Fire fighting innovations and technology - how we can leverage the new technology to improve the efficiency of the fire fighting service

Public water supply systems are usually designed not only to provide sufficient water for domestic, commercial and industrial demands, but also to provide the water that may be needed to fight fires. Although the actual amount of water used in a year for fire fighting is relatively small, the rate of use is large. In many cases the potable demand is not critical and the supply for fire fighting purposes will generally determine the pipe sizes required for a water supply network.

Provision of the fire fighting requirement comes with a noticeable cost to every water utility and there is much anecdotal evidence indicating that 30% of the capital cost of water supply infrastructure is attributed to the provision of fire fighting capability. For Auckland City, that equates to approximately $900 million compared to total annual insured fire losses of approximately $120 million. A recent study undertaken by the National Research Council Canada (NRCC) has concluded that it was more cost effective to provide a tanker supply for fire fighting rather than increasing the size of the water reticulation system (Davis, 2000).

In New Zealand, the flow rate and quantity of fire fighting water is determined by a Code of Practice (CoP) issued by the New Zealand Fire Service (SNZ PAS 4509: 2008). Advanced fire fighting techniques and technology is being researched in different parts of the world and some o f these techniques, such as the use of Compressed Air Foam (CAF), are reporting a 35%-50 % reduction in water usage. This could potentially lead to the design of “slimmer” water networks and more efficient use of available water resources in addition to a substantial reduction in infrastructure costs.

This paper will try to assist utilities in developing a better understanding of the fire fighting operations, fire fighting water requirements and the potential advances in fire fighting technology and the impact of these advanced technologies on the utilities’ day-to-day management of their systems. The paper will discuss available methods for estimating fire fighting requirements and their association with the current fire fighting techniques, which could be used f or further discussions with the New Zealand Fire Service (NZFS).