My attention was drawn to three jets of water shooting out high atop a building being constructed on Hudson Street in Jersey City. At first I thought the water had to be due to some kind of construction mishap. A burst pipe maybe. That might account for one jet. But three?
"They must be testing the standpipes," I said to my wife, referring to the vertical water pipes installed in all buildings taller than four stories, designed to be used by firefighters.
But I'm not a big fan of guesswork, not when an explanation can be found. We strolled in that direction, figuring enlightenment might be found there, and it was, in the form of a firefighter looking up at jetting water.
I addressed my question to him, and he said that firefighters do not often get the chance to train 50 floors up in a high rise. They were being permitted to use the raw space to practice their hose work. That made sense. Firefighters sometimes make use of high rises that are about to be torn down, or have special training towers to simulate the layout of skyscrapers. Such simulations are important -- high rise fires are particularly dangerous, with the usual hazards of fighting a fire magnified by additional mechanical and electrical systems, not to forget the difficulty of hauling gear up a few dozen flights of stairs.
We moved on down the street -- the water was shooting out so high up, maybe 500 feet above the pavement -- that by the time it reached street level, it was no more than a fine mist, quite pleasant on such a hot day.
I addressed my question to him, and he said that firefighters do not often get the chance to train 50 floors up in a high rise. They were being permitted to use the raw space to practice their hose work. That made sense. Firefighters sometimes make use of high rises that are about to be torn down, or have special training towers to simulate the layout of skyscrapers. Such simulations are important -- high rise fires are particularly dangerous, with the usual hazards of fighting a fire magnified by additional mechanical and electrical systems, not to forget the difficulty of hauling gear up a few dozen flights of stairs.
We moved on down the street -- the water was shooting out so high up, maybe 500 feet above the pavement -- that by the time it reached street level, it was no more than a fine mist, quite pleasant on such a hot day.
ReplyDeleteThe humidity has been awful but this is interesting.
I suppose the high-level training included the opportunity to practice hauling hoses up 50 flights of stairs. I have great admiration and respect for firefighters and the work they do.
ReplyDeleteI was outside the Fire Academy on Taylor Street one day earlier this year watching the recruits go up all the stairs & down them, over & over again & again. Training them for climbing high rises.
ReplyDeleteOur firefighters used to train by burning down condemned houses within our village. Sometime in the 1980s there must have been "an incident" because they stopped, moving such burns to surrounding rural townships.
ReplyDeleteTraining for high-rise fires. Hose work. Couldn't help thinking of 9/11.
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