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In the past several days, you may have heard incident management team members refer to a fire line being “plumbed” or a “hose lay” being installed. We’ve mentioned this in our operational videos we've posted online and on Facebook. Both refer to hoses that are unrolled and placed along a fire line so water can be used to assist with suppression and containment efforts.

Hoses need to be supplied by a water source, such as an apparatus like a water tender or fire engine or from a stream, pond, or other natural water feature where the water is drawn out by a portable pump. If water needs to be used far from where a large engine or tanker can drive and there is no natural water feature nearby, firefighters can set up portable water tanks and pumps. Fire crews refer to these tanks as “pumpkins” because they’re usually orange colored. These portable tanks are freestanding and frameless; since there is no assembly required, they are easy to transport and set up.

Hose lays contain a main line, 1½” in diameter, with lateral lines branching off the main line every 200’ feet. Each hose is 100’ in length and the mainline is set-up with “Ts” or “wyes” every 200’. Then a smaller diameter hose is attached. This allows water to be applied over a 100’ arc on either side of the line for use on possible spot fires outside the line, hot spots, or flare ups inside the line.