Tales From the Station

One of the problems encountered in the fire service is stuck valves. Most of the time it’s caused by not using the valves for long periods of time. Myself, I was running an engine one time when another line came off and I went to charge it with water. I grabbed the handle and yanked. Nothing happened, the handle was stuck and wouldn’t budge.

I grabbed with both hands and pulled. Now you have to be careful because of something called “Water Hammer” that happens when large amounts of water under pressure is suddenly released. It can shake a fire engine and pop components. So I decided constant pressure was the way to go, until the crew started shouting at me for water. I pulled a little harder and it still wouldn’t budge.

By this time the crew on the line was getting mad and they turned around to glare at me. I saw that look, since I’ve given the same look a number of times. I put my foot on the panel and gave it a hard yank when it broke loose and opened wide. The crew on the hand line saw it give and turned to handle the thrust of the water about to come out of the nozzle. Too late, the water blasted out of the nozzle and I swear they skidded ten feet backward before getting it under control.

Sometimes the valve gets something stuck in it especially when we’re drafting water from a river, pond or creek. Mud, stones and rocks get into the system and lodge in the valve seals. On one particular call just that happened and the big dump valve at the back of one of our tankers got stuck in the closed position.

To explain, a dump valve allows the entire contents of the tank to be dumped by gravity, usually into a large portable holding tank. A tanker holds between 1,500 and 2,000 gallons of water and its sole purpose is to transport water from the source to the fire. The dump valve allows the water to be dropped really fast for a quick turnaround.

All of the members took their turn attempting to open this valve but whatever was holding it stayed fast. Each firefighter had a different plan and gave it a try. Two heads are better than one, right? Unfortunately, six or seven heads equal pandemonium and frustration.

This is what led our hero to take action. He decided to squat down in front of the valve to see if he could locate the obstruction. He probably planned to pry it out and then open the valve. However, the planets aligned and God decided to intervene. As he was staring into the valve he gave the handle a yank. Whatever obstruction there was let go at that exact moment and 1,500 gallons of water found the path of least resistance right into our hero’s face.

Although restricted by the physical complications of hysterical laughter one of the firefighters on hand helped our hero close the valve. We used to have a mad cartoonist in the department and no sooner would something happen when a cartoon depicting the incident would appear. Not the original, but a photocopy, and this was no exception. There are still underground copies of this cartoon since all the original copies were destroyed somewhere along the way.