FIRE PUMPS
Sunday, February 15th, 2009A year or so ago, on my old blog I did a post on fire pumps, so now with the unprecedented tragedy recently in Victoria I thought it appropriate to revisit the subject, with a few new idea’s & thoughts on the matter.
First & foremost our thoughts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. No amount of property loss can compare with the magnitude of this tragedy. Many people (in fact EVERYONE) are of the same mind, when we congratulate the fire fighters, both professional & volunteer alike, for their bravery & dedication to the protection of others.
I remember the Sydney fires in 1992 - 93. My family were told to be ready to evacuate, we had already taken the kids to grandparents & had packed up photo’s & personal items in the car, the dog in the garage & we were ready to move if required. Fortunately this didn’t come to fruition, but it made me very aware.
During this time my father & brother fought another fire at their back fence at Frenchs Forest, & they nearly lost the house, again we were lucky.
We can’t even compare this to the Victorian tragedy, but hopefully out of tragedy, will arise an awareness of preparation if we live in a fire zone.
My father swore he would never be unprepared again, he had a pool full of water with no way to utilise it & no water pressure in the garden taps. He purchased a petrol driven fire pump, & every summer it is tested & prepared for possible use.
As a plumber & resident adjacent to bush, I have been an advocate of fire pumps where the danger exists. I have installed several of these on jobs that I have done, where instead of manually putting the suction hose into the pool, we have installed rainwater tanks with a substantial amount of water reserved for fire fighting purposes. This is something that any plumber can do, its not something that is unique to my services. (Note services page)
The pump can be permanently connected with copper pipe, for fire resistance can & even be connected to a sprinkler system spraying on the house as well as the hand held hoses, to manually fight the fire. It is of course too late to think about it when a fire is approaching.
About 5 years ago the kids & I did a letter box drop to many of the areas around the northern beaches, Terry Hills, Lane Cove, Lindfield, Killara, Great Mackerel Beach, Mona Vale & many other suburbs. Some people I spoke to (Just a few) already had a fire pump, but I was amazed to not have a single enquiry, over the following year or so. It seems people can’t bring themselves to part with the cash to be prepared for something thats just a possibility.
Pumps like these would have made very little difference to these fires in Victoria, but could perhaps make the difference to preparing & wetting down areas in the path of a fire. (Imagine a sprinkler spraying on the house as you & the family leave to safety, knowing your home may have some extra protection)
Pumps are available from many other sources, hardware stores, pump specialists, plumbers suppliers & direct from myself or other plumbers, my hope is that residents near the bush consider keeping the land well cleared of debris & fuel, a fire plan in readiness for execution where everyone knows their job, & fire fighting equipment for added protection.
SOME PREPARATION NOW MAY PREVENT A TRAGEDY IN THE FUTURE.
I have sent an enquiry to a couple of the large insurance companies, to see if they would endorse a policy of a contribution, or perhaps discount on insurance premiums for differing levels of fire protection. More on that if a reply comes back.
