Water supply a problem? Lots of frozen water in the form of snow around the burning structure? Maybe it’s time to take a tip from Steve Luibakka of Diorite, Michigan in Marquette County. On Monday evening Luibakka was alerted that his neighbor’s home was burning. The fire had started in a couch and was blowing out the living room picture window when Luibakka arrived with a 30-pound fire extinguisher. Witnesses say flames were six feet above the roof line.
The extinguisher was a help, but only temporarily. Luibakka realized he needed another extinguishing agent that Ishpeming Fire Chief Andy Lusardi says largely extinguished the fire and reduced the amount of damage to the home:
Here’s the rest of the story from Dionna Harris at DailyNews.Net:
“I was able to knock down the flames, but it was so hot. The heat was so intense, it just flared up again. I ran over to my son-in-law’s garage and grabbed his snowblower…and started blowing snow into the living room. It took about 10 minutes, but we were able to knock the flames down.”
Liubakka said while he was operating the snowblower, his son-in-law shoveled snow into the home, and into the auger of the snowblower.
“One firefighter said there was about 16 inches of snow in the living room. And even with all the snow, the temperature within the home at that time was still 170 degrees,” said Liubakka.
Lusardi said the fire was out when firefighters arrived at the scene.
He said using the snowblower to blow snow through the front window helped contain the fire to the living room.
Im sold. How do you figure the GPM/FPM? IPM?
Don’t Laugh just yet. Someone was predicting this over 35 years ago. When I was in college back in the early 70s my advisor was none other the Frank “St. Francis” Brannigan (1918-2006), may he rest in peace. I was one of the fortunate ones that was able to study under the Building Construction for the Fire Service Guru himself. Along with the quality education and leadership he provided he often told stories on his days at the Norfolk Naval Yard and made a prediction. His prediction was that before we (his students) died, Fire Fighters would be shooting small particles of ice through a hose to fight a fire. I must admit I laughed inside but never outwardly questioned his prediction. After a career of fire fighting I do believe this technology will be seen in the Fire Service someday.
Hopefully I have a few more decades left and “St Francis’s” prediction will come true. I would love to see it.