Wednesday April, 28 2021

Nature: Water Shuttle, Drafting, and Water Flow Training

Location: Godwin School Road, Millsboro

On Wednesday, April 28^th, the Millsboro (83) Volunteer Fire Company hosted a training exercise that focused on water shuttling, drafting and water flow to acclimate volunteer firefighters with such operational objectives and become familiar with equipment and functionalities.  The Dagsboro (73), Georgetown (77), Gumboro (79), and Indian River (80) fire companies were invited to participate with their tankers to fulfill such training initiatives.

Water shuttling and hauling water to the fireground especially in rural communities and areas that do not have fire hydrants is an everyday reality.  Tankers or tenders are water-hauling apparatus designed specifically to carry large quantities of water to the fireground.  The units can be cross-built to serve as both a pumper and a tanker to maximize the operational efficiency of the fire department that acquires such equipment.

Tanker shuttle operations can determine the success or failure of a fire suppression response in a limited water supply situation. This operational design is simple: The tanker/tender arrives on scene, either pumps its water off or dumps its water into a drop tank on scene, and then it drives to a specific fill site to fill the apparatus and “shuttle” water back to the scene.

Illustrated herewith are photographs that highlight the training events.