Fighting Fire With Water During A Water Crisis - Infrastructure news

“Assets are under threat due to lack of water, and this is often compounded by the fact that municipal fire services lack basic equipment like ladders, platforms and rescue vehicles,” adds Engelbrecht.

Maintenance of fire hydrants

Like most water infrastructure, fire hydrants are also badly maintained.

Wynand Engelbrecht, the Chief Fire Officer at Fire Ops SA

Wynand Engelbrecht, the Chief Fire Officer at Fire Ops SA

A fire hydrant is a connection point that is used by firefighters to tap directly into piped main supplies or water supply to add on to their emergency water tanks. Fire hydrants are strategically placed along roads, streets, and workplaces and they are often highlighted for visibility to the public and firemen.

The firefighters attach a hose to the fire hydrant, opens a valve on the fire hydrant to provide a powerful flow of water and is one of the most essential firefighting equipment available to extinguish fires.

Fire hydrants should be in a clear and easily accessible area to prevent firefighters from wasting valuable time trying to locate the fire hydrants during an emergency. Placing fire hydrants in an accessible area allows fireman to easily access water to control the fire and limit extensive damage to the property.

“Maintenance and servicing of fire hydrants used to fall under the fire department’s responsibility. But in the early 2000s, the responsibility was removed from the fire department and  it now sits directly with municipal services. I estimate that there should be close to 2.5 million  fire hydrants in a metro like Johannesburg. However  many fire hydrants are simply not operational; they are either flooded or have bees or hornets in them. Furthermore, they are not clearly marked. Pillar fire hydrants should be marked and clearly visible and  underground fire hydrants should have blue cat eye reflector markers on the road to help identify where they are. This is seldom the case.  I have even come across incorrectly installed fire hydrants that are impossible to access,” states Engelbrecht.

Regulation

Fire Ops SA fire safety regulations

However, even if a fire station has all the essential equipment, without a reliable water supply, its firefighting efforts are severely hindered.

Engelbrecht goes on to explain that municipalities are legally obliged to provide water for firefighting, and thus water for firefighting is given equal importance as drinking water when designing water networks. “However, most of our water networks are old, and water mains are already overloaded by increased water demand from growing businesses and population. They have also not been maintained, leading to water outages.”

Municipal responsibility is outlined in various laws and standards:

  1. Water Services Act (Act No. 108 of 1997): This act designates municipalities as water services authorities, making them responsible for providing water services, including water for firefighting, within their jurisdictions.
  2. SANS 10090:2003 (Community Protection Against Fire): This standard emphasises that “Two essentials for protection against fire are an efficient fire service and an adequate water supply. Local authorities should achieve and maintain a category 1 service.”
  3. The Constitution of South Africa assigns municipalities the duty of managing water and firefighting services.
  4. The Water Services Act (1997) and the Fire Brigade Services Act (1987) mandate local governments to ensure that fire departments have adequate access to water.
Furthermore, legal precedents have reinforced this responsibility. In a recent High Court ruling, a municipality was found liable for damages suffered by a business because an interruption in the water supply hampered efforts to fight a fire at its premises.

Therefore, under South African law, municipalities are obligated to provide and maintain an adequate water supply for firefighting to protect lives and property within their areas of jurisdiction.

“However, in SANS 10400-W, there is an interpretation that the land owner should ensure that there is adequate and reliable water supply for firefighting. This implies that, for instance, 72 000 litres of water must be stored for every hydrant that can be used to extinguish a fire on the property with a pump to maintain 3 bar pressure. An engineer can be appointed to do a rational design and reduce the required water storage. Furthermore, sprinkler systems require separate water storage facilities to the fire hydrants. Besides the expense, these water storage facilities take up a large footprint that a property cannot always accommodate,” states Englebrecht.

Compliance with building regulations are fundamental to fire safety. Under the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, all buildings in South Africa, including residential properties, are required to ensure the safety of occupants from fire hazards. These regulations dictate that buildings must be designed and constructed in ways that minimise fire risks, such as the use of fire doors, fire-resistant materials and the proper installation of electrical systems.

“Every business and home is built differently, and I always advise businesses to use a fire consultant when trying to minimise risks. For instance, equipment within a building may be worth more than the building itself and could be destroyed with water. It would therefore not be a good idea to have a sprinkler system above that equipment. Certain fires that are caused by chemicals cannot be extinguished with water. It is always best to consult a specialist,” states Engelbrecht.

How much water is needed to put out a fire?

Fire Ops SA fire hydrant

This depends on a range of factors, but according to Engelbrecht, four factors make the biggest difference:

  • How soon after the fire happens is the service called?
  • How soon can the firefighters get to the fire?
  • How soon can firefighters enter the building?
  • How skilled are the firefighters once they are in the building?
Van Zyl and Haarhoff (1997; 2007) investi­gated fire incidents spanning 1980 to 1991 within a section of the central business district in the City of Johannesburg, and a residential area in the Province of Mpumalanga. Highlights of their study were:

  1. Extinguishing large fires in the CoJ over the 11-year period typically took between 30 and 90 minutes, with fire flows ranging between 300 and 2 100 litres per minute (large fires are fires that require more than 5000 litres to extinguish)
  2. 90% of the large fires investigated were extinguished using fire flows of 3 120 litres per minute.

Innovate

Many laws and standards pertaining to firefighting and safety are drawn from Europe and America. But Engelbrecht argues that conditions in South Africa are vastly different from ‘First World Countries’. “We need municipal authorities to sit down and think about good practise that is better aligned to reality in South Africa. For instance, there could be a bylaw that allows fire hydrants to be fed by certified boreholes.”

International best practice states that a fire hydrant should be capable of delivering a water flow of at least 1500 litres/minute at 3 bar.  “ Firefighters are more concerned with the flow of water than the pressure. We can pressurise water ourselves with pumps. In response to the water situation, Fire Ops have developed their own Ultra High Pressure system (UHP) where pressure is increased from 3 bar to 140 bar and flow is decreased from 1500 litres/minute to 100 litres/minute. This also significantly reduces water damage,” says Engelbrecht.

Fire Ops’ rapid intervention vehicles (RIV) carries between 380 litres and 500 litres of water and a 90 m high pressure hose.  Fitted with UHP technology, they can work at a structural fire for up to 25 minutes with this water supply – completely independent on fire hydrants, instead plugging into domestic water supply (like pool water and taps) to refill our tanks. They have also developed a standalone, fully mobile UHP system, built by their technical division that can either be purchased or rented from and kept on site at commercial properties and manufacturing plants that pose a strong threat of fire or potentially hazardous environment. With a 500 litre horizontal tank, the system delivers 100 litres of water per minute at a working pressure of 90-170 bar.

Engelbrecht estimates that over 1 million litres of water was used to extinguish the 2003 fire at Albert Street where 77 people died. “If the  UHP was used from the beginning we could have drastically reduced water usage to 5 000 litres of water. High pressure breaks up water particles, eventually creating cold steam; thereby increasing the absorption ratio. This creates a ‘cold fire’ that is easier to extinguish. By atomising water, there is less runoff water and firefighting becomes far more water efficient. We are probably the only fire brigade in the world that uses UHP for all structural fires.”

“There are cases, such as industrial fires, where conventional firefighting methods are still the best approach, but adjusting nozzles and hose sizes can make all the difference, make the best use of water,” he adds.

Innovation is key to addressing the challenges of firefighting during a water crisis. With aging infrastructure, limited municipal resources, and growing urban populations, traditional firefighting methods are no longer sufficient. By adopting advanced technologies such as  UHP and exploring alternative water sources like certified boreholes, South Africa can develop more efficient, water-conscious firefighting strategies. This can reduce water usage, ensuring that critical resources are preserved while still protecting lives and property.

Fire Ops SA factbox

Fire Ops SA info box

  • Private Fire Brigade
  • Operates in Gauteng (Crown Mines, Rosebank, Fairland, Chamdor, Randpark Ridge, Waterfall City, Alberton, Kyalami); KwaZulu Natal (Kloof) and Free State (Bloemfontein)
  • Fleet of 27 vehicles (large pumpers, water tankers, RIV’s (rapid intervention vehicles) and response motorcycles)
  • Staff – more than 100 full time fire fighters, officers and commanders
  • Servicing over   533 000 addresses of residences and companies.
“As South Africa faces ongoing water shortages, the challenge of firefighting becomes even more complex. Firefighting and water scarcity may seem at odds, but through innovative technology and responsible resource management, we can effectively combat fire while minimising water waste. Fire Ops SA has adopted ultra-high-pressure (UHP) systems that use significantly less water while maintaining firefighting effectiveness. By utilising alternative water sources such as swimming pools, boreholes, and rainwater harvesting systems, the organisation ensures rapid response without over-reliance on municipal supply. In times of crisis, adaptability is key – our approach balances fire suppression with water conservation, proving that saving lives and protecting resources can go hand in hand,” says De Wet Engelbrecht, CEO of Fire Ops SA.

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