Alpo Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Leave us say that my house has gas. It's on fire and burning merrily. The fire department is doing its best to put it out, but that house was built in 1940 out of fat litard. If it ever starts, it's gonna burn. It gets so hot inside the house that it melts a hole in the gas line. Now we have natural gas pouring into fire. That don't sound good. Is there a way turn the gas off down the street somewhere? Obviously there has to be, but would the fire department know where, or would they have to get the gas people out there? How far apart are these shutoffs? If they turn the gas off to my house, how many other houses will be affected? Do they have a way to circle around it, or is it straight line - if 1214 is on fire, so they turn the gas off to the 1200 block, is the gas also off and the 13 14 15 16 excetera hundred block? While we're on fires, how much hose does a fire truck normally carry? Hydrants (in my neighborhood at least) are probably about 200, 225 yards apart. If the burning house is halfway between two hydrants, you'd need at least a hundred and fifty yards of hose to reach it and be able to work the fire. And (at least on TV and the movies) they don't just have one hose spraying on the fire. They use multiples. Three or four hoses at 150 yards each? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J. Bones SASS# 75616 Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 In our town every house has a shutoff valve at the gas meter by the alley behind each house. Meters are above ground. One of the first things the Fire Dept. does when they arrive is shut off the gas. That was the way it was when we still lived in town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 Yeah, there's a shutoff valve on the meter, but the meter's on the wall of the house. I was thinking maybe something a little farther away from the fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennessee williams Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 That's a lot of what iffens. I'd worry about that asteroid or lightning first. Truck has on board water. Hydrant can be used to refill or go straight to the fire. Shut of the block or quadrant first if house is engulfed. After fire is under control they can kill it at the meter or branch line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Harrison Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Of course there are shut off valves. How do you think the company fixes or replaces leaking lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cold Lake Kid, SASS # 51474 Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Our FD dispatches a hose truck to supplement the "on-board" hose inventory on the Pumper trucks. Our FD does runs, times them and inventories requirements for incidents in the areas each station (and the entire city), so the dispatcher knows if they have to dispatch tanker trucks or other specialized equipment. All of it can be adjusted by the on scene Chief once they are on site. Using a special software program and CAD, we ran equipment over every street, road and highway, throughout the city, to gather data, to help determine where stations should be located, to meet the response times City Council decided they wanted to embrace. I found the science being brought to the table by fire-fighters to be really enlightening and reassuring when I worked with them on the issue, At least that was my view 20 years ago!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Former gas utility dude here... The system in any town has myriad shutoff valves to isolate neighborhoods for repairs or major breaks. In the old days there were maps with the valves marked. Now I’m sure the responding fire trucks have the utility grid on a tablet to identify the correct valves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 I had the gas company out to mark underground lines prior to digging for gate posts. I showed him my stuck turn-off valve at the meter on the house. Said I have to call an make an appt for it to be replaced. House will probably burn first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted September 30, 2019 Author Share Posted September 30, 2019 52 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: Former gas utility dude here... The system in any town has myriad shutoff valves to isolate neighborhoods for repairs or major breaks. In the old days there were maps with the valves marked. Now I’m sure the responding fire trucks have the utility grid on a tablet to identify the correct valves. After the hurricane, last October, there were two houses within a block of me that had broken gas lines - big enough tree fell heavily enough to break the line underground. I saw the gas trucks out there fixing them, but never wondered where they turned it off at. Then I woke up this morning thinking about a fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 I read an article that implied they could run a hose from a hydrant to a pumper truck which can then provide pressure to many hoses. Many meaning 2, 3, or 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cactus Jack Calder Posted September 30, 2019 Share Posted September 30, 2019 Another utility man here. During my time (33+yrs) the Co always installed a shutoff valve at the street mainline tap point for each service. It was in the ROW for the street, usually not in the paved area. As to what was done in the far distant past? IDK! Fire Departments always called the utility for a structure fire. Most times a Trouble-man was in the area and would respond ASAP. Also many of the Fire Departments knew where street shut offs were located and could operate the valves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texas Lizard Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 10 hours ago, Alpo said: After the hurricane, last October, there were two houses within a block of me that had broken gas lines - big enough tree fell heavily enough to break the line underground. I saw the gas trucks out there fixing them, but never wondered where they turned it off at. Then I woke up this morning thinking about a fire. I wondered the same thing about repair....My plumber told how they do it....He said 100% natural gas does not burn, needs an air mix...If repair work is being done a meter is set up where they are working....As long as a certain amount of gas is there they will, air gas mix, they will use a torch and go to work doing the repair....He said he has seen it done that way...I wonder if anyone checks the meter for the last certified working right... Texas Lizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted October 1, 2019 Author Share Posted October 1, 2019 Don't know how the gas company does it, but a few years back the water line broke at Mama's house (house was empty it has been 4 or 5 years). Neighbor called me and said that Mama's yard was wet - soggy wet. I go over and look, and see the water coming up out of the ground, so went out to the meter and turned it off, then dug down to the line to see what the problem was. Three days later the bill arrived at my brother's house in Texas, and he calls me in a panic to GO TURN THE WATER OFF AT MAMA'S HOUSE. 30,000 gallons. We told them it was a broken water line in an empty house, and apparently they went back and looked at the average water usage, and sent a new bill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Years ago, I remember that a friend had her mother visiting, mother’s home was in Ohio. While here she got a call from a neighbor who saw water gushing out from under the front door.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 18 hours ago, Alpo said: After the hurricane, last October, there were two houses within a block of me that had broken gas lines - big enough tree fell heavily enough to break the line underground. I saw the gas trucks out there fixing them, but never wondered where they turned it off at. Then I woke up this morning thinking about a fire. There are worse things than a fire resulting from broken gas lines...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 back when I was a volunteer fire fighter we would cut the gas and "pull" the electrical meter first thing if we could. "Pulling the meter" was the most fun as we just hit the meter on the top with an ax. The meter was ruined but electricity was cut. We could attack the gas meter with a wide spray from the 1½" hose to hold back flames while one guy took a spanner and turned the cut-off valve. Most interesting one was when the gas line was leaking and we had a fan of fire around the meter. I got to be the lucky one to cut the value--wet turnout gear handled that without a problem. Our pumpers had 4 pre-connects so all we had to do was pull the nozzle and hose off and move to the fire. We could supply other hoses--our limiting factor was amount of water in the hydrant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlesnake Slim Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 1. Most underground gas line is now plastic. Gas companies and most Fire Departments have specially designed pinch-clamps that will pinch the line closed in about 30 seconds. 2. Most fire engines are capable of carrying 1,000 to 1,500 feet of supply hose to hook to a hydrant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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