During our seminar last month in Alexander City, Alabama, Chief Atkins and the folks from the Dadeville Fire Department brought a little different twist to the "rural hitch" game. We are going to call it the Dadeville Hitch; a triamese attached to one side of a double-clappered siamese. The set-up allowed for three tankers to be connected to the attack pumper's supply line while leaving one side ... (Full Story & Photos)

We posted info in the past about the use of cam lock hose fittings on tanker fill lines. When filling with 2-1/2" or 3" hose lines the cam lock is our preferred "speed" connection because it is simple to use and is a locking connection. There really is nothing to get cross-threaded or misconnected...the female coupling fits overtop the male connection, the two ears (locking levers) are clamped down ... (Full Story & Photos)

During our recent seminar in Tallapoosa County, Alabama we got the chance to use the Water Shark, a side-wall strainer made locally by the ETT, LLC. The strainer was carried on Union Volunteer Fire and Rescue's tanker and was deployed on the dump tank and pumped by Dadeville's 2000 gpm pumper. As we have seen before, the Water Shark did a really great job of supplying water under drafting conditions...both ... (Full Story & Photos)

On Sunday, October 13th....a bunch of folks from Tallapoosa County, Alabama and the surrounding area participated in our 2-hr rural water supply drill as part of our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar. The program was sponsored by the East Alabama Training Association and the Alexander City, Dadeville, Stillwaters, and Union Fire Departments. The seminar was hosted by the Central Alabama ... (Full Story & Photos)

Another simple but effective photo showing the importance of carrying more than the standard 20-feet of suction in the rural environment. This pumper's 30-feet of suction hose allowed the crew to set-up a dump tank behind the pumper and still reach it with the suction hose carried on the rig. The use of the Fol Da Tank through-the-wall flange eliminated the "hump" in the suction hose as well...thus ... (Full Story & Photos)

Vacuum tankers are most efficient in their loading process. The preferred loading process is generally to get the vacuum tanker close enough to the water source so that the rig can self-load using the suction hose it brought to the game. Sometimes, access to the water is limited and you have to figure out how to bring the water closer to the vacuum tanker. We commonly call the process an "open relay" ... (Full Story & Photos)

On Sunday afternoon, September 22nd, about 40 folks from the Lycoming County, Pennsylvania area got together to haul water for 2-hours uninterrupted using 8 tankers and 2 fill sites. The 2-hr drill took place in Montoursville, PA and culminated our 16-hr Rural Water Supply Operations Seminar that was sponsored by the Western Branch Fireman's Association and hosted by the Montoursville FD. The drill ... (Full Story & Photos)

In our seminars, we speak about the pressure limitations on fill lines when loading tankers. Absent a label on the rig, we normally offer 100 psi as the pressure limit at the tank fill inlet. This is in line with most of the poly-tank builders today and we commonly see that pressure limitation number posted on the newer rigs.

The purpose then of this photo is for the folks physically connecting ... (Full Story & Photos)