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NOZZLE, FIRE-HOSE

https://collections.galtmuseum.com/en/permalink/artifact13134
Other Name
WATER CURTAIN NOZZLE
Date Range From
1960
Date Range To
2005
Material Type
Artifact
Materials
METAL, RUBBER
Catalogue Number
P20150010015
More detail
  2 images  
Material Type
Artifact
Other Name
WATER CURTAIN NOZZLE
Date Range From
1960
Date Range To
2005
Materials
METAL, RUBBER
No. Pieces
1
Height
19.0
Length
24.8
Width
16.6
Diameter
9.0
Description
ADJUSTABLE SILVER COLOURED METAL WATER CURTAIN NOZZLE. CENTRAL CYLINDRICAL PORTION HAS A COUPLING ON ONE END, THROUGH WHICH BLACK RUBBER IS VISIBLE. THE OPPOSITE END HAS A CAP ON THE END OF THE CYLINDER. THIS CAP HAS A SMALL KNOB, WHICH HAS A VERY SHORT PIECE OF THIN CHAIN ATTACHED. COMING OUT FROM THE TOP OF THE CLYINDER IS THE DUAL-ADJUSTABLE NOZZLE: A 90 DEGREE FITTING ALLOWS THE NOZZLE TO ROTATE HORIZONTALLY AND HAS A BOLT THAT CAN BE TIGHTENED TO PREVENT FURTHER ROTATION; THE SECOND COMPONENT ROTATES VERTICALLY AND IS ROUGHLY SHAPED LIKE A THUMBLESS MITTEN AND AN 11CM LONG SLIT THAT ALLOWS THE WATER TO SPRAY OUT. BELOW THE NOZZLE, COMING OUT FROM THE SIDES OF THE CYLINDER, IS A ROUGHLY TRIANGULAR SHAPED PORTION, WHICH GOES UNDER THE CYLINDER AND HAS TWO SMALL BOLTS ON THE VERY BOTTOM. EACH OF THE ARMS OF THIS TRIANGULAR SHAPE HAVE A RED STRIPE, WITH ONE HAVING A STICKER OF "Q1" IN THE RED STRIPE. OVERALL IN FAIR TO GOOD CONDITION. THE SILVER FINISH ON THE METAL HAS FLAKED OFF, ESPECIALLY ON THE EDGES/CORNERS, AROUND THE COVER WITH THE SMALL PIECE OF CHAIN AND AROUND THE COUPLING. THE RED STRIPES HAVE PARTIALLY SCRATCHED OFF. THE "Q1" STICKER IS LOOSE.
Subjects
REGULATIVE & PROTECTIVE T&E
Historical Association
SAFETY SERVICES
History
THIS WATER CURTAIN NOZZLE WAS USED BY THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT. IN THE SUMMER OF 2015, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN, CONDUCTED A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH CURRENT AND FORMER MEMBERS OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, INCLUDING: CLIFF “CHARLIE” BROWN (HIRED IN 1966, RETIRED 2004), TREVOR LAZENBY (HIRED IN 1994), LAWRENCE DZUREN (HIRED IN 1959, RETIRED 1992), AND RAYMOND “RAY” PETIT (HIRED 1965, RETIRED 1998). BROWN RECALLED “THAT’S JUST A KIND OF SPRAY CURTAIN BETWEEN BUILDINGS. I DON’T EVER REMEMBER USING IT. THAT’S WHAT IT IS. IF ONE BUILDING IS ON FIRE, AND YOU WANT TO TRY AND SAVE THE OTHER BUILDING, YOU PUT IT ON THERE, JUST KIND OF A BIG WALL OF SPRAY, AND THAT WOULD KEEP THE OTHER BUILDING SAFE.” LAZENBY ADDED: “THIS IS CALLED A CURTAIN NOZZLE AND THE IDEA BEHIND THIS NOZZLE WAS … FOR EXPOSURE PROTECTION. AND, WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS, IF YOU HAVE A HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET THAT’S ON FIRE AND THE FIRE IS VENTING OUT THE WINDOWS ON ONE SIDE, THE HOUSE THAT IS IMMEDIATELY EXPOSED TO THAT HOUSE THAT’S ON FIRE, WE CONSIDER THAT AN EXPOSURE HAZARD … THE BEST WAY TO STOP HEAT FROM TRANSFERRING RADIANTLY FROM HOUSE A TO HOUSE B WAS TO PUT UP A STREAM OF WATER IN BETWEEN THE HOUSES … IT DIDN’T WORK VERY WELL WHEN IT WAS WINDY AND UNFORTUNATELY WITH THE WINDS THAT WE GET AROUND HERE IT BECAME INEFFECTIVE AT TIMES, AND IT ALSO WASN’T VERY STABLE. IF YOU PUMPED THIS THING TO MORE THAN ABOUT 60 POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH AT THIS NOZZLE, IT BECAME UNSTABLE AND IT WOULD FLIP OVER … THE IDEA AND THE CONCEPT WAS EXCELLENT … BUT I THINK [IN THE END] IT DIDN’T WORK AS WELL AS WHAT WAS HOPED.” LAZENBY CONTINUED, STATING THAT THE NOZZLES WERE “DEFINITELY ON THE TRUCKS WHEN I STARTED … [AND THAT] SOMEWHERE AROUND 2005” THEY WERE REMOVED FROM THE TRUCKS AND REPLACED WITH A “BLITZ FIRE NOZZLE”. HE RECALLED THAT THE WATER CURTAIN NOZZLE WAS USEFUL: “I SAW IT DEPLOYED. WE DID USE IT. AND AS FAR AS EFFICACY, IT’S HARD TO KNOW REALLY WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF IT HADN’T BEEN THERE, SO, DID IT DO ITS JOB? YES, IT DID. THEY WERE JUST A LITTLE BIT TOO FINICKY AND JUST MAYBE DIDN’T WORK QUITE AS WELL AS THE NEWER TECHNOLOGY THAT WAS COMING ON THE MARKET.” PETIT ADDED THAT THE WATER CURTAIN NOZZLE WAS “JUST LIKE A SPRINKLER SYSTEM … YOU COULD PUT THAT BETWEEN THE TWO [CLOSE TOGETHER] BUILDINGS SO YOU COULD PROTECT THE OTHER ONE … I’VE SEEN IT USED, NOT IN A FIRE, BUT IN DRILLS … IT PROBABLY CAME IN AFTER [I STARTED IN THE 1960S] BUT LIKE I SAY, THE ONLY TIME I’VE EVER USED IT WAS WHEN WE HAD SOME DRILLS.” DZUREN RECALLED AN EARLIER VERSION: "I DON’T RECALL EVER USING THAT. NOW, THERE’S ANOTHER ONE THAT’S … GOT THESE LEGS SITTING HERE LIKE THAT [AND] YOU WOULD SET THAT ON THE GROUND. NOW IF THAT WAS TO HOOK UP A HOSE, THIS COULD BE SOMETHING WHERE YOU COULD HAVE A CONSTANT SPRAY GOING OUT. SAY IF THERE’S A FIRE THERE, AND YOU WANT TO PROTECT AN EXPOSURE CLOSE BY, AND THE FACT THAT THIS TRIPOD THERE, TO HAVE IT SITTING STEADY ON THE GROUND, AND THE SPRAY WOULD COME OUT OF THERE, THAT’S ALL THAT COMES TO MIND." "WE HAD A FIRE DOWN TOWN HERE, IT WAS THE OLD SAAN STORES ON THIS STREET, AND THERE WAS A FIRE IN THE UPPER STORY, AND WE, THERE WERE POWER LINES AND TRANSFORMERS RIGHT IN THE ALLEY, AND WE SET UP WHAT WE CALL A CURTAIN NOZZLE, AND IT WAS BASICALLY, BUT IT DIDN’T LOOK LIKE THAT, IT WAS BASICALLY THAT, BUT IT WAS A FLAT PIECE OF BRASS ABOUT THAT LONG WITH HOLES IN IT, AND WE PUT THAT ON SO IT WOULD BE A SPRAY GOING UP FAIRLY HIGH, I THINK IT WENT PROBABLY TWENTY-FIVE, THIRTY FEET HIGH. ONCE YOU PUT THE TWO AND A HALF INCH NOZZLE ON THERE WITH THE HIGH PRESSURE TO PROTECT THE TRANSFORMERS FROM HEAT, FROM THE BUILDING THAT WAS BURNING. NOW, THAT’S THE ONLY THING I CAN THINK OF, OF WHAT THAT MIGHT BE, BUT I DON’T, I DON’T REMEMBER THAT…” SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE LETHBRIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
Catalogue Number
P20150010015
Acquisition Date
2015-02
Collection
Museum
Images
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