WEBVTT - The Tech of Firefighting 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:17.960 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.200 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:22.040 and I'm an editor at how stuff works dot com. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:25.440 Sitting across from me as usual as senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:31.200 I'm an ordinary guy burning down the house. Of course, 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.880 you know, the quotes are usually longer. So I took 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.840 a drink of water. You were done by the time 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:42.559 I was ready to spit. Um. So we wanted to 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:45.920 talk about firefighting technology. We actually had a request come 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.680 over Facebook for this and we wanted to. Uh. I 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:50.360 thought that was a good request, you know, it's an 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.680 interesting concept. We also, I think I got an email 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.760 about it as well. So we've had some some people 0:00:56.160 --> 0:01:00.320 inquire about the technology used in firefighting, and there's a 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:02.800 wide range of tech that we can talk about. Some 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:07.039 of it is stuff that is based off of technology 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:08.959 that's been around for more than a century, and some 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:15.440 of it is really like space age type stuff. So um, 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.000 I thought I thought I'd start with one of the 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:22.920 most iconic images when you think about firefighting, which of 0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:28.480 course is the fire engine or fire truck. So, uh, 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:31.199 I actually live not too far from a fire station, 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:34.960 and by not too far, I mean adjacent, and uh 0:01:35.800 --> 0:01:39.000 so I get to see fire trucks a lot. As 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:43.000 it turns out, they're pretty cool things. And of course, 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:47.319 you know, the main uh, I think the main feature 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.680 on a fire truck has to be the water tank 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.600 that that it holds, you know, and and the water tanks. 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:55.320 Depending on the size of the truck, the water tank 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:57.240 can be a different size as well. Like you know, 0:01:57.280 --> 0:01:59.040 it's not unusual to find a fire truck that can 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.400 hold a thousand gallon lens of water on its own. 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.920 And of course that's important because there's no guarantee that 0:02:05.040 --> 0:02:07.920 wherever the fire is is going to be close to 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:12.320 either a pool of water or a fire hydrant. Um, 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.680 So a fire truck has to be able to carry 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:18.959 its own portable water supply. But having water on a 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:21.320 truck is not enough. You have to have a way 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:24.760 of getting that water out right, so you would need 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.880 some kind of pump. Yes, and uh and fire engines 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.120 have pumps. They have an impeller water pumps and an 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.079 impeller water pump is a diesel powered pump, so it's 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:38.280 got its own independent diesel engine and it has a 0:02:38.360 --> 0:02:41.040 rotor like device that's got some curved blades on it 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:43.600 that spin in the water tank. Now, this actually slings 0:02:43.639 --> 0:02:46.080 the water around starts to move it in a circular fashion. 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.640 It builds water pressure, and you relieve that water pressure 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:52.840 by allowing the water to escape through water lines also 0:02:52.880 --> 0:02:54.440 known as hoses. So they have to go through a 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:58.119 valve and then it goes through the hose and at 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:03.359 the whatever is burning thing, whatever is burning thing, Yeah, 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.280 that's a technical term in the fire fighting trade. So 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:10.399 the whatever is burning thing gets deluged with water. And 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.639 there's actually some interesting controls on this. There's a series 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:17.200 of controls. There's a pump panel that allows you to 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:21.000 either manually control the pumps or some of them are automated. 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:24.119 They have like a Mastermind control system that actually does 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:29.840 this automatically. But a typical pump panel will have levers 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.600 on it that allow you to direct where the water 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:34.320 is going to go through, like which lines it's going 0:03:34.400 --> 0:03:35.520 to go through, and of course that's all going to 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.080 depend upon which lines have been connected to the truck. 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:41.760 And there are lots of different kinds of water lines also, 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.640 and again when I say water lines there, those are 0:03:44.680 --> 0:03:47.360 essentially the fire hoses, right. Yeah. These are a lot 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:52.360 different from your garden variety hoses, yes, because they can 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:54.400 handle a whole lot more pressure and deliver a whole 0:03:54.400 --> 0:03:56.839 lot more water. As Jonathan was saying just a moment ago, 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.320 you can't be certain that you're going to be next 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.800 to a fire hydrant where the fire is and the 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:04.840 fire truck is going to park on the street. Now, 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.720 if the building, let's say it's the building is burning 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.040 and it's away from the street, you've got to have 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:14.240 enough water pressure to get to the fire itself. So 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.320 the hoses are long, they're there. Uh, they've got some 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:21.159 diameter on them, so you can really carry the a 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.279 good amount of water and they've got to be able 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:25.599 to withstand a lot of pressure. Yeah, and they're also 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.800 they tend to be treated for a mildew resistance as well, 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.480 because one of the big problems with fire hoses before 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:37.280 the mildew resistant um film was developed was that you 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:39.960 had to dry them out after you use them, because 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:42.159 otherwise you would have mildew develop it would start to 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:45.360 rot the hoses and then the hoses would not be stable. 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:47.680 You could have a hose rupture while you're trying to 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:53.280 fight a fire because it's been weakened by mildew. So uh, yeah, 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.960 there's a lot of elements that go into creating these 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.479 these hoses, and I've got a few different types I 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.799 can talk about. Um, the there's usually there's a booster 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:05.880 line which is only about an inch diameter, and it's 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:10.880 usually used for small fires like, uh, a minor fire 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.920 inside a building or something like that, or a minor 0:05:13.960 --> 0:05:17.920 brush fire even. Um, then you've got the cross lay hoses. 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.120 These are the main hoses. These are like the workhorses 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:24.440 of a fire engine. They're located below the pump panel 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:28.720 and they can pump up to gallons of water per minute. Uh. 0:05:28.800 --> 0:05:31.080 They tend to be about two feet long and they've 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.680 got a diameter of an inch and a half. So 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:37.080 then you've got the preconnect lines. So like I said, 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:38.679 you know, you've got all these valves that are attached 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.000 to the fire engine, and they're on all the different 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.120 sides of the fire engine because you never know where 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.960 you're gonna be able to orient the engine in relation 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:50.400 to the fire. Normally, there is Uh, there are at 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:53.560 least three lines that are pre connected when an engine 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.360 rolls out of the station, so that way the fire 0:05:56.880 --> 0:05:59.680 fighters have a chance to immediately jump out of the 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:04.400 truck and start fighting the fire without having to fuss 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.960 with unloading hose, connecting it to the right valve, and 0:06:08.000 --> 0:06:11.400 then engaging the valve and fighting the fire that way. 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.080 So preconnect lines tend to be between an inch and 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:15.960 a half to two inches in diameter, and they tend 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.320 to be able to pump out around two fifty gallons 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:22.080 of water per minute. Uh. You've got hoses that are 0:06:22.120 --> 0:06:25.640 designed specifically to hook up to hydrants fire hydrants. Those 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:29.760 are five inches in diameter, and a fire engine may 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.479 carry up to a thousand feet of this hose, but 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.719 it's in one hundred foot segments. But there are also 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:40.600 other shorter segments called curb jumper hoses. So let's say 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.840 that the building that you need to get about a 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:47.800 hundred and fifty feet of hose to get to the 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.320 fire at whatever location you're at, and you're hooking it 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.680 up to a hydrant, you might not want to grab 0:06:53.800 --> 0:06:57.000 two lengths of the hydrant hose that's two feet and 0:06:57.120 --> 0:06:59.000 you know you don't only need a hundred and fifty 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:01.760 um that that means you're going to have an extra 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.520 fifty feet of hose that you're gonna have to maneuver around. Well, 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:08.159 these curb jumper hose segments are typically in links between 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:12.080 twenty ft lengths and fifty ft lengths, so that way 0:07:12.120 --> 0:07:14.640 it's easier just to grab a smaller section so that 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.160 you have enough length of hose to get to where 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:21.560 you're going without having excess. Then you've got your hose pack, 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.760 which is a lighter hose. It's usually a smaller diameter, 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:27.280 and this is what is used by firefighters if they 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.360 have to go into a building and climb up levels. 0:07:29.360 --> 0:07:33.160 That has to be more portable. You've got the ladder line. 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:35.320 You know, most of these fire engines have a really 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:37.480 long ladder that's on the back of them. Well, there's 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:40.280 a there's a line that is part of that ladder. 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.679 It's actually it's it's uh a direct connection to the ladder. 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:47.320 It's actually built in. Yeah, it's built in, and there 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:50.160 is a nozzle at the top of the ladder that 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:54.720 can shoot out. Well, it's it's usually around three gallons 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:58.680 per minutes, so it's a pretty powerful hose. And then 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:03.679 you've got your deluge gun or deck gun. That's what's 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.000 mounted on the top of the pump panel. That's the 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:07.720 one that you know that if you ever look at 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:09.440 a fire engine, you see something that looks like a 0:08:09.480 --> 0:08:12.120 turret that's on the fire engine. That's the thing I'm 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.600 talking about. Alright, So we've been talking about hoses that 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:20.640 can shoot out between gallons and gallons of water the 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.920 day lug gun is no joke. We're talking a thousand 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:27.080 gallons a minute. Yeah. And you may say, well, if 0:08:27.120 --> 0:08:29.240 you've got a thousand gallons at the tank, does that 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:34.360 mean that after a minute you've completely exhausted your water supply, 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.120 and the answers, well, yeah, that's what you're if you 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.120 were just using the water in the tank. But you 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:44.200 can also hook up a line to a m a 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:48.480 pool or lake or pond and use that water to 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:54.160 pump into the various lines that you're using now. For that, 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:59.600 they use a uh a strainer. It's a it's called 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.360 a barrel strainer, and that's what is used to filter 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:05.800 out debris in ponds and pools and that kind of 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:07.480 thing in order to be able to use that water 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.440 to fight fires because of course if you get debris 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.760 caught in the line, then you've fouled the line. You 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:15.520 are you know, in danger of losing the fight against 0:09:15.520 --> 0:09:18.760 the fire. But plus I imagine it would do quite 0:09:18.760 --> 0:09:22.400 a bit of costly damage to the equipment as well. Sure, yes, 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.360 all of that is is uh, you know, an important 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.840 thing to remember when you are trying to to fight fires. 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:32.080 And then there's also they tend to trucks tend to 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:36.400 also carry foam, and there's different kinds of foam UH 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.680 that are that's used for different types of fires. Usually 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:41.600 fire engine may only carry one type of foam, especially 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.920 if it's if it's in an area where UH fires 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.000 are typically one type versus another. For example, a Class 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.120 A foam is a kind of foam that's used to 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:55.520 soak down an area after you've put out a fire 0:09:55.559 --> 0:09:59.480 to prevent reignition. It's kind of a flame retardant. And 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:02.000 then you've got UH like class B foam that's the 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.600 stuff that you use to fight flammable liquid fires. So 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:07.720 like a car fire, you might want to use that 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:13.680 because of the gasoline problem. So UH, and then the 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:16.120 the other part about fire engines, they are like mobile 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:20.680 tool kits. So that's where all the fire fighting tools 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:23.720 are are mounted in that and you may have some 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.080 pretty low tech stuff in there. I mean things like 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.440 hooks and pikes that are used to tear down walls 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.120 so that you can get at the places where the 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:32.840 fire is to put the fire out. There's not a 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.320 lot of tech there. But then you may have something 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.199 like a chainsaw. You know chainsaws have that there's this, 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.920 there's some tech there, it's just pretty simple tech. It's 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.840 usually you know, a diesel engine that turns turns the 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.640 chains that you can cut through stuff. But then there's 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:52.240 also the pretty famous tool I would say that you 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:55.880 typically will find on a fire engine. Yeah, and I 0:10:55.880 --> 0:10:57.360 think I know where you're going with this since you 0:10:57.440 --> 0:10:59.920 just mentioned it a moment ago, but I think, uh, 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:03.360 it's important to remember before while you're trying to guess 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:07.760 what this famous tool is that firefighters UM these days 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.199 often do a lot more than fighting fires. They're also 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.680 responsible for, uh doing some paramedic work. UM you know, 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.559 their first responders. So if someone is injured, they often 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:22.880 call the firefighters out UM on the possibility that in 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:26.440 addition to medical care, there might be UM a fire 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.400 related to it. And they might need to do both things. 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.560 Like for example, as Jonathan was just pointing out, if 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:34.920 you had a car wreck and uh, there's a possibility 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:38.600 that gasoline might spill and catch fire. So you have 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.600 someone trapped in a car, Um, there's a possibility that 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:43.720 there might be a fire. So who better to send 0:11:44.160 --> 0:11:48.240 than of firefighters who are trained in medical care. But 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.959 the trick is getting them out of the car before 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:53.959 something bad happens. And that's where that's where this uh, 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:56.520 this tool comes in. It's called the Jaws of Life. 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:58.800 And really the Jaws of Life is actually a series 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:02.320 of tools, is not a single tool. Um, there's a 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:05.839 company that makes uh these tools, and a company is 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.600 known as the Jaws of Life. Company actually has a 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.199 full name, but it escapes my mind off off the 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:14.840 top of my head. But let's say not that kind. 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.000 You still haven't seen that movie? Have you have not? 0:12:17.240 --> 0:12:19.760 We had someone asked us earlier. Um, no, he has 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:24.320 not seen Jaws. So Jaws of Life is Jaws of life. 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:28.080 It's a hydraulic lee powered tool and by that we 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:32.400 mean it uses a fluid to create uh pressure and 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:38.520 move heavy duty tool elements. And uh, let's I guess 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.440 that a little digression on hydraulic fluid would be a 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:47.240 good idea here. So, hydraulic fluid is a fluid that 0:12:47.400 --> 0:12:51.880 is typically it's it's not compressible. It's incompressible, and by that, 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:55.800 I mean you cannot squish it, right Like most things 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.760 that we think about, there's a little squish factor. But 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.960 hydraulic fluid is a has to be incompressible and that 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:05.800 means that the fluids that maximum density, you cannot cram 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:09.120 them the the molecules of that fluid any tighter than 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.240 it already is. So if you flot pressure on it, 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.240 it's going to push. Yeah. Like if you have a 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:19.600 a cylinder filled with hydraulic fluid and uh, you're you're 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.120 trying to push a press, a piston into the cylinder 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:27.000 at the point where everything is connected. You have a 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:29.719 you know, the solid cylinder at one end, and then 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.319 the piston starts to push on it. There's a point 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.760 at which the piston is not going to be able 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:37.800 to push anymore because it is it is compressed as 0:13:37.800 --> 0:13:39.959 far as it can go and it will not compress 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.000 any further. And you can use that to do work. 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.800 And there are plenty of tools that do use this 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:49.120 and uh, the jaws of life to use a phosphate 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:53.080 ester fluid. A lot of hydraulic fluid systems will use 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:57.200 an oil based fluid. As you can imagine, oil based 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.480 fluids are not necessarily the best thing to have in 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:05.800 firefighting equipment. Yeah, So phosphate esther is non flammable and 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:10.480 non conductive. So the these hydraulic tools, the jaws of 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.960 light there are actually, like I said, a line of them, 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:17.000 and the ones that are typically used in firefighting are cutters, 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:19.560 which do what they sound like they do. They are 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.960 designed to cut through stuff. So for example, the body 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:27.000 of a car, because the hydraulic pressure is such that 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:31.880 it will cause the the pinch, the the cutting edges 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.240 of this device to close. It's such a force that 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:40.480 metal just crumbles. And then you've got spreaders. Spreaders are 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:42.600 kind of like you know, imagine a pair of pliers 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:47.120 and you open them. That's kind of what spreaders are doing. 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:50.200 They in reverse. Yeah, you shove shove it into a 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:53.480 gap and then you start the hydraulic motor and or 0:14:53.640 --> 0:14:57.520 actually start the diesel motor and that starts the hydraulic fluid. Uh, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:00.720 it pushes hydrug fluid through and makes it do work, 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:04.200 and that's what causes the pincers to open and then 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:06.520 you pop open whatever it is you were trying to open, 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:09.680 or it tears apart one one or the other. And 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:14.440 then hydraulic rams. So those are the three that are 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:20.560 used the most frequently in firefighting UH scenarios. So uh yeah, 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:22.240 it's kind of We actually have an article on how 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:24.720 the jaws of life work and it goes into detail 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:27.480 on each of those tools. So if you want to 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:29.240 learn more about it, I do recommend that it's a 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:34.920 very useful resource. And then also I guess I should 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.800 mention what we're talking about hydraulics. The ladder on the 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.680 fire trucks, those are operated through hydraulics as well. There's 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:46.240 a piston that is uh has got especially two different 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.200 hoses connected to it, and the hydraulic fluid will either 0:15:50.280 --> 0:15:53.480 it cause the ladder to extend upward or to come 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:58.440 back down. So those are that's your basic fire engine 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.840 from from too back. I mean, there's there's a lot 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:05.360 more we could talk about, but there's so much more 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:08.280 firefighting technology. I didn't want to just have this all 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:12.240 be about fire engines. So what do you want to 0:16:12.280 --> 0:16:14.520 talk about next, Well, most of what I got is 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:19.920 sort of high tech, cutting edge type stuff. UM. One 0:16:20.000 --> 0:16:24.400 thing that that we should talk about, probably UM to 0:16:24.480 --> 0:16:26.640 some extent, or maybe we could cover it later if 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.160 you want to go with all the high tech stuff 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.880 now is the stuff that the firefighters actually wear on 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.440 their person themselves. Sure, yeah, let's talk about that. Because 0:16:35.440 --> 0:16:37.280 we just talked about fire engines, we should talk about 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:42.560 the fire gear that the the firefighters are wearing. UM. 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:46.000 This is they wear a lot, Yes, they do. UM. 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:50.560 Of course they have to try to stay protected from um, 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.680 the heat that's you know, it depends on what's burning, 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:57.440 of course. Uh. Some some different types of materials will 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:00.800 burn hotter than other materials. UM. And certainly don't want 0:17:00.840 --> 0:17:05.960 to have a firefighter go inside to rescue a person 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:07.719 or to get at the source of a fire and 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:10.879 have them uh pass out from the heat or to 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:15.040 to be overcome by heat and smoke inhalation. UM. So 0:17:15.080 --> 0:17:18.439 you have to you know, protect them externally and and 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:22.000 make sure that they uh they can breathe, make sure 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:24.960 that they could see, and and you know, keep them 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:29.480 as cool as possible. UM. One one jacket that I 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.040 read about that was really cool. It's actually called turnout 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:36.040 gear UM, which is a basically the the heavy duty 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:38.440 jacket that you might see them where. It's actually from 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:41.960 a company called Viking UM. But it's got thermal sensors 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:45.719 built into the jacket itself. Now, not not that this 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.920 is sort of again sort of cutting edge, but this, uh, 0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:53.879 this different thing has sensors on the outside which change 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:58.280 depending on There's an LED display UM on the jacket 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:00.439 and it will tell you at you know, at what 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:04.080 point it is going to be a serious issue that 0:18:04.119 --> 0:18:05.960 he is going to be a serious heat is going 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.760 to be too hot for the suit's integrity. Yeah, and 0:18:09.000 --> 0:18:11.240 and the firefighter will be a danger. Yeah. Well, the 0:18:11.600 --> 0:18:14.840 thing is that it monitors what's going on outside and inside. 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:19.160 So by looking at the firefighter, you know, another firefighter 0:18:19.200 --> 0:18:21.720 could say, look, you know, he's in danger right now 0:18:22.119 --> 0:18:24.520 being where he is, and needs to get out of 0:18:24.680 --> 0:18:28.360 there because he may not be able to tell uh 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:30.560 what's going on. He may be so focused on fighting 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.919 the fire that he may be ignoring a potentially dangerous 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:36.680 situation for himself in the heat of the moment. Yes, apparently, 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:41.120 when the outer temperature of where the fire is gets 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:45.320 too about four two degrees fahrenheit UM. The display, the 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:49.040 LED display starts to flash and it's six d sixty 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.959 two degrees fahrenheit UM. It will start flashing very fast. 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:58.720 I can't imagine being in anything that hot. It's interesting because, well, 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.040 first of all, I got to know paper burns a 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.560 fare knight. But I was gonna I was gonna say, 0:19:05.600 --> 0:19:07.040 you know, it's kind of interesting because if you look 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.600 at the history of the heat resistant materials that firefighters 0:19:10.600 --> 0:19:14.880 have worn, the go to material for quite some time 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.160 was called nomex, which as a fire resistant material, it's 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.959 similar to nylon. It's kind of the same sort of 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:25.200 a feel of nylon, but it can withstand really intense heat. 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:29.119 As the type of meta aramid fiber, which really you 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:31.880 just need to know, that's a heat resistant synthetic fiber 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:34.439 that was developed in the lab and um it's actually 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:39.000 kind of a sort of a distant relative to kevlar um, 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:43.320 which is a much more resilient, not necessarily heat resistant, 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:47.679 but physically resilient material. So no mix was the standard 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:51.480 for a really long time. Back in the Houston Fire 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.639 Department partnered with NASA to develop a Originally it was 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:59.639 just to develop a new helmet for firefighters. But then eventually, 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.880 through the partnership NASA suggested that perhaps they could completely 0:20:03.880 --> 0:20:07.520 redesign the fire fighter suit, and they started to create 0:20:07.560 --> 0:20:11.679 suits that would circulate liquids within the suits lining in 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:15.119 order to remove heat so that it would protect the 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:21.160 firefighter longer in in intense heat conditions, because before that point, 0:20:21.160 --> 0:20:24.639 the Houston firefighters were really only rated to go into 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:29.480 areas that were three hundred degrees fahrenheit or cooler. Afterward 0:20:29.560 --> 0:20:31.560 they could go into areas that were five hundred degrees 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:34.240 fahrenheit or cooler. And now you're talking about a system 0:20:34.320 --> 0:20:37.280 where you know, it warns you at four two, which 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.119 is right around that you know, that five hundred degree 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:40.960 range that was just talking about, but it goes all 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:44.440 the way up to six, suggesting that this material is 0:20:44.480 --> 0:20:47.520 even more resilient than the stuff that was made back 0:20:47.520 --> 0:20:51.480 in NASA. One of the other cool things that they 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:54.320 added in that that same project where they were redesigning 0:20:54.320 --> 0:20:58.240 the helmet, they created an improved two way radio link 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:02.040 ups in the helmets themselves, and they also created a 0:21:02.320 --> 0:21:05.800 infrared camera system so that you can so that the 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:09.560 firefighter could switch to a thermal view and see hot 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:12.800 spots in the house and will also help firefighters identify 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:17.119 if any victims were UH in the area, so that 0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:19.520 they you know, they could see the heat from a person, 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.119 then they would know that they needed to UH to 0:21:22.320 --> 0:21:23.800 you know, you might not be able to see because 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:26.959 the smoke might be so thick. And Actually, infrared cameras 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:30.280 play a really big role in firefighting technology across the board, 0:21:30.280 --> 0:21:33.800 not just in personal firefighter gear, but for example, a 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.440 helicopter flying over a wildfire might be equipped. In fact, 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:40.919 most of them are equipped with infrared cameras and infrared 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:43.960 lenses so that they can so the pilot or the 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:46.320 watch's not really the pilot, but a firefighter aboard the 0:21:46.320 --> 0:21:49.320 helicopter can look through and see the hot spots and 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:51.880 see the flames even if the smoke is so thick 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:54.560 that you couldn't see anything, you know, just through a 0:21:54.600 --> 0:21:57.359 regular view to the ground. I'm sorry that was a 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:01.480 big digression, but you were going back to the cutting 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:04.880 edge gear. Yeah, actually, uh we we can keep going 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:09.480 with that because I was reading an article on Popular 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.880 Mechanics about some of the different cutting edge firefighting tools 0:22:13.400 --> 0:22:17.560 UM some firefighters for for things like uh scenarios like that, 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:19.840 you're talking about a fire in the in the wilderness, 0:22:20.600 --> 0:22:26.160 UM are using unmanned aircraft yeah, to monitor areas and 0:22:26.280 --> 0:22:32.000 using UM infrared technology to identify places where uh, you know, 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:36.199