This week we are going to look into a topic that will require some research and/or experience on your part. The object of firefighting (wet stuff on the red stuff) is to overcome the BTU’s with GPM’s; thus line choice is a huge tactical decision by the company officer. A huge tool and a world of difference is the 2.5″ Blitz Line. One would think that there is little difference between 1.75″ standard pre-connect and a 2.5″; but it’s truly night and day. The issue with the 2.5″ is staffing and the ability to deploy it. If a company is fully staffed and a heavy fire load is noticed; try not to overlook this line and its effectiveness.

Write a post to achieve the following:

1. List the advantages and disadvantages to the 1.75″ and 2.5″ attack lines
2.  What situations would warrant a fire company to utilize each of these lines?  (Think size of the fire, type of occupancy – commercial versus residential, etc.)
3.  How can staffing affect our ability to deploy and use larger lines? 
4.  Discuss your thoughts on the different lines.  If you are currently with a fire department, what are the standard procedures for deploying these two size lines? 
5.  Please post a link to an article, webpage, video or other source that contains some information on different line sizes.  The link should be to a resource that helps your fellow students with this topic.

Forum Requirements

Grading:  Forum posts are graded on timeliness, relevance, knowledge of the weekly readings, the quality of original ideas, the conversational exchanges with other students, and the attribution given to the authors or creators work.  Refer to the Forum Rubric for additional details concerning grading criteria and the Forum Expectations for a more detailed explanation of what I expect out of the forums.

All forums will be scored according to this Forum Rubric.
Please click here for additional information on the Forum Expectations.

Initial Post:  Your initial post must be a minimum of 300 words and should fully utilize the materials that have been provided to you in order to support your response.