Master the Rural Hitch: 14-Step Firefighting Guide | Rural Water Supply (E6)

RURAL HITCH: Supply the fire scene with up to 1,500 GPM in way that's safe and efficient with these 14 steps to perform the rural hitch. Firefighting expert Henry Lovett of Water Supply Innovations explains how a clappered Siamese valve and a setup involving multiple drop tanks can help you take your nursing operation to the next level, the rural hitch.
FREE CHECKLIST: Download your free episode guide, complete with a checklist, equipment list and a bio on Henry! TFT.com/rural-hitch-checklist
Rural Water Supply:
Go deep into the Tennessee woods to learn advanced tactics for how to get better water from places you never thought possible, whether your municipal system fails or you're miles from a hydrant. Instructors Andy Soccodato (The Water Thieves) and Henry Lovett (Water Supply Innovations) unveil their secrets in this eight-part educational series. TFT.com/rural-water-supply #ruralwatersupply #watersupply #intake #firefighter #firefighting

[@jonlengel3341]

Before getting into the professional side of firefighting I cut my teeth for 12 years in a large volunteer department who regularly went MA to rural departments who didn’t have hydrants in much of thier districts. Drafting and tanker ops is a must for all engine company drivers. We saw the legitimacy of this after Katrina and the need for drafting in a big city. Hats off to you brothers for putting this to use and getting it perfected!

[@pyroman6000]

I haven't seen a fire apparatus built on a Ford C series chassis in service in decades! One of our members fabricated a device out of an old brass 2.5" female coupling and a 4' piece of 6" conduit. Included a swivel. He called it "The Water Dong". We kept it on our oldest engine for use in tanker shuttle ops, as a makeshift dump valve. Worked pretty well, and swiveled up out of the way, so it was left connected between uses. A bungee cord or hose strap was used to secure it up while travelling.

[@donalddodson7365]

These are very well done and filled with useful information. Thank you.

[@ajf0x252]

It’s a neat idea. In my area though, we still have a lot of tenders that can’t pump.

[@TheOwlWatches]

So where im a volunteer we don’t get much fires, but the one time we train on this and have the hoses out and stuff we get toned to a structure fire and spend about 2-3 minutes putting em back. It was a great training though!

[@samward7633]

Been doing this at my department for a while, never knew what it was called. Sweet video!

[@TaskForceTips]

Thanks, Sam! Great to hear your department has been doing the Rural Hitch for a while!

[@neilg1320]

Great Video TFT. Good job Henry in explaining this operation. I will use certainly this video in my classes.

[@Unknown_Ooh]

Also comes in handy when you are hot at a call and wanna dive in to cool off 😂

[@mikemullenax3498]

These videos are awesome! Keep them coming!

[@jamesbomb1741]

Great video love seeing some local departments I know

[@robertmorris-fg3lg]

Great Video, Thanks Henry

[@apacheoline75]

I had bubba as an instructor in Texas. Texas water thievery! It was damn good class!

[@RobertBryant-py3nf]

Seen that my grandparents house burned down this weekend 12 miles from nearest town they had to shuttle water it hurts to see a family home burn

[@kyleward-kw7vw]

Really great video. Excellent editing, text layover, pictures, etc. Very informative and a solid training package for any department. One CON I would add to using the LDH when you start your operation is the amount of water you would consume just filling that 5’ vs 3’ line. A long lay to a house could consume most of your tankers water AND not even have reached the fire attack engine yet.

[@sweenburg]

What alternative is there?

[@ChattNCC]

Excellent trading video.

[@LakesRegionEmergencyPhoto]

This is a very common technique up here in New England, usually they use a "gated Y" connection though.

[@chadjespersen8780]

This is somewhat normal operations around here. Some issues with what you show: Do not use a siamese. Use a gated appliance. We use a portable hydrant or water thief. That allows 4 - 2.5" inlets as well as a 5" and can push the water to a 5" line. Siamese does not allow the line to be drained if the lay is uphill and ends it people getting very wet if not hurt. A large (think barn) fire will require more than 600 - 700gpm. Most front suctions limit pumps to less than 1000. Know your pumpers and their capacities. It isnt that difficult to add a couple joints from the side and get 1500.

[@Stargazzer811]

Yeah I was watching this video and asking, why not just use a gated wye? You can shut off one side to disconnect the tanker and connect the drafting engine to it without getting wet or potentially losing flow rate.

[@zkent154]

Ever thought about using a 5 to 1 manifold ? First tanker uses a ldh short shot to flow 4” of water instantly then deploy 2 2 1/2” or 3” lines both ways using 2 discharges on the tanker theoretically flowing 5” of water and by removing the double females off the manifold you turn it into a water hole fill site

[@BACONndEGGS]

thanks i will show my RFD brothers

[@bentheguru4986]

Gotta hand it to you Yanks, not bad gear, not bad tecniques

[@tylermacconnell217]

Except that old white Ford engine…from the 1970’s!

[@bentheguru4986]

@@tylermacconnell217 Still better than the shit we got over here.

[@xelgin]

@@tylermacconnell217 Wanted to share a story from my old man. My old man was fire chief in a rural area and a neighboring FD said basically the same thing about their 1947 Mac. They had two brand new trucks and wanted to run lead on the fire, "you boys take that old truck and draft from the pond and feed us" Alright man w/e you need. They wanted to run lead because they were at the top of the hill and wanted the paper to take a picture with their brand new trucks running this call. Meanwhile, they kept calling on the radio that they needed more water, more water. Uncle was running the truck, "comming at you." Slowly but eventually had that 'old' Mac singing its high note feeding two trucks at the same time uphill. (3" lines 1000gpm 300' uphill 50' rise pulling from 2 5" suction sleeves on draft) Well, those boys running those fancy new trucks needed to shift on the roadway and shutdown / closed all their lines except supply. They failed to mention they were moving to the 'old Mac' falsely believing it wouldn't matter, (for whatever reason.) What they didn't know was that 'old Mac' was military surplus and was capable of feeding 3 3" lines at the same time. That 'old Mac' blew the packing out of every pump on those new trucks. Thus ending the new trucks being in the paper and instead a picture of a lone 'old Mac' fire truck at the bottom of a hill by a pond with lines coming up the hill like a spider was in the paper instead. I'd have to ask my old man since this was in the 80's, its entirely possible those new trucks were 1970's Fords. (Correction, new trucks were 1979 Chevys, the 'old Mac' had a 6cylinder 500 cubic inch gas engine.) Saw your comment and it kicked that story to the front.

[@TheOwlWatches]

@@bentheguru4986 😂 but at least it does the job over there. It could be like chinas FD 💀

[@Stargazzer811]

@@tylermacconnell217 That Ford will out-pump most modern units and probably breaks down half as less. Especially if said modern unit is a Pierce, Rosenbroken or KME.

[@C.J.Traylor]

Tankers fly, tenders drive. Other than that, this is a hell of a way to bring a lot of water to an incident without crowding it.

[@haroldenglish943]

Tankers are trucks and tender is a hook up app...

[@C.J.Traylor]

@@haroldenglish943 look at your IRPG and tell me what it says.

[@haroldenglish943]

@C.J.Traylor Sir, LOL, this is entertaining to me, I have nothing to do with fire fighting in any capacity. The closest I came to fire fighting was 2 HMMV'S with water tanks were assigned to me in Iraq in 2007 and I attended 8 hrs of training. These hmmvs were up armored and responded to blown up us vehicles on fire outside the base. Also used on the small base for whatever. I was Infantry but in charge of "Force Protection" so fire stuff I got stuck with. I retired and got into truck driving & heavy equipment operations..including Tanker Trucks with fuel and water. Now, my 2 yr stint with BLM exposed me to additional ass backwards Government language and "Tankers are aircraft & Tenders are water trucks" bullshit. Now, a plane ain't a tanker and a tanker truck ain't no tender no matter what jerkoff Government Slob wrote on paper. I appreciate what you do as a wildland FF, as I see it as sorta Infantry, Grunt work on the front lines.

[@AppalachianPatriot]

Tankers have wings…….tenders have wheels and stay on the ground.

[@chadjespersen8780]

Tenders are made of chicken and go in the fryer. Tankers carry fluids.

[@Stargazzer811]

Sorry to tell you but the terms are interchangeable, and always have been based on where you live. Get off your high horse.

[@AppalachianPatriot]

@@Stargazzer811 Sorry to tell you but on a wildfire incident or an All Risk incident they are not.

[@AppalachianPatriot]

@@Stargazzer811 It’s a nationwide thing not a local thing. Using slang will get people killed. Thank you but I already got off my horse after riding it this morning.

[@Stargazzer811]

@@AppalachianPatriot Nice of you to tell me what I already know. First off, it varies if you use USFS/NWCG ICS terms or NIMS ICS terms. Note that 80% of departments that use NWCG are where? California, because its always on fire so the Feds are always helping put it out. Also worth pointing out is before NWCG was even a thing, the term tanker was used in the trucking industry and by USDOT for vehicles carrying and/or transporting large amounts of liquid. The fact that the vehicle switched from private service to fire service doesn't change what it is. Another point: Tender came about in the late 1970s from a program designed entirely for SoCal, called FIRESCOPE. Meaning that outside of that region, it doesn't mean fuck all. "NIMS/NWCG made me do it" isn't a valid excuse to stick departments with a term they don't want. Finally Tender is an utterly generic term anyway that comes from many places overseas where its analogous to company in a fire service, so it really isn't great to use anyway. The main point though is that people will call it whatever they want, so it really doesn't matter. Tenders and Tankers are the same.

[@vhodak7737]

Wasting time

[@user-rh9mh5kh3p]

To bad in real situations it takes y’all 6 months to set up

[@kyleward-kw7vw]

Really great video. Excellent editing, text layover, pictures, etc. Very informative and a solid training package for any department. One CON I would add to using the LDH when you start your operation is the amount of water you would consume just filling that 5’ vs 3’ line. A long lay to a house could consume most of your tankers water AND not even have reached the fire attack engine yet.