New orleans: overcoming water supply challenges

We arrived at our first fire on Tuesday morning, September 6. It immediately became apparent that New Orleans had a serious water supply problem. A fire that started in a house ultimately had spread to the surrounding exposures. This, we learned, was a common problem under the circumstances. Most, if not all, of the city’s hydrant system was out of service. At this fire, the New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) was relying on milk tankers to shuttle water to the fire scene. Later that morning, we responded to another fire; the same scenario was played out. The first two engines arrived at a house fire and were able to save the exposures with booster water but inevitably lost the house.

After the first day of fire operations, it was obvious that we had to come up with some kind of a plan to improve our water supply efforts. The following day, I met with Captain Joe Margin from the NOFD, who had been appointed the water resource officer as a result of a fire in a department store on Canal Street. He informed me that he had put into service a 7,000-gallon water truck that was keeping Bell South’s cooling system functioning. He then arranged with Bell South to provide this tanker to the NOFD whenever it was needed. At this time, we had only a few, if any, fire service-type tankers. More tankers from other fire departments were to arrive during the week. We now felt we would be in better shape for future fires until other equipment arrived.

Thursday morning, we got a run (or, as NOFD calls it, a roll) for a reported fire at the previous location. The adjoining house was now fully involved. My engine arrived third due. I knew the street and had the chauffeur come down the road where the fire was spreading to an exposure. With everything now in place and the water tanker on-scene, we were all a little more confident. Our engine was a mixed crew from the Bronx, made up of members from Engines 96 and 43 and Ladders 29 and 59. We put our collars up and our flaps down and made our way down the alley of the exposed building. We were using up water fast, but I reassured the crew that we had enough water. However, some problems followed, and we had to make a safe retreat back to the street. Luckily, we were able to keep an exposure from becoming involved.