lot of 0:10:47.360 --> 0:10:50.240 tech there. But then you may have something like a chainsaw, 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.120 you know chainsaws have that there's this there's some tech 0:10:53.200 --> 0:10:56.679 there that's just pretty simple tech. It's usually you know, 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.640 a diesel engine that turns turns the chaine that you 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.640 can cut through stuff. But then there's also the uh 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:07.560 a pretty famous tool I would say that you typically 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.240 will find on a fire engine. Yeah, and I think 0:11:10.280 --> 0:11:11.719 I know where you're going with this since you just 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:14.600 mentioned it a moment ago, but I think, uh, it's 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.679 important to remember before while you're trying to guess what 0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:22.720 this famous tool is that firefighters, um these days often 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.280 do a lot more than fighting fires. They're also responsible for, 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:30.920 uh doing some paramedic work. Um, you know, their first responders. 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:33.520 So if someone is injured, they often call the the 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:37.640 firefighters out um on the possibility that in addition to 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.640 medical care, there might be um a fire related to it, 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:44.360 and they might need to do both things. Like for example, 0:11:44.440 --> 0:11:46.120 as Jonathan was just pointing out, if you had a 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:50.280 car wreck and uh, there's a possibility that gasoline might 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.599 spill and catch fire. So you have someone trapped in 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:56.319 a car, Um, there's a possibility that there might be 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.800 a fire. So who better to send than of fire 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.120 writers who are trained in medical care. But the trick 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.319 is getting them out of the car before something bad happened. Yes, 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:09.160 and that's where that's where this uh, this tool comes in. 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:11.760 It's called the Jaws of Life. And really the Jaws 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:14.439 of Life is actually a series of tools, is not 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:18.280 a single tool. Um. There's a company that makes uh 0:12:18.679 --> 0:12:21.120 these tools, and the company is known as the Jaws 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.679 of Life. Company actually has a full name. But it 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.520 escapes my mind out tope of my head. But let's say, 0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:30.599 not that kind. You still haven't seen that movie, have you? 0:12:30.920 --> 0:12:33.240 I have not, we had someone asked us earlier. Um, 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.000 no he has not seen Jaws. So Jaws of life, 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.679 Jaws of Life. It's a hydraulic lee powered tool and 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:44.680 by that we mean it uses a fluid to create 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:51.319 uh pressure and move heavy duty tool elements. And uh, 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.360 let's I guess a little digression on hydraulic fluid would 0:12:55.360 --> 0:13:00.959 be a good idea here. So, hydraulic fluid is a 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:05.240 fluid that is typically it's it's not compressible. It's incompressible, 0:13:05.720 --> 0:13:08.840 and by that, I mean you cannot squish it right right, 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.600 Like most things that we think about, there's a little 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.480 squish factor. But hydraulic fluid is supposed to be incompressible 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.360 and that means that the fluids that maximum density, you 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.840 cannot cram them the the molecules of that fluid any 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.160 tighter than it already is. So if the foot pressure 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.240 on it, it's going to push. Yeah. Like if you 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:33.040 have a a cylinder filled with hydraulic fluid and uh, 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.559 you're you're trying to push a press, a piston into 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:40.640 the cylinder. At the point where everything is connected. You 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:43.200 have a you know, the solid cylinder at one end, 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:45.719 and then there the piston starts to push on it. 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.600 There's a point at which the piston is not going 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:50.839 to be able to push anymore because it is it 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.360 is compressed as far as it can go and it 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:55.679 will not compress any further. And you can use that 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:58.160 to do work. Ye, and there are plenty of tools 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.640 that do use this and the jaws of life to 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:06.480 use a phosphate esther fluid. A lot of hydraulic fluid 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:10.319 systems will use an oil based fluid. As you can imagine, 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.360 oil based fluids are not necessarily the best thing to 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:19.320 have in firefighting equipment. Yeah, So phosphate esther is non 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:24.320 flammable and non conductive. So the these hydraulic tools, the 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.440 jaws of life, there are actually, like I said, a 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:28.720 line of them, and the ones that are typically used 0:14:28.760 --> 0:14:32.880 in firefighting are cutters, which do what they sound like 0:14:32.960 --> 0:14:35.520 they do. They are designed to cut through stuff, so, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:39.920 for example, the body of a car, because the hydraulic 0:14:40.000 --> 0:14:44.240 pressure is such that it will cause the the pinch, 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:48.680 the the cutting edges of this device to close. It's 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:52.520 such a force that metal just crumbles. And then you've 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:56.000 got spreaders. Spreaders are kind of like, you know, imagine 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:59.280 a pair of pliers and you open them. That's kind 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.200 of what spreaders are are doing. They fires in reverse. Yeah, 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.120 you shove shove it into a gap, and then you 0:15:05.400 --> 0:15:09.200 start the hydraulic motor and or actually start the diesel motor, 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.800 and that starts the hydraulic fluid. Uh. It pushes hydrug 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.400 fluid through and makes it do work, and that's what 0:15:15.600 --> 0:15:19.240 causes the pincers to open and then you pop open 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.240 whatever it is you were trying to open, or it 0:15:21.560 --> 0:15:25.520 tears apart one one or the other. And then hydraulic rams. 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.280 So those are the three that are used the most 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:35.120 frequently in firefighting UH scenarios. So uh yeah, it's kind 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:36.920 of We actually have an article on how the jaws 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.520 of Life work and it goes into detail on each 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.080 of those tools. So if you want to learn more 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.680 about it, I do recommend that it's a very useful resource. 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:49.600 And then also I guess I should mention what we're 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:54.000 talking about hydraulics. The ladder on the fire trucks, those 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.400 are operated through hydraulics as well. There's a piston that 0:15:57.880 --> 0:16:01.400 is uh has got especially two different hoses connected to it, 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.640 and the hydraulic fluid will either cause the letter to 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:11.120 extend upward or to come back down. So those are 0:16:11.280 --> 0:16:14.760 that's your basic fire engine from from front to back. 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.080 I mean there's There's a lot more we can talk about, 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:21.160 but there's so much more firefighting technology. I didn't want 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:25.200 to just have this all be about fire engines. I 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.800 hope you guys are enjoying this classic episode of tech 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.480 stuff so far. We're going to take a quick break 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:41.360 and thank our sponsor. So what do you want to 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.560 talk about next? Well, most of what I got is 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:49.040 sort of high tech, cutting edge type stuff. UM. One 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:53.440 thing that that we should talk about, probably UM to 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:55.720 some extent, or maybe we could cover it later if 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.240 you want to go with all the high tech stuff 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.840 now is the stuff that the firefight is actually wear 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:03.600 on their person themselves. Sure, yeah, let's talk about that. 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.159 Because we just thought about fire engines, we should talk 0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:11.160 about the fire gear that the the firefighters are wearing. UM. 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.920 This is they wear a lot, Yes, they do. UM. 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:19.240 Of course they have to try to stay protected from um, 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.760 the heat that's you know, it depends on what's burning, 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:26.560 of course. Uh. Some some different types of materials will 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:29.680 burn hotter than other materials. UM. And you certainly don't 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:34.639 want to have a firefighter go inside to rescue a 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:36.640 person or to get at the source of a fire 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:39.800 and have them uh pass out. From the heat or 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.919 to to be overcome by heat and smoke inhalation. UM. 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.879 So you have to you know, protect them externally and 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:50.919 and make sure that they uh they can breathe, make 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.560 sure that they could see and and you know, keep 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:58.520 them as cool as possible. UM. One one jacket that 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:00.640 I read about that was really cool. It's actually called 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:04.560 turnout gear UM, which is a basically the the heavy 0:18:04.880 --> 0:18:06.960 duty jacket that you might see them where. It's actually 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:10.560 from a company called Viking UM. But it's got thermal 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:14.560 sensors built into the jacket itself. Now not now that 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.760 this is sort of again sort of cutting edge, but this, uh, 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:22.960 this different thing has sensors on the outside which change 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:27.359 depending on There's an LED display UM on the jacket, 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:29.480 and it will tell you at you know, at what 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.200 point it is going to be a serious issue that 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:35.040 he is going to be a serious he is going 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:37.840 to be too hot for the suit's integrity. Yeah, and 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.359 and the firefighter will be a danger. Yeah. Well. The 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.920 thing is that it monitors what's going on outside and inside. 0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:48.240 So by looking at the firefighter, you know, another firefighter 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:50.760 could say, look, you know, he's in danger right now, 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:53.320 being where he is and needs to get out of 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:56.879 there because he may not be able to tell uh 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.640 what's going on. He may be so focused on fighting 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.440 the fire he may be ignoring a potentially dangerous situation 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.760 for himself in the heat of the moment. Yes, Apparently, 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:10.200 when the outer temperature of where the fire is gets 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:14.399 to about four two degrees fahrenheit um, the display, the 0:19:14.560 --> 0:19:18.119 LED display starts to flash, and it's six d sixty 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.040 two degrees fahrenheit um, it will start flashing very fast. 0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:27.200 I can't imagine being in anything that hot. It's interesting 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:29.080 because well, first of all, I got to know, you know, 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.080 paper burns at farehne. Yes, but I was gonna I 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:35.800 was gonna say, you know, it's kind of interesting because 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.160 if you look at the history of the heat resistant 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:43.040 materials that firefighters have worn, the go to material for 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:45.879 quite some time was called nomex, Yeah, which is a 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:49.040 fire resistant material. It's similar to nylon. It's kind of 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:52.720 the same sort of a feel of nylon, but it 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:55.480 can withstand really intense heat as a type of meta 0:19:55.600 --> 0:19:59.040 aramid fiber, which really you just need to know that's 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:01.840 a heat resistance anthetic fiber that was developed in the 0:20:01.960 --> 0:20:05.280 lab and um it's actually kind of, uh, sort of 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.800 a distant relative to kevlar um, which is a much 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:14.280 more resilient, not necessarily heat resistant, but physically resilient material. 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:17.680 So no mix was the standard for a really long time. 0:20:17.880 --> 0:20:22.840 Back in the Houston Fire Department partnered with NASA to 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.560 develop a Originally it was just to develop a new 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:30.439 helmet for firefighters, but then eventually, through this partnership, NASA 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:34.680 suggested that perhaps they could completely redesign the fire fighter suit, 0:20:35.119 --> 0:20:38.480 and they started to create suits that would circulate liquids 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:42.480 within the suits lining in order to remove heat so 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:48.440 that it would protect the firefighter longer in intense heat conditions. 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:52.440 Because before that point, the Houston firefighters were really only 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:56.720 rated to go into areas that were three degrees fahrenheit 0:20:56.880 --> 0:20:59.919 or cooler. Afterward, they could go into areas that were 0:21:00.000 --> 0:21:02.080 five hundred degrees fahrenheight or cooler. And now you're talking 0:21:02.160 --> 0:21:05.320 about a system where you know, it warns you at 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:07.240 four two, which is right around that you know, that 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:09.639 five hundred degree range that was just talking about, but 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.000 it goes all the way up to six, suggesting that 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:16.119 this material is even more resilient than the stuff that 0:21:16.200 --> 0:21:19.880 was made back in NASA. One of the other cool 0:21:19.960 --> 0:21:22.480 things that they added in that that same project where 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:26.040 they were redesigning the helmet, they created an improved two 0:21:26.080 --> 0:21:29.760 way radio link ups in the helmets themselves, and they 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:34.160 also created a infrared camera system so that you can 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:37.320 so that the firefighter could switch to a thermal view 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:40.600 and see hot spots in the house and also help 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:45.919 firefighters identify if any victims were UH in the area, 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:47.800 so that they you know, they could see the heat 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:50.520 from a person, then they would know that they needed 0:21:50.600 --> 0:21:52.280 to UH to. You know, you might not be able 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:55.080 to see because the smoke might be so thick. And actually, 0:21:55.200 --> 0:21:58.680 infrared cameras play a really big role in firefighting technology 0:21:58.720 --> 0:22:02.000 across the board, not just in personal firefighter gear, but 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:06.160 for example, a helicopter flying over a wildfire might be equipped. 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:09.600 In fact, most of them are equipped with infrared cameras 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.760 and infrared lenses so that they can so the pilot 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:14.960 or the watch's not really the pilot, but a firefighter 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:17.920 aboard the helicopter can look through and see the hot 0:22:18.000 --> 0:22:20.520 spots and see the flames even if the smoke is 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:23.000 so thick that you couldn't see anything, you know, just 0:22:23.400 --> 0:22:26.200 through a regular view to the ground. I'm sorry that 0:22:26.320 --> 0:22:28.920 was a big digression, but you were going back to 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:33.479 the cutting edge gear. Yeah. Actually, uh we we can 0:22:33.600 --> 0:22:37.639 keep going with that because I was reading an article 0:22:37.720 --> 0:22:40.560