The Tohono O'odham Nation spans roughly 4,500 square miles in the southern Arizona desert. Nearly all of its communities fit the definition of “rural” and have limited infrastructure to support firefighting operations.

As many fire departments already know, providing an adequate water supply for firefighting operations under these conditions often is a challenge. In many instances the nearest water supply is many miles away. Factoring in drive and fill time and minimal staffing, shuttle operations become impractical so operations typically rely on water brought to the scene. Add in rugged terrain, miles of regular off-road travel, greatly extended response times and sandy wash crossings, sustaining water supply at an incident starts well before the tones drop.

The Tohono O'odham Nation Fire Department staffs four stations with at least one engine assigned to each one. While tenders are available, they could be 40 minutes out and crews facing fully involved structures may have to plan their strategies around a limited water supply, such as imminent rescue transitioning to a defensive operation or focusing on protecting exposures when no life hazard exists. In many areas it isn't even possible to get tenders in because of the terrain or other restrictions.

As with any apparatus purchase, much thought is given to specifications, but even more so when you know your second-due apparatus may not be arriving anytime soon. Engines purchased in 1999 came with 1,000-gallon poly tanks. In addition, 20-gallon foam tanks were integrated into the water tanks and plumbed to a quick-connect fitting at the pump panel that makes connecting to a specially designed foam eductor easy.

While bringing 1,000 gallons of water on the first-due unit makes knocking down larger fires possible, the need to be equipped to respond to a wide variety of incidents — including brush fires, medical emergencies, water rescues and vehicle extrications — and the compartment space required to meet such a need, leads to larger apparatus. That, in turn, creates additional response challenges given the rugged environment in which we work.

A first-out tender delivered in 1999 carries 3,000 gallons of water, but is very large and limited to use in relatively flat, open areas. While this unit has an exceptional turning radius because of its all-steer feature, its weight, length and tendency to be used off-road make us mindful of its limitations. The design of a 2002 tender opted for a smaller 2,000-gallon poly tank with a foam proportioning system and greatly enhanced angle of departure achieved by forgoing a tailboard and reconfiguring the rear.

New engines expected to arrive this month have been scaled down. The specifications called for 750-gallon poly tanks; CAFS was added to make up for the smaller water tank. The compartment-space requirements were met by the successful bidder and the 4-wheel-drive chassis is suited for regular off-road use. The specifications committee worked for months to improve on the original design while addressing our unique needs. With regard to tender design meeting the needs of rural firefighting has become a matter of balancing the need to bring enough water to the scene and being able to get it there at all. Future specifications will draw from the tactical tender design used in wildland firefighting to include smaller water tanks and greater angles of approach and departure.

Forging relationships

Aside from apparatus design, there are many other opportunities to ensure we have needed water at an incident. Relationships need to be established early on with all stakeholders when new construction is planned. The area the department serves has been fortunate to experience growth and has many new, modern facilities. Most of these facilities are large public buildings that are considered target hazards. While these buildings have a positive impact on the community, we must make our case for adequate fire-protection systems in areas with limited infrastructure and abide by code requirements to the extent possible. We also must factor in our firefighting capabilities and truly understand what it means to take advantage of being the authority having jurisdiction.

In most urban areas, the plan-review process provides all the needed assurances that we have the needed water flow at an incident. In many rural areas, however, it is quite possible that because of limited infrastructure and the costs of upgrading, construction could occur without the necessary reviews. It is critical for fire departments to be involved early on so that the owners and stakeholders know up front what physical enhancements may be required, what the financial impacts are and what liabilities may be created by forgoing any recommendations.