Fire department gets technology advance

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jacob Jimenez
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  Homestead ARB Fire Department's firefighters trained on the new P-34 rapid intervention vehicle, Mar. 20. The department added the two P-34 RIVs to the fleet in February.

P-34 RIVs implement Ultra High Pressure technology. The stations older vehicles, the P-19s and P-23s, are equipped with low pressure fire fighting systems.

UHP fire fighting systems on the P-34 RIVs are over three times more effective in putting out fires than the low pressure fire fighting systems. UHP water droplets are significantly smaller than low pressure droplets, therefore UHP have about four times more surface area exposed to absorb heat than the traditional low pressure droplets.

If the stations P-23 and P-19 trucks were equipped with UHP systems, instead of low pressure systems, the 3,000 gallon P-23 vehicles would have the equivalent capacity of a 10,500 gallon vehicle and the 1,500 gallon P-19 vehicles would have the equivalent capacity of a 5,250 gallon vehicle.

The station is transitioning into utilizing UHP systems within their fleet to extend the operation time for fire fighting. The technology provides a way to extinguish fires faster, use less water or foam, and operate longer.

"The P-34 RIV's lighter frame will reduce the time it takes for us to get to the fire, and its high performance UHP equipment will enable us to put them out faster," said Chief Willie Johnson, 482nd Fighter Wing fire chief. "The addition of the new truck gives us a stronger, more versatile, and capable fire combatant fleet."