Fun at the car wash with a couple of idiots.

At The Car Wash @ Yahoo! Video

This is a just a hose at the car wash...what about a fire hose? (FYI: you will learn how to control this situation in the fire academy!)

Huge water main break traps commuters on Md. road - Yahoo! News

Huge water main break traps commuters on Md. road - Yahoo! News

BETHESDA, Md. – A massive water main break trapped about a dozen commuters in their cars Tuesday as the swift, frigid waters flooded a suburban Washington road, and rescuers in helicopters and boats had to pluck people from the whitewater unleashed by an aging pipe.

Two people in a minivan climbed into a basket lowered by a helicopter as the floodwaters raged past them, spraying water on a rescuer reaching out to save them, television images showed. Crews also used a boat to rescue motorists from waters at least 4 feet deep.

Montgomery County fire officials believed everyone was safe. However, several people rescued were treated for hypothermia. The temperatures outside were in the 20s.

A man who lives about 50 feet from the street described the immediate, unexpected flood after the pipe, about 5- 1/2 feet in diameter, ruptured.

"I thought it might be a minor leak, then suddenly I stepped outside and, 'My God!'" said Raj Bhansaly. "It looked literally like the Potomac River."

Fire spokesman Pete Piringer said crews had trouble getting to people because of the swift-moving water. Officials said 135 million gallons of water per minute were gushing out at one point.

From his house, Bhansaly said he saw two cars tied to rescue vehicles with ropes. He said he wasn't worried about water damage to his home because it sits on a hill.

The water main broke about 8 a.m. on River Road near the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, authorities said. Montgomery County schools were closing about 2 1/2 hours early because the main break caused widespread water outages across part of the county.

John White, a Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission spokesman, said it was not yet clear what caused the break.

Because of the gushing water's intensity, fire officials did not allow utility workers to immediately shut down valves where the break occurred, White said. But crews were able to shut down two valves farther down the pipeline, slowing the flow.

There have been several major water main breaks this year in the wealthy suburb of Montgomery County. In June, a rupture closed more than 800 restaurants and left tens of thousands of people scrambling for clean drinking water.

The Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission has warned its system is aging, overtaxed and underfunded. It serves 1.8 million suburban Maryland customers and has had an increasing number of water main breaks, including 1,357 between January and November this year. Last year, it had a record 2,129 breaks or leaks.

White said the pipe that broke Tuesday was installed in 1964.

"We're plagued by old pipes," White said. "Throughout the nation, aging infrastructure is a problem."

___

Associated Press writers Brian Westley and Nafeesa Syeed in Washington and AP photographer Jacquelyn Martin in Bethesda contributed to this story.

Wildfires: Did low water pressure hinder the fight?

Residents in Yorba Linda and Sylmar had complained of poor flow for years. But some officials say no system is designed to handle the kind of demand that arose over the weekend.
By Jeff Gottlieb and Tony Barboza
November 19, 2008

Residents of Yorba Linda, where fire destroyed 118 homes, had complained for years of poor water pressure, a problem that may have made it more difficult for firefighters to beat back the weekend blaze that tore through the upscale community.

In Sylmar, where about 500 mobile homes burned to the ground, fire officials said they were investigating reports of lack of water pressure there. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power supplies water to the Oakridge Mobile Home Park property line, but inside, the water system belongs to the park.

In both areas, residents and some officials were openly discussing whether the lack of water pressure complicated the already monumental task that firefighters faced.

Fire officials in Sylmar are checking to see if their department had inspected the mobile home park hydrants as required in the last year, said Craig Fry, assistant fire marshal for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he was at the mobile home park after the fire burned through on Saturday, and firefighters told him that hydrants had stopped working and they were forced to use their water tenders instead.

"We would have had a fair shot if the pressure hadn't gone down," said Battalion Chief Fred Mathis, as he sat in his firetruck in the mobile home park Saturday.

A representative of the company that owns the park, Continental Mobile Housing, said he was busy at Oakridge and did not have time to talk.

Farther south, Ken Vecchiarelli, assistant general manager of the Yorba Linda Water District, said its hydrant system was built to fight fires involving a few houses, not a firestorm.

"This was the type of thing any system in any community was not designed for," he said.

At a packed meeting at Yorba Linda City Hall on Tuesday night, residents, many of whose homes had burned, expressed anger.

"I was told when they [firefighters] got to the top of our street, they turned back because there was no water pressure," said Diane Manista, whose house burned down in the hard-hit neighborhood of Hidden Hills.

"The fire hydrant in front of our house has a bag on it and wasn't even working. It's beyond words."

Click the link above for the rest of the story.

The Associated Press: Water pressure blamed for Universal Studios damage

The Associated Press: Water pressure blamed for Universal Studios damage
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Authorities will try to determine Monday whether the blaze that destroyed some of Hollywood's most famous backdrops was made worse by low water pressure and an overwhelmed sprinkler system.

At one point, Sunday's fire at Universal Studios was two city blocks wide, and low water pressure forced firefighters to get reserves from lakes and ponds on the 400-acre property. The blaze was contained to the studio's back lot, but it took firefighters more than 12 hours to extinguish it.

"The water pressure situation was a challenge," Los Angeles County Fire Chief Michael Freeman said. "This fire moved extremely fast."

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said authorities would investigate the water problems to see if they reflect a larger shortfall in the area.

"There's no question that there was a lack of adequate water pressure at least in the perception of a lot of firefighters," he said. "We're going to find out what the problem was."

In addition, the sprinkler system on the outdoor sets was nearly useless, Freeman told the Los Angeles Times for Monday's editions.

The cause of the blaze had not yet been determined.

Subcontractor at WTC site dropped after fire

The abandoned Deutsche Bank building was filled with hazardous chemicals, holes in the floors and a maze of plastic sheeting that made it a virtual death trap for firefighters.

Yet the New York City Fire Department did not have a contingency plan for fighting a fire there, as is required for every building in the city, city and fire officials said Wednesday.

The building's central water pipe, which was disconnected on Saturday, the day of the fire, and is one of the factors being blamed for the deaths of two firefighters, also was not being inspected regularly as the law requires, city and fire officials said.

"Things didn't go right," Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association said Tuesday. "In the end, we lost two firefighters in a toxic building that's about to be torn down. It's unacceptable that it happened."

Both Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launched investigations into the fire this week.

Meanwhile, a controversial subcontractor in the project, the John Galt Corp., was let go Wednesday, days after it was revealed that both the city and federal governments had issued it numerous violations for problems including holes in the floor, falling debris and sparks flying near combustible material.

The Fire Department is still investigating how the deadly blaze started Saturday afternoon, city officials said Wednesday.

The firefighters killed, Joseph Graffagnino, 33, of Brooklyn, and Robert Beddia, 53, of Staten Island, will be buried Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Cassidy said for more than a year before the fire, local firefighters were not allowed into the building to do regular inspections because of the poor air quality there. He is asking who was doing the inspections, if not the local firehouse.

Fire Department spokesman Jim Long said the department is looking into why there was no pre-fire plan for the building and why the department was not inspecting the water pipe regularly.

However, even if the fire department was not doing regular inspections of the water pipe, the city building department was, city officials said. According to building department records, only the day before the fire, an inspection showed that the pipe was assembled properly and seemed to be working.

When it was taken apart -- part of the pipe was found lying on the floor after the fire -- remains a mystery, city officials said.

Work on deconstruction of the building was stopped immediately after the fire, and now that John Galt has been taken off the project, it isn't likely to resume soon.

In a letter to John Galt explaining why the company's contract is in default, James Abadie, the principal-in-charge of Bovis Lend Lease, the primary contractor, said: "The numerous citations issued with respect to employee safety and the failure to properly maintain all required site safety precautions are only some areas of concern."

Fire Dept. Did Not Inspect Pipe in Doomed Building

The New York Fire Department failed to visually inspect standpipes in the former Deutsche Bank building every 15 days as required by city rules for buildings being demolished, and had not done any inspections at the building since November 2006, according to records released yesterday by City Hall.

The standpipe system’s readiness to perform in a fire was last checked in November 1996, when the building was a functioning office building, and the system was filled with water and tested with pressure gauges, the Bloomberg administration said. Under fire codes, it is the building owner who must do such water, or hydrostatic, tests.

The Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center stymied plans for the next water test of the system at the Deutsche Bank building, at 130 Liberty Street, in November 2001, and no further testing of the system was required because the building, mortally damaged, was likely to be demolished.

Investigators have zeroed in on the building’s standpipe as they investigate last Saturday’s fire and exactly what led to the deaths of two firemen, Robert Beddia, 53, and Joseph Graffagnino, 33, who were battling it. The standpipe was not operational before the fire broke out, according to an administration news release.

A standpipe valve between the basement of the first floor of the building was shut, and the network of pipes that is supposed to deliver water from fire trucks in the street to the standpipe system’s connections was compromised, officials said. Also, a piece of the standpipe system was missing altogether and was found lying in the building’s basement.

A city official said it appeared that the twice-monthly standpipe inspections that are mandatory for buildings under demolition were never done. It is unclear whether the potential environmental dangers due to toxins in the building kept firefighters from making the inspections, the official said.

Investigators in the office of Manhattan district attorney Robert M. Morgenthau visited the basement of the building yesterday and took photos.

One fire investigator said that the law enforcement officials were struck by how damaged the standpipe was. The investigator also said it appeared that workers had been staying in the basement overnight, in violation of an order to keep people out.

The records released by City Hall — a possibly incomplete list based on “paper records” that the Bloomberg administration has so far reviewed — offered a sober assessment of the Fire Department’s oversight at the building.

They also show that the department was aware of reports that the sprinkler system was not working. That failure is also under investigation. Buildings Department inspectors visited the skyscraper to approve the dismantling of each floor, and determined that the standpipe had been properly capped on the floor below.

A fire official noted yesterday that firefighters were in the building for reasons other than inspections, once when a pipe fell from the building last spring and crashed into a nearby firehouse. Fire personnel were also in the building in August when citations were issued to the contractors, the officials said.

The records also detailed a series of violations that have been issued by the Buildings Department against Bovis Lend Lease, the contractor overseeing the entire demolition project, and the subcontractor in charge of the demolition, the John Galt Corporation.

Bovis was cited on June 6 for a “large amount of combustible material/debris” accumulating. The subcontractor was cited on Aug. 1 because “burning operations,” were causing sparks to fly; and on Aug. 3 for an expired certificate to “store/use acetylene.”

Investigators are focusing on a discarded cigarette or faulty electrical panel as the likely cause of the blaze.

The last time fire officials from Engine 10 — which is in the skyscraper’s shadow — did a “regular surveillance inspection,” in the building was March 31, 2006, the records show.

The Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver, the State Legislature’s top Democrat, said he found the lack of recent water tests, “incredible. It’s amazing.”

“This is really a shock that even five years before Sept. 11, much less since Sept. 11, nobody checked that out,” said Mr. Silver, who represents residents of Lower Manhattan. “There are very serious concerns about that. The community has been overwhelmingly concerned about that building.”

The Buildings Department has conducted daily inspections of the floors under deconstruction since March 19, said Kate Lindquist, a department spokeswoman. The most recent inspection prior to the fire was the day before it broke out, she said, when an inspector confirmed that the standpipe was capped on the floor below deconstruction.

It is unclear when anyone from the Buildings or Fire Departments last inspected the standpipe system in the basement, where the broken pipe was found.

“That is one of the questions we are trying to answer,” said Ms. Lindquist. “We are reviewing our inspection reports.”

The law does not require the Buildings Department to conduct comprehensive testing of the standpipe system, she said. But a licensed site-safety manager is required to visually inspect the standpipe and its valves — to ensure they are connected properly — every day, the city official said.

Teen escapes burning home- but no water available to fight fire!

The smoke detectors and exit plan worked.....but what happened to the water?

A 17-year-old boy jumped out a window and called 911 early this morning after a fire engulfed his home on Kent's East Hill.

Around 3 a.m., the teen was awakened by the sound of smoke detectors going off and got out of the house in the 11400 block of Southeast 281st Street, according to Kent fire officials. When firefighters arrived on the scene at 3:10 a.m., they found the house fully engulfed in flames.

Because there aren't any fire hydrants in the neighborhood, firefighters had to use a truck to shuttle water to the blaze from a hydrant about a half-mile away, said fire Capt. Kyle Ohashi.

Flying fire hydrant kills Oakland man

Wow...talk about being in the wrong place a the worst time...

OAKLAND _ Humberto Hernandez never saw the 200-pound flying piece of iron that killed him and veteran police officers could not remember ever seeing anything like this accident.
Hernandez, 24, was killed Thursday evening when he was hit by an airborne fire hydrant that was dislodged from the sidewalk when it was struck by an SUV, police said.

Motorcycle Officer Eddie Bermudez, who is investigating the death, said Friday it was ``a million-to-one chance'' that something like this could happen to someone.

Bermudez said if Hernandez had been one step ahead or one step behind where he was on the sidewalk ``he would not have gotten hit.''

Police said the hydrant hit Hernandez _ who was walking with his wife _ in the back of the head, skipped off him and hit a fence before landing another 20 feet away.

Lt. Fausto Melara, a 25-year veteran and a longtime motorcycle officer, said, ``I've seen a lot of accidents but never anything like this.

``I've seen people hit fire hydrants but never anyone killed by a flying fire hydrant.''

Police said Hernandez was walking with his wife in the 900 block of 98th Avenue _ a short distance from his home _ about 5:52 p.m. Thursday.

Bermudez said Hernandez had just bought his wife some flowers and some cherries and they were walking to a restaurant at 98th Avenue and International Boulevard to have dinner.

Police said a 2007 Ford Escape driven northbound on 98th by a 45-year-old Danville woman who said a tire blew before the vehicle swerved onto the sidewalk.
Bermudez said police have not confirmed that the tire blew. He said the driver told police she was not talking on a cell phone or was distracted in any other way.

When the SUV smashed into the hydrant, the impact and released water launching it at a 45-degree angle toward Hernandez, who was about 10 feet away walking northbound on same side of the street.

Police are not sure if the hydrant might have skipped off the pavement before hitting 5-foot-6 Hernandez in the back of his head.

``He was walking a bit ahead of his wife and then, all of a sudden, he is in the line of fire,'' Bermudez said.

After hitting Hernandez, the hydrant still had enough velocity to ricochet through a fence before stopping.

That was especially surprising to police, including one officer who said, ``You can't even pick those things up.'' Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene. His wife was not hurt.

Exploding Stormdrain Covers!

Watch as the storm drain cover get blown off by thousands of gallons of water... and destroys a car! This happens when the pipes get flooded - they build up pressure till it finds the easiest place to escape!

Fire hydrant needs adopting

Just because.

The Fire Hydrant That Saved The Mission

The fires that raged after the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco caused far more damage than the quake itself. According to legend, this fire hydrant saved the Mission District. Every year, it is spray-painted gold in commemoration. aprox. 7 mins.

To learn more about the past and present of San Francisco's cultural epicenter, visit www.sfmission.com

What's the Status of Fire Hydrants in Montgomery Co.? Magical apparently.

What's the Status of Fire Hydrants in Montgomery Co.?
Geeze Louise!...Apparently hydrants are magical in Mongomery County. No one knows where they come from or how they are maintained. The apparently just appear....or not....and then sometimes they work....or not. Un-freakin-believable. This is 2007. Wow.

ROCKVILLE, Md. - With word that 53 fire hydrants in D.C. need repairs, Montgomery County's Public Safety Committee will ask fire and water officials about the status of hydrants in their county.

"I think it's a wake up call for everybody," says Montgomery County Council member Mike Knapp.

When a huge fire broke out at the Georgetown Library Monday, firefighters couldn't use the two closest hydrants because they were inoperable.

"I think if nothing else, we should learn from D.C. that just because it's there it doesn't mean its always operational," Knapp says.

Knapp says the committee will ask fire and water officials if there's a way to check hydrants before an emergency.

"If there isn't, then I think it really provides a false sense of security to the community," he says. "Every minute that passes with a fire, the fire increases exponentially."

Knapp says some newer neighborhoods may not even have hydrants, and that's an issue he'd like addressed.

But it isn't just in D.C. or Montgomery County- Seems to be a problem in Seattle too~ Click HERE to read the story and watch the video and play with the interactive web site on Fire Hydrants that DON'T WORK!!

Library Fire Exposes Problems With Hydrants

Library Fire Exposes Problems With Hydrants
What if there was a fire .... and the hydrants were all out of order? Don'tcha simply HATE it when that happens? They sure do in Washington DC-- Where the failure of the hydrants slowed firefighters tremendously.

WASHINGTON - The fire at the Georgetown Library has exposed problems with some fire hydrants in the city.
Dozens of them aren't in working order, including the two closest to the library, where some irreplaceable documents and artwork were destroyed.

The D.C. Water and Sewer Authority is in charge of more than 9,000 hydrants in the city, and the agency has identified 53 hydrants across the city that are in need of repair. Some leak, some have defective parts, and others don't produce water.

Officials say it's hard to keep up on inspections, so the fire department plans to work with WASA to do more checks.

Fire and union officials say the faulty hydrants often aren't discovered until a fire breaks out. Firefighters wound up using hydrants that were about two blocks from the burning building.

Officials say the broken hydrants slowed the response of some units by a few minutes but didn't have a major effect on the blaze.

This is why many fire departments have their own hydrant maintenance and testing program, such as the Charlottesville, VA FD. Click here to read their SOP.

Funny Fire Hose Rodeo Jackass 2

This video is by request (Thursday class!) Enjoy it! (As much as one can enjoy a video that ends w/rectal bleeding.) WARNING: ADULT CONTENT

Firefighters left waterless in Texas high school arson fire

Firefighters left waterless in Texas high school arson fire

What if you had a fire in a high school (say it isnt so!)--an ARSON fire no less (who would've thought it could happen there?)....and there were NO FIRE HYDRANTS!! WTF??? Who allowed that????

Firefighters from 21 fire departments in three counties fought the early morning blaze, often bringing water more than two miles from Needville because the rural school site had no fire hydrants.

The Power of a Fire Hose

Jackass - The Fire Hose - Watch the best video clips here

From Jackass 1: Johnny Knoxville and a firehose. "How much pressure do these things have?"

A reminder....after watching the fire streams w/Johnny (which was somewhat funny)and seeing the force of the hose stream, take a look at the tragic photos from the Civil Rights Demonstrations in Birmingham AL in 1963. They used the fire department- and hose streams- to supress the demonstrators.

Funny fireman accident

Under pressure!

Don't forget to flush

FirefighterCloseCalls.Com - Home of the Secret List: WHY WE MUST FLUSH HYDRANTS PRIOR TO OPERATION. Click on the link to find out what happens when we don't....Doh!