How long is the typical fire hose? Also, how tall is the typical ladder on a fire truck?

Question

Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Most hose come in 50 foot sections. Then, they get put together to go anywhere from 100 to 1000 feet.

On our engines we use crosslays which are 200 foot each, a front bumper trash lane which is 150 feet, and a second trash line which is 100 foot. Off of the back of the truck we have supply hose which is connected up to 1000 foot. We pull off what we need and disconnect it there.

For ground ladders we have 10, 14, 24 and 35 foot ladders. Our aerial truck is 70 feet.

Answer 2

A typical fire hose is 50 feet. fire truck ladders vary, most of the smaller trucks carry 40 feet.

Answer 3

"Hand lines" (hoses moved around by hand by firefighters - the ones used to actually fight the fire) usually come in 50 foot sections. They are put on the truck already connected together in lengths of between 100 and 250 feet - as described in the 2nd answer. These are commonly called "preconnects" because the are "pre-connected" or "crosslays" because  they are in racks which cross from one side of the truck to the other. The different lengths are for different purposes. Shorter "trash lines" are for outside fires where it's safe to place the fire truck near the thing on fire (such as a dumpster - hence the term "trash line). Lines used to fight fires inside buildings need to be long enough to reach from the truck to well inside the building. Yet, if they're too long, they will "spool up" or become tangled outside the structure. Common interior attack line lengths are 150, 200 and 250 feet. These hoses come in diameters from 1.5" to 3". 1.75" is most common for "attack" lines while 2.5 and 3" are common for "master streams" (big water for fighting big fires).

Supply lines (hoses used to supply the truck with water from either a hydrant or another truck) usually come in 100 foot sections. They are usually connected together in the large hose "bed" on the back of the truck in fairly long lengths. 1000 & 1500 foot loads are common, 2000 feet is not uncommon, and I've seen loads as long as 3000 feet. These hoses are usually between 4" and 6" in diameter with 5" probably being the most popular. (I have seen them as large as 8" in industrial settings and I've heard of but never actually seen 12" lines (also industrial). "Back in the day", before the large diameters (4" +) were developed and became popular, the 2.5" & 3" sizes mentioned above were also used as supply lines, and in some places, they still are.

Most pumpers also have a single (or maybe 2 at the most) short section of supply line, called a "pony" section (I have no idea why) which is kept near the pump operators panel and is usually between 10 & 25 feet long. It's used when the pumper is positioned very near its water source and a full 100-foot section would be much too long.

Ground Ladders (ladders moved around by hand and placed on the ground) vary from 10 foot single section ladders to 40 footers with multiple fly sections. 10, 20, 24 and 30 footers are common. The tallest ground ladder I've ever been on was 60  feet - but it took as many as 8 firefighters to move and set up. It had also had staypoles on the sides called "tormentors" to help raise & stabilize it. (I've climbed one of these exactly one time - and I do not intend to do it again if I can help it. While the ladder was never in any danger of failing & I was in no more danger of falling off than with any other ladder, it was extremely "wobbly" - not a comforting feeling when you're nearly 6 stories in the air.)

Truck mounted ladders (referred to as Ladder Trucks, Towers or simply "Trucks") are usually between about 60 and 110 feet tall - 100'ish (100, 102, 105, etc.) feet is common. The modern trend in these trucks is moving taller & taller. 120 & 140 are being seen more often. The largest I've seen is 303 feet (101 meters) tall and is manufactured by Bronto (this height is extreme and not common at all).

** What is "common" varies a bit from one part of the country to another and from country to country. I've listed what I consider to be "common" in the southern U.S.