News

Oct 06, 2023

Firefighter Training Drill: Gate Valve the Hydrant

In areas where we have the potentialfor freezing conditions, there will be dry

In areas where we have the potentialfor freezing conditions, there will be dry barrel hydrants as opposed to wetbarrel hydrants in the southern climates. A problem that can arise when using adry barrel hydrant is the operating stem breaking. The operating stem is the partthat connects the main valve below ground (around four feet below) to the stemnut on top of the hydrant. Excessive pressure exerted on the operating stem(around four feet long) can cause it to snap due to cold weather, old age, poormaintenance, or just too much force being used.

When the operating stem breaks, thehydrant is out of service and, depending on which position the main valve isin, the hydrant will either be stuck open or closed. If the hydrant is stuckclosed, there is no real problem. If it is stuck open, however, we will havenonstop water flowing.

When firefighters’ supply lines areattached from the hydrant to the apparatus pump intake and the hydrant is stuckopen, the apparatus is now committed to the hydrant with no way of taking thehose off safely. One method to alleviate this problem is to use gate valves onthe hydrant discharges. Whether you are using a 2 ½-, four-, or a five-inchsupply line, attach a gate valve first, and then attach the supply line to it. Doingso will allow you to safely isolate a hoseline for removal in case the hydrantbecomes stuck open.

When initial operations begin onthe fireground with either an offensive or defensive attack, securing the watersource is a vital part of it. Usually when the hydrant is secured, only onesupply line will be attached going to the pumping apparatus. This one line maybe enough, but what happens if another supply line needs to be added?

When using a wet barrel hydrantthere is no problem, simply attach the supply line and open the stem nut tothat discharge port. However, on a dry barrel hydrant, this cannot beduplicated. Once the hydrant has been opened and water is flowing through theinitial supply line, firefighters cannot remove any of the caps and simply adda hoseline. This is due to the excessive pressure being exerted on the insideof the cap, which would turn it into a projectile if it were loosened. Thehydrant would have to be closed, the pressure drained, the next cap removed,supply line attached, and then reopened.

Adding a gate valve to each port orjust one additional port will allow a firefighter to add another supply linewhile the hydrant is still open and operating without compromising safety. Thiswill save time and frustration for the operation.

Whenever a dry barrel hydrant is secured, gate valve all ports. Here is a training drill that can be used to help reinforce the idea of adding gate valves to all ports.

Equipment needed: Hydrant bag, fire apparatus, dry barrel hydrant, and gate valves.

Goal: To practice securing a hydrant for a water source by adding gate valves to all ports.

Mark van der Feyst has been in the fire service since 1999 and is a full-time firefighter in Ontario, Canada. He is an international instructor teaching in Canada, the United States, and India, and at FDIC. Van der Feyst is a local level suppression instructor for the Pennsylvania State Fire Academy. He is also the lead author of Residential Fire Rescue (Fire Engineering Books & Video).

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