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Picture taken by M-L. Please notice the licence when using the picture for any purposes. Some references referred within the text.

The unit number gives us the city: H = Helsinki, 7 = number of fire station: Kipparlahti (later moved to Herttoniemi), 3 = type of unit: water tender. The picture is taken in front of station 2 (= Erottaja).

There are several CEN- and EN-standards giving basic structural requirements for fire apparata . Several statutes give requirements on vehicles and emergency vehicles. These standards and statutes regulate basic structures, pumps, symbols, minimum sizes for crew cabins, extinguishing systems, safety etc. In addition, The Ministry of Interior in Finland have published guidelines on some principal recommendations on fire apparata. Some minimum general recommendations for a Finnish water tender follow:

- ability to work in the temperature of -35 degrees Celsius (-31 Fahrenheit)

- ability to carry mininum of 5000 liters (approx. 1320 US gallons) of water

- ability to carry at least 10 000 liters (approx. 2640 US gallons) of water recommended

- crew cabin at least for 2 persons

- pressurized air breathing device

- 6×4, differential gear lock

- pump: minimum 3000 l/min/8 bar (50 dm3/s/800 kPa) from own container (approx. 800 US gallons/min/118 psi)

- water container should contain prevention system for over- and underpressure, manhole etc.

- separable equipment for foam fire extinguishing (a foam unit has also fixed foam container etc)

- fixed water cannon

- 180 meters of 39 - 51 millimeter (approx. 591 feet of 1,5 - 2 inches) fire hose

- 120 meters of 76 millimeter (approx. 340 feet of 3 inches) fire hose

- 40 meters of 110 millimeter (approx. 131 feet of 4 1/3 inches) fire hose

- pair of hose bridges

- various kind of couplings, nozzles, dividers, connectors, hydrant keys, armature etc.

- transportable water cannon

- shovel, tape measure, axes, crowbar, clawbar

- towing cable, hydraulic jack, tools, starting cables

- two warning triangles, traffic reflecting vests, traffic cones

- log book, handheld radio, torches, maps, fire rope, first aid bag, powder extinguisher

The water tenders bring a reasonable amount of water exactly where needed with a possibility to connect them very rapidly to an engine. This arrangement gives an engine with smaller water container a possibility to start fire fighting, and continue it for a while after water tender with larger water storage has arrived. While water tender supports the engine, sometimes time-consuming lines from fire hydrants, natural waters (covered with ice during the wintertime), extinguish water basins, or other water tenders can be arranged. If fire hydrants, basins or natural waters are not available, several water tenders may drive water to the scene. Even if water is arranged from fire hydrants, a water tender may feed the engines and work as a storage pool for water.

In addition, a water tender is a reliable source of water. It might take time to locate an underground water hydrant under ice and water during the wintertime, it may take time to draw water lines from the water hydrant, the water lines may break up the traffic and require personnel to control the traffic, and sometimes the water hydrants can be even broken or freezed in the winter - dispite of various technical principles trying to prevent that. The water containers in water tenders are typically isolated in Finland, however, the freezing of water in hoses and nozzles causes sometimes difficulties in the most coldest times of winters. In larger fires - or whenever needed to ensure the availability of water - water hydrants are naturally used rapidly, and water companies are even asked to rise the water pressure, so there will be enought water for firefighters and ordinary consumers with less changes in water quality.

In Finland, the water tenders alarmed first have a fixed water container. Sometimes additional water tenders are established by loading a 5000 l - 8000 l (approx. 1300 - 2100 US gallons) water container on a multi-purpose hauler fire vehicle equipped with a hookloader. This arrangement gives a possibility to create various kinds of “fire vehicles” which are used quite rarely. In Helsinki, there are few hookloaders, but several dozens of containers for various purposes.

The water tender H73 carries some 10 000 l of water (approx. 2640 US gallons), and 1000 l of foam agent (approx. 264 US gallons). It has pump with a capacity of 3000 l/min (approx. 792 US gallons/min). This water tender has a crew of one man only.

H73 is occupied 24/7 (twenty-four hours per day, 7 days in week) by a professional fire-fighter. The unit has digital maps and navigation system. It carries various equipment like vehicle mounted radio/status equipment (using encrypted TETRA-network), hand-held radios, hand torches, tools, breathing apparatus, fixed water cannon, portable water cannons, suction and inlet hoses, adaptors, sieves, dividers, blocking contacts, various size of hoses, nozzles, foam nozzles, inline inductors, foam hoses, hose bridges, various armature for fire hydrants, high visibility traffic reflecting vests, traffic cones, and signalling lights etc. As total, the unit carries equipment resembling an engine, and in principle, it is therefore able to operate quite independently when necessary. In practise, most of the tools are used to connect the water tender to fire hydrants and to fire engines - and working hoses.

The water tender unit H73 is one of the three water tenders occupied basically 24/7 in Helsinki. The water tenders are alarmed (in total) approximately 1200 times every year even the Helsinki city area (560 000 inhabitants, 184 square kilometers or approx. 71 square miles) is relatively well equipped with fire hydrants. The city has 8 fire stations (of which one is located in an island fortress in front of the city), 1 rescue school, and few sea stations, which are not occupied continuously.

In addition, 15 voluntary fire brigades serve as a 30-minutes reserve in major or overlapping situations. Some voluntary fire brigades have water tenders of their own. A voluntary water tender was alarmed approx. 70 times in 2005 . As total, the voluntary fire brigades were alarmed 360 times in 2005. Voluntary fire brigades in Helsinki have also fire engines, a heavy rescue unit, a ladder platform, various equipment to prevent further damages in fires caused by water, weather etc, and even boats with oil preventing equipment and rescue boats with rescue divers.

However, the daily preparedness in Helsinki is mostly based on the professional rescue department, like it is in most of the municipalities having more than approx. 20 000 inhabitants. Nowadays the rescue departments are organized on basis of areas. This means that several municipalities are covered by one rescue department. In towns and cities daily operations are taken care by professionals. However, in smaller municipalities more and more of the firefighters are volunteers, typically the chief and possibly couple other persons are professionals. In cities, most ambulances driving emergency calls are runned by fire brigades. Private companies drive less urgent drives. However, the municipalities have a right to buy ambulance (and other) services from anywhere, and in smaller municipalities also the emergency medical situations are taken care by private ambulance companies.

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References