Why does it always appear that firefighters are aiming their water spray nowhere near the fire?

Question

When I see firefighters battling a blaze it often appears they are aiming their hoses far in front of the burning house, doing nothing to attack the fire where it is. Is this a result of the water spray being hard to see on film, are the hoses not strong enough to aim through the windows, or are the firefighters simply writing off the house and surrounding the building with water to prevcent it from spreading further? It reminds me of those flamethrower streams aimed at Vietnamese huts which seem to peter our long before actually hitting the dwellings (obviously not the case).

Answer 1

Fire is a combination of three things,Fuel,Air,ignition temperature.

Water is used to bring down the ignition temperature of the combustible. Foam is used to cover the combustible so that it isolates oxygen(AIR).

Firemen to control fire from spreading,create a wet area between burning fuel and remaining fuel by spraying water.

Answer 2

I actually interviewed firefighters about that issue...reason is to control the fire and contain it so it doesn't spread...cuz pretty much the house is pretty much gone, so there's no point of aiming at the middle..think about it....fire needs some source of fuel to continue burning...so things surrounding it that hasn't been burnt is a source to keep it going, and things in the middle have been already been used up :)..hope this helps

Answer 3

My knowledge of firefighters isn't really too extensive, but I do know from reading a fire extinguisher label that when you are trying to put out a fire you aim the nozzle (and/or hose) at the base of the flames.  That would mean that firefighters probably shoot the hose at the bottom floor rather than the top floors.  Most of the flames are visible from higher floors so it looks like they are shooting to low.  These guys have to be trained to do it, and they aren't gonna mess up with everyone watching.  So check those videos again with that in mind.   Hope I have been helpful.

Answer 4

you got it!! they prevent it  from spreading further.....

Answer 5

i dont know

sorry : /

Answer 6

at first i think they wet the building to prevent further fire and then they begin spraying the inside to contain the fire.

Answer 7

From the angles that you see on TV is usually from a helicopter and they try to stay upwind of the fire so they can constantly keep filming.  The idea for a fireman is to usually aim at the base of the fire where the flames are coming from.  If the house is considered a total loss, then they attempt to keep it contained around the house that's already a total loss and to not allow the fire to spread to neighboring structures.

Answer 8

Light a bonfire. You'll see that the flames are higher than the source. Try putting a bonfire out by hitting just the flame... Not gonna work. The firefighter's are aiming for the fire's current or potential fuel source (Below or around the fire) Hope that helped a bit...