FDNY question

[loxfire16]

What is Satellite 4? What kind of duties does it proform??

[stillPSFB]

Satellite 4 sits in geosynchronous orbit 38,500 miles above NYC. It has high powered infra-red and thermal imaging cameras that are designed to detect fires in real-time. When it detacts a fire it determines the address by using GPS and then relays the information down to the despatch centres in the respective boroughs.

Sorry - just couldn't help myself

Basically it's an engine with a big pump, big mother deck gun, and a hose wagon. I'll let E229Lt or MattyJ or any of the other FDNY regulars on here elaborate further.

[MattyJ]

Yeah thats basically it. A Satellite Unit is actually 2 rigs. One is the regular Engine the company uses on a day to day basis, although it is a 2,000 gpm pump. The second rig (which only goes if special called) is a large hose wagon, with large sized hose, a manifold, foam, and other stuff to supply a large amount of water. It cannot pump on its own (needs the 2,000gpm pumper with it).

[SpartanGuy]

MATTYJ,
If I remember correctly, the Satellites began as units that run witht the old Super Pumpers, correct? It did the pumping and they squirted?

[DennisTheMenace]

Originally posted by SpartanGuy
MATTYJ,
If I remember correctly, the Satellites began as units that run witht the old Super Pumpers, correct? It did the pumping and they squirted?

The current Satellite system was sort of an evolution/replacement for the Super Pumper as it grew then as it was retired.

[SIGNAL99COM]

Satellite units (there are 6), are large hose wagons without pumps. Mannis is provided for each by its' parent (2000 GPM) engine company, or designated backup engine company, when the init is activated.

A satellite carries 3000 feet of 5-inch hose (with 4 1/2-inch connections) in a split bed so that two lines may be laid at once, and three lengths of 3 1/2-inch hose for tower ladder hookup.

The IntelliGiant monitor has a 5" barrel and tips of 2", 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", and 4 inches. Its output ranges from 1000 GPM with a 2" tip at 75 PSI to 5250 GPM with 4" tip at 150 PSI. Two smaller Akron 3426 deckpipes are fed from the same waterway except on Satellite 1 which does not have the two small deckpipes. All carry a manifold outlet on wheels which has a 4 1/2" intake and four 2 1/2" and two 3 1/2" outlets, and a portable high-expansion foam generator which can be used as a smoke ejector.

Satellites have a variety of foam equipment, including the Angus Foam Cannon which mounts on the IntelliGiant gun, the Akron 3636 500 GPM foam nozzle, and a mix of at least 32 five gallon cans of foam.

Information taken from FDNY - Operational Reference, 5th Ediion, July 2003

[drkblram]

now...


then...


Photo credit to www.fdnytrucks.com for both pic.

[Bones42]

5250GPM! Wow, they would need 3 of those engines just to pump 1 of their guns.

[E229Lt]

5250GPM! Wow, they would need 3 of those engines just to pump 1 of their guns.

Now...true.

Then...The Super Pumper could supply two of them.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

As we say in New Englandese, Bahstin dialect....

That's a "lottawatah"

[Firefighter430]

What was the "Super Pumper"?

[FWDbuff]

The FDNY SPS was conceived and designed in 1962 by renowned Marine Architecht William Francis Gibbs, who designed among other things, the oceanliner SS UNITED STATES. The SPS was basically concieved as a land-based fireboat, primarily designed to move large amounts of water over long distances, as well as large delivery capacity.

The primary components of the SPS were two tractor-trailer units: The Super Pumper itself, and the Super Tender. (There were also 3 sattelites.) They were built by MACK TRUCKS (who else would have designed the most powerful land-based fire truck in the universe!!) using cabover Mack "F" model tractors, and custom-built trailers.

The Pump was a six-stage unit built by DeLavel, mated to a T18-37C Napier Deltic 18 cylinder opposed piston two-stroke diesel engine. It was capable of delivering 8800 GPM at 450PSI in volume mode, or 4400 GPM at 750 PSI in pressure mode. At full throttle it consumed 137 gallons of fuel an hour and shook the ground in the immediate area surrounding the unit. It was supplied through conventional drafting using 12" hard sleeves (it had it's own hydraulic crane and winch), from fireboats through the special SPS 4.5" hose, or, undesireably, from hydrants.

The Tender (also a tractor trailer) was basically a hose wagon, carrying 8000 feet of the special 4.5" hose, adapters, manifolds, and a special STANG Intelligiant Monitor, even larger than those on the Sattellites (those were 4000 GPM, the one on the tender was 10,000 GPM)

First fire operated at was Brooklyn box 11-11-290 Stewart Avenue and Scholes Street for a Lumberyard well involved on arrival. 11 alarms were transmitted in less than a half hour- the SPS delivered 7.5 million gallons of salt water when the city was in a severe drought.

**Info taken via the book "The FDNY Super Pumper System", by Jack Calderone, through my own memory.**