4/10/26 Queens 5th Alarm Box 4553

I think the original Super Pumper could use hydrants because of the huge diesel engine that was more powerful than any engine on a pumper. This one operates off its own power. Not an expert but just a guess.
 
Skyler Fire said:
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Super Pumper 1 & SAT 4 operated today… this will now be considered the first fire the super pumper operated at. I will have a video of it in the coming days. SP was supplied by 2 Engines off 2 different mains got around 4,800gpm off the main deck gun. Max on the main deck run is 8k and then plus 2 rear monitors they do 2k each so total max would be 12k… still would need another 2 more engines off other mains or the Pumps and Marine unit to get full pressure but still was going 200 feet across the fire building.
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Some people on here are going to be so very excited about this!

The downside is this will perpetuate the posts asking why it isn't called to every single large fire no matter what
 
Skyler Fire said:
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Super Pumper 1 & SAT 4 operated today… this will now be considered the first fire the super pumper operated at. I will have a video of it in the coming days. SP was supplied by 2 Engines off 2 different mains got around 4,800gpm off the main deck gun. Max on the main deck run is 8k and then plus 2 rear monitors they do 2k each so total max would be 12k… still would need another 2 more engines off other mains or the Pumps and Marine unit to get full pressure but still was going 200 feet across the fire building.
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About time they used the Super Pumper!
 
JJ D15 said:
The super pumper would not have worked at this particular fire. The largest water main here is 20”. Need at the very least a 26” main for maybe half the capacity. What is needed is a body of water, which was many blocks away. I think there is a small body of water on 132 st where the old airport was, but no one knows how deep it is…. Could we have done that? Yes, but we would need to shut many roads…..it was much easier to set up 9 TLs, 2 Satellite, 2 multiversals, 2 Blitzfires, and 6 hand lines
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Flushing Airport, I think it was?
 
sundown060 said:
Flushing Airport, I think it was?
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Yes, it was "Speeds" Flushing Airport. There was small water on the property but nothing of usable size. That whole area back in the 50's and 60' was marsh land and land fill. Numerous brush fires and deep-seated rubbish fires. During the 1964 Worlds Fair the Goodyear Blimp was moored at speeds and PD Aviation was there for a while as well.
 
CVILLE7111 said:
I’m a tad confused. This “SP” can”t have lines connected to large mains directly? It needs to be fed from other pumpers? Its predecessor had lines from hydrants directly. Also, what is its pumping capacity rated at? Thanks.
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If I understand this correctly, there were certain mains basically dedicated to the original super pumper system. There were larger and higher pressure. The average engines couldn't hook up to them by design. It was a noticeable difference in the hydrants and different threads or outlets. Im fairly certain they've all been taken out of service and either set for average use or taken out completely. The existing mains, may not have the volume to fully supply the new SP. So at least 2 if not 3 different mains would be needed for max volume. Plus you have to look at what else is going on. 8 tower ladders, at say 750 gpms each, 1 satellite at say 2000gpm, 3 blitzfires at roughly 1500 gpms, and 6 landlines at 250 gpms each, that's roughly 11000 gpms. Before the SP. It would take someone a little bit to figure out what nearby mains would be available that aren't being used. And then, how do we get that water here. Is it even feasible. Past a certain point friction loss will win.
Something else to consider is that even though a main may be 16 inches, when put in over time scaling and other factors will reduce the diameter and by association its available flow rates.
 
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Capttomo said:
It was obtained on a grant. There are several locations around the city where high volume foam application would be required in the event of an incident. I alluded to some of them in an earlier post. So if the Feds are providing the right free of charge - why not. The real issue was the choice to call it super pumper. To many, there was only one super pumper. So many keep expecting this rig to go to major structural fire and blast walls away and quickly extinguish large fires. As was seen at the queens 5th the other night, the Satellite stream was used to throw water up over the side of the building to help drench large areas - however the real fire killer that darkened down the fire were the multiple tower ladder companies where members can direct fire streams with greater precision and effectiveness. The current “super pumper” may rarely be utilized- but for a free asset from the feds it is a great asset to have in the arsenal for a rare large hydrocarbon fire, or where large volume water is needed in an area that a fireboat cannot access and the water mains are damaged or inadequate.
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For that matter, since the unit falls with the $1 million dollar range, wouldn't it have been more prudent to purchase two Seagrave high a capacity pumpers and outfit them as foam units, one at LGA and one at JFK? The could have stores them behind E.316 and E.314. That's a long run to JFK right now and precious time wasted from their present location. JMO

Also, one block east of the fire bldg. is a lagoon that used to be the runway of the old Speed's Airport. The SP could have done them a favor and sucked it dry.
 
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seniorofficer said:
For that matter, since the unit falls with the $1 million dollar range, wouldn't it have been more prudent to purchase two Seagrave high a capacity pumpers and outfit them as foam units, one at LGA and one at JFK? The could have stores them behind E.316 and E.314. That's a long run to JFK right now and precious time wasted from their present location. JMO

Also, one block east of the fire bldg. is a lagoon that used to be the runway of the old Speed's Airport. The SP could have done them a favor and sucked it dry.
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This is just me, and having a high volume unit assigned to the 2 airport hose wagons (316 and 308, using them as first out units similar to high pressure units downtown or the old sat system where the engjnes were 2000 gpms but the rest of the fleet were 1000. You could extend that to the sat engines also. ) isn't a bad idea, but the initial idea or proposal for the SP was for the oil storage tanks, fuel farms etc. Scattered throuout the city, and being an addition to the bulk foam carriers, rather then a primary piece of the foam task force. When whoever was in charge of purchasing and getting the unit in service, left, the next person apparently didnt have the same visions and here we are. The airports were secondary or tertiary thoughts, even though they have large amounts of fuel above ground.
 
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