"American Centennial Accumulation" of Fire Engine Products (Part I) - Products of American Fire Truck Series Articles

US set fire extinguishing, rescue, rescue three-in-one, is unequaled in the world today. According to the National Fire Protection Association’s fire engine standards, U.S. fire engines can be broadly classified as pump fire engines, water tank fire engines, ladder fire engines, Quint fire engines, towed ladder fire engines, early fire fighting fire engines, and foam fire engines. , forest fire engines, airport fire engines, and special fire engines. This article describes the features and development trends of American fire truck products to the vast majority of people through reference to the typical models of fire engines stipulated in the American Fire Truck Standard for reference and learning.

The U.S. fire trucks combine three functions of fire fighting, rescue, and rescue, and they are unmatched in the world today. Its non-conventional fire-fighting chassis, perfect lighting system, and large pump flow, air compressor flow and equipment box capacity ensure that the US fire truck has safe and reliable driving dynamic performance and powerful fire fighting and rescue functions.

1 American fire truck classification method

There are several classification methods for U.S. fire trucks, the most common of which are classified by function and area of ​​use. The National Fire Protection Association's NFPA 1901-2009 Fire Engine Standard states that American fire engines can be divided into pump fire engines, water tank fire engines, ladder fire engines, Quint fire engines, tow ladder fire engines, and early fire fighting vehicles. Foam fire engines and special fire engines. In addition, there are two special standards for fire engines, the A 414 Airport Fire Truck Standard and the NFPA 1906 Forest Fire Truck Standard. The specific classification is shown in Table 1.

2 American typical fire engine models

The United States has a vast forest area, a high number of high-rise buildings, and powerful fire engines. As a result, it has contributed to the performance and characteristics of American fire trucks that are different from those in other parts of the world. The following is a brief description of the typical features of the National Fire Protection Association NH City Standards 1901-2009. Fire truck technical parameters and characteristics (see Table 2).

2.1 Pump fire truck

The pump fire truck English Pumper, also often referred to as Engine, is the most common and highest market share of all fire engine products in the United States. When it is called Engine, the fire engine becomes a Quint or Quad fire engine. Usually, when naming fire engines of the same fire station, the numbers of different types of fire engines are the same, that is, the number of fire stations. Fire engines with different functions are represented by their own representative letters, for example, fire engine 17 has 2 pumps. Fire engines, 1 ladder ladder fire truck, 1 forest fire truck, 1 tank fire engine and 1 rescue fire engine, then E-17 and P-17 represent the pump fire engine, L-17 represents the Yuntai fire engine , B-17 represents the forest fire truck, T-17 represents the water tank fire engine, and R-17 represents the rescue fire engine.

The typical American pump fire engine is designed for a mid-level fire pump. The control panel is on the driver's side, with exposed panel design and close to the cab for easy operation and maintenance (Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1 Typical American pump fire truck

Figure 2 Pump structure for easy maintenance

2.2 Tank Fire Truck

The English name of the tank fire truck is Tanker, which is also often referred to as Tender in some areas. It is used to transport fire water from a water source to a fire site. A tank fire truck does not necessarily have a large-flow fire pump that supplies a large-diameter hose like a pump fire truck. Its smaller fire pump can only pump water from a source. When there is no fire hydrants or fire hydrants near the fire scene, they are far away from the pump fire trucks and ladder fire trucks. The tank fire trucks can usually use water tank fire trucks to provide fast connection.

In firefighting, the most typical application of a tank fire truck is to provide water for a pump fire truck or a ladder fire truck. In addition, it is also used to discharge floods and clear road surface chemicals after collisions. Some tank fire trucks carry fire-fighting equipment and personnel configurations such as pump fire trucks can work relatively independently. Some tank fire trucks also have the function of a pump fire truck, that is, a pump with a combined fire truck, with up to 6 crew members, a tank capacity of 11 000 L or more, and basic fire fighting and rescue equipment. Most forest water tank fire trucks have remote control water guns installed on the front bumper so that firefighters can suppress the fire on the edge of the fire or the burning area without leaving the fire engine.

When tank fire trucks are used in combination with pump fire trucks and ladder fire trucks, there are generally two methods. The tank fire truck is directly connected to a pump fire truck or a ladder fire truck, or a water tank fire truck discharges water to the tank fire truck. In the movable pool, the pump fire truck or ladder ladder fire pump is pumped from the movable pool (ie, the shuttle water supply mode is as shown in Figs. 3 and 4).

In the first combat method, the tank fire truck needs to be connected to the pump fire truck or ladder fire truck through a large-diameter water hose. The pump fire truck or ladder fire truck needs to dismantle the water supply pipeline frequently, and the operation is complicated and the pump is Pu fire trucks or ladder fire trucks cannot get sustainable water supply. In the second combat method, pump fire trucks or ladder fire trucks pump water from a movable pool, and do not need to dismantle the water supply pipeline frequently. When the pump fire truck or ladder fire truck has a particularly large flow, it will generally be several. The mobile pools are connected together to form larger mobile pools. In the first combat method, the tank fire truck needs to stay at the fire site until the tank water is used up; in the second combat mode, multiple tank fire engines are always in the fire scene and the nearest fire hydrant or water source. In the round trip, the water is drained directly into the movable pool after each water intake, making the mobile pool an uninterrupted source of water such as lakes and rivers.

Many tank fire trucks are equipped with quick drain valves on the side and/or rear (Figures 5 and 6), typically draining thousands of liters of water into a mobile pool in seconds (each tanker fire truck has Carry a mobile pool with a volume not less than the tank volume of the vehicle. In the shuttle water supply mode, two pump fire trucks are generally required, one pump fire pump is used to pump water at the water source, and water is added to the fire pump. Another pump fire pump is used to pump water from the movable pool at the fire site. Provide high pressure water or foam water needed for fire extinguishing. When the movable pool is far away from the fire scene, after long-distance transportation, the water gun spray pressure will be seriously insufficient. In order to make up for the water pressure loss, the shuttle water supply method generally needs to increase between the movable pool and the fire-fighting pump fire truck. Following the pump fire truck.

2.3 ladder fire truck

Ladder fire truck English Ladder, also known as Stick, Bucket, Tbwer, Quint, Tiller or Hook&Ladder, its main function is to save people, ventilation and search and rescue.

Cloud ladder fire trucks can be roughly divided into three types according to the cloud trapezoidal type, that is telescopic ladder fire truck (also known as Stick or Stmi Orbit), ladder truck (also called Aerial Tower, abbreviated as AI, P) and high-emission fire fighting car.

2.3.1 Retractable ladder fire truck

Retractable ladder ladder fire truck is the most popular modern ladder fire truck in the United States, mainly because of its low cost and strong overall function. Typically, a 30 m telescopic ladder fire truck costs about 4.5 million yuan, while the Yuntai platform truck costs about 20% more than a retractable ladder truck.

The retractable ladder fire truck is known for its special cloud trapezoidal shape, which can reach the height that ordinary fire ladders cannot reach. The retractable ladder fire truck, as its name implies, is a retractable ladder that can be designed for up to four sections. According to the mounting position of the platform on the chassis, the platform can be roughly classified into a neutral type (see Figure 7), a rear type (Figure 8) and a semi-mounted type (see Table 3 for the advantages and disadvantages of the three types of layout).

Figure 8 Rear turntable retractable ladder fire truck

2.3.2 platform ladder fire truck

The platform ladder fire truck first appeared in the 1950s, and it is increasingly welcomed by firefighters. Most major urban fire stations are also equipped with retractable ladder fire engines and platform ladder fire engines. At present, there are four types of platform fire trucks that are commonly used, namely, ladder trucks, telescopic trucks, folding arm trucks, and folding telescopic trucks.

There are two kinds of turntable layouts for platform ladder fire trucks, namely mid-mounted and rear-mounted. According to NFPA 1901-2009, when the water gun at the top of the platform is sprayed in any direction with a flow rate of 4 000 L/min, the minimum load capacity of the platform should be 340 kg or 227 kg, and it should be an integer multiple of 1 13 kg.

2.3.2.1 Yuntai Platform Truck

The ladder platform truck (Figures 9 and 10), also known as the ladder elevator, is the most popular platform ladder fire truck. It is usually constructed by adding a platform or basket on the top of a heavy-duty retractable ladder fire truck ladder. It also has the advantages of retractable ladder fire trucks and platform trucks. The lifting height of the Yuntai platform truck is between 26 and 32 m (differences due to different models). The platform's carrying capacity is 340-454 kg and the flow rate can reach 7500 L/min. The 26 m and 29 m rear turntable ladder trucks are the two most common models. The central turret model is suitable for areas where the vehicle's ride height is limited by road traffic.

Figure 9 Turntable rear ladder lift truck

2.3.2.2 Telescopic Platform Truck

As the name implies, the telescopic platform truck is constructed by installing a platform on the top of the telescopic boom. There are two structural forms (see Figure 11 and Figure 12). One is a closed box arm, a steel main arm and an aluminum alloy telescopic arm. A ladder is mounted on the boom and is used only for escape. The other is an open box boom, riveted connection, aluminum alloy material. These two types of telescopic boom trucks are designed for high-flow water pipelines and high-altitude jet applications. The turntables are arranged in a mid-mounted configuration with lifting heights of 23 to 30 m.

2.3.2.3 folding arm platform car

The folding arm platform truck (as shown in Fig. 13) appeared in the 1950s and was the first platform truck used in the field of fire protection. The folding arm platform truck has two arm frames, which can be connected and rotated by joints (hinge shafts), so that other types of ladder ladder fire trucks can not achieve the spanning action. The folding arm platform truck was first applied to the municipal area and was later transformed into a folding arm platform vehicle for fire protection applications by fixing a large-flow water pipeline on the boom. The lifting height of the standard folding arm platform truck is 20 to 26 meters.

2.3.24 folding a telescopic truck

The folding/telescopic platform truck (see Fig. 14) is an extension type of the telescopic boom platform vehicle. The telescopic main boom is to meet the lifting height requirement, and the folding arm is a flexible and easy-to-use range, which is more convenient than the normal folding arm platform. The car is complicated and costly.

2.3.3 High-emission fire truck

The high-emission fire engine (Fig. 15) is earlier than the retractable ladder fire truck. Its lifting height is 15-40m, and it is less used in the modern city construction firefighting service, especially the large-flow high-emission platform truck. Mostly used for fire services in the industrial sector.

The advantages and disadvantages of the 3 types of ladder fire trucks are shown in Table 4.

This article comes in "Special Vehicles and Accessories" 2013.08 period. Reprinted to jointly discuss the knowledge of fire-fighting vehicles and the popularization of fire protection. If there is infringement, please contact us.