FIRE EQUIPMENT FOR SMALL BRIGADES.
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A Handy and Compact Turbine Pump Which Has Three Distinct Applications.
111E GOVERNING fire brigade
authorities of urban and rural districts do not. always feel ju.stified in incurring thed,expense which is entailed by the purchase of a high-powered motor fire-engine, and, although many of them desire to keep abreast of the times and to discard obsolete methods of fire fighting, they are compelled either to retain these out-of-date methods or to agree to some Working arrangement with a larger neighbouring authority, owing to the costliness of modernizing their equipment. Moreover, the use of the large type of motor pump in sparsely populated areas is likely to prove uneconomical.
In our lest week's issue, we described an interesting little pump which is particularly suited to the conditions pertaining in urban areas, and we have had brought to our notice another handy and extremely interesting multi-stage turbine pump, for which Dennis Bros., Ltd., of Guildford, have acquired the manufacturing rights. This pump, which is made of gunmetal throughout, has the advantages of being light and compact in construction and is remarkably effi cient-. The company have designed all the necessary attachments and fittings for coupling the pump to the front of a Ford ear, although it can also be used as a trader outfit, or as a portable plant carried by two men. When attached to a Ford car, the pump is driven through gearing which is designed in combination with the pump easing, the pump being driven at double the speed of the engine. By this means with a Ford engine speed of 900 to 1,000 r.p.m. it is possible to get an outpnt of 200450 gallons of water per minute from the pump at efficientfirebrigade working pressure. The company are prepared to supply this outfit either complete with a Ford chassis with fire-tender body and the usual equipment, or as a separate unit which can be attached to this universal car. Of course, it will be realized that the pump can be made adaptable for practically any type of chassis, although its simplicity of attachment to the. Ford chassis will make particular appeal to fine-brigade authorities. -• It is, of course an advantage to have a self-starter when the pump is attached, but provision is made for attaching the starting handle to the end of the pump spindle should this be necessary. We illustrate the three applications of the pomp on this page. Then handdrawn or trailer set is equipped with an 80 mm. by 150 mm. petrol engine, which is directly coupled to a pump of similar design to the Ford set, except that it is a little larger, although it embodies the same patents. This set is capable of delivering 250-350 gallons of water per minute, and this means that two, three, or'everiLfour useful, jets can be brought to beaftonia conflagration.
This portable set can either be trailed by hand, when it •would be mounted on solid tyres, or be hauled by a motordriven tender, in which j case pneuinatic tyres would he found advisable: .The great advantage of the trailer outfit for country brigade work is that., no matter wherever the position of the water, there is no difficulty in getting theengine to it, although it be across fields and soft ground, where: the ordinary self-propelled fia-engine would be Unable to run.
The ,whole outfit only weighs approximately 10 cwt. it is an ideal,.puinp for factory or depot protection, in addition to meeting the iequirements of country brigades, whia it should possess advam. tages for city use in narrow streets. ,
The patent turbine pump which the company use is particularly suitable for country work, owing to its wide range of capacity, and to the fact that, as there is a total absence of valves or complications in the pump mechanism, muddy or dirty water can be pumped. .
The charging apparatus is combined as a unit -with the pump and is mechanically driven. It is, of course, only iii action for the few seconds necessary to create a vacuum in the suction, when, by means of a lever, it is thrown out of gear.