Central Frontenac upgrades water shuttle rating

Jeff Green | Sep 21, 2016

The Ontario Fire Marshall's office conducted a test of the capacity of the Central Frontenac Fire Department to deliver water to a potential fire last Saturday.

The standard that the fire fighters had to meet was to have their equipment up and running within five minutes to pump 200 gallons of water per minute, and to keep up that level for two hours in order to maintain the Superior Water Shuttle Rating for the department.

Central Frontenac Fire Chief Bill Young thought, based on tests in previous years, that they only had two minutes to start pumping, “so I was pretty confident when the inspector said we had five minutes.”

The test took place at a portable concrete facility on Hwy. 7 near Arden.

The first pumper was set up and pumping a stream of water towards the bush within seconds, and then three other trucks rolled in. Crews from each truck quickly, but carefully, set up portable pools to hold water and began filling them. One by one the crews jumped out and pulled the pools off the side of their trucks, set them up, and began filling them.

Within minutes three pools were set up and the trucks were all headed down the road to Arden. Some of the trucks went south at Arden to the Mill Pond, and others north to the bridge at Kennebec Lake.

“Now it's just a matter of driving back and forth and keeping the flow going,” said a relieved Bill Young at the time

Soon after, however, the Fire Marshall Official called Bill Young over and said that since it seemed like the operation was running so smoothly, Young might want to try and up the flow from 200 to 430 gallons per minute to give the township a higher rating, a commercial rating.

“He said that if we didn't get the commercial rating we could settle for the superior rating we already had, so there was no reason not to go for it,” said Young when interviewed two days later.

Crews upped the flow and stepped the pace of the water shuttle was in order keep the pools from draining down. An hour and a half later, the Fire Marshall Official said there was no need to continue. He had seen enough and the commercial rating had been attained.

Superior water shuttle ratings are something that the Ontario Fire Marshall's Office established as a way to demonstrate the capacity of fire departments, and they have the added benefit of lowering the insurance rates that residents pay. The commercial rating will add that of benefit to businesses throughout the township.

Chief Young said that it will take some time for the certificate confirming the rating to arrive at the township, but once it does it will be posted on the township's website. Local businesses will be able to download the certificate and present it to their insurer. They should see some savings as a result.

The township will announce when the rating has been confirmed so businesses eager for savings should wait at least a week before looking online or calling the township for details.

“The test went really well for us,” said Young. “All of our crews were involved and were able to work together, keep the equipment working well, and co-ordinate everything we were doing. It was a good day and we got a better result than we had even hoped for.”