Written by Captain Tyler Evans (The Citizen's Firemen)
The most sought-after job on the fireground; the nozzleman. Everything on the fireground is riding on the success of the nozzleman. Everyone remembers their first time pushing through the door with the nozzle in hand as you made your way down the hall to the fire room. You probably went back to the fire house and haven’t stopped telling stories of how amazing it was to this day…
But how did the stretch actually go?
From the hose bed to the front door, did everything go right? Was it smooth and controlled? I know my first time catching a first due burner riding the side, the nozzle came off and everything went chaotic. I was ill-prepared, full of emotion, and the tunnel vision on that front door had really set in.
So how do we prepare ourselves and new hires to make that stretch and make it successfully? We start with knowing our hose – knowing it like the back of our hand. While the specs are necessary to set your package up for success, that’s only the beginning.
For instance, even if the specs are similar, not all 1 ¾ handlines are created equal. Some kink easier than others which is a major concern when making that stretch. An obstacle that could make one hose kink may not be an issue for another.
Knowing how your hose reacts to real world obstacles is imperative and the only way to do that is practical practice. We get that by putting hose in the streets, not an empty parking lot. Get out and see what happens when you stretch your lines over porch railings compared to up the stairs, down hallways, around corners. Figure out what works the best for your operational reality.
Some of the things you may run into that can potentially create these kinks:
- Porches/railings
- Trees and decorative vegetation
- Cars
- Mailboxes
- Yard ornaments and other large, fixed objects
- Apparatus
Navigate them as you go. Remember the fire is the objective, not the front door.
And to that point – how many times have you gotten inside and needed more hose? It happens quite often. We holler for someone to pull some more line over and over, and chances are you’re still waiting for that line still today…
A smooth stretch with no unnecessary kinks is going to give us more hose readily available to make the push. Getting to the seat of the fire faster means means getting the job done more effectively.
Beyond obstacles, hose loads are one of our biggest factors when it comes to how we navigate the stretch. Just like hose types, not all hose loads are created equally either. Every time you look there’s a new video out on a hose load that some one is claiming is the best thing to ever hit the streets – but they all have their advantages and disadvantages.
A flat load, triple load, and modified minuteman are all going to have to be stretched in a different way and there’s a good chance that your rigs are sitting there right now with multiple different loads on it. Whatever load you’re using – know it inside and out. Be able to deploy it smoothly in your sleep. No one wants a spaghetti mess at the pump panel while the house is cooking off.
You need to know your stretch well enough that you can adjust it upon arrival. Consider the setback from the front door to the apparatus – If I’m stretching a 200ft triple load straight to a front door that is only 50ft from the rig, then I’m not going to clear the hose bed. On the other hand, we also don’t want most of our hose running diagonal to the entrance of the building to avoid unnecessary obstacles.
An easy way to accomplish this is to go back in your line and grab a coupling and bring it up next to the nozzle. Doing so should give you enough line ready to zip through the door of your average 1200-1500sqft home with minimal resistance.
The goal is to get as much hose in line with our entrance as possible to make a smoother transition to the interior of the structure without the need for someone on the porch pulling more hose.
Because once you’re on that nozzle no one cares about you anymore. We go back to the fire house and complain that our push got slowed down because of that hose no one would pull on the front porch, but it probably never would’ve been an issue if we’d done something better during our stretch.
So – the takeaway here is know your job AND do it with pride. At the end of the day, you’ve been blessed with the best job on earth. While millions of people are working away in cubicles from 9-5 you’ve been blessed with a career that’s never mundane. The fire service gives back to you what you put into it yourself.
Make your time here worthwhile and make it legendary. Someday all of us are going to step off that rig for the last time, so make every rep count. Someone’s counting on it.
About the Author:
Captain Tyler Evans has nine years of combined experience in the fire service, both career and volunteer in rural and urban environments. He currently serves as an engine company captain for a career department in Eastern Tennessee. He is the founder of The Citizens Firemen and The Citizens Firemen Podcast, where he and his guest on the show provide training points and knowledge to other people who love perfecting their craft. Watch his episodes on YouTube, Apple Music (or most streaming services), and follow him @the_citizens_firemen on Instagram.
Tyler is dedicated to anything fire service and loves to pursue new avenues of broadening his knowledge and experience. When not chasing the job, he loves to spend time with his wife Kansas, and their two young children: Saylor and Oaklen.