Evolution 1.6 — Utilize a standpipe to charge lines on a multi-story structure

PDP = F + E + A + N. Start at the nozzle and work back to the pump. F repeats for every additional line or hose segment in the layout; N is counted exactly once — nozzle pressure is a component of PDP, not a component of friction loss.

• F — friction loss. Standard per 100′: 2½″ at 265 GPM = 16 psi by the field method (14 psi by C·Q²·L); 3″ at 300 GPM = 9 psi field (7.2 by C·Q²·L). Coefficients: 2½″ = 2, 3″ = 0.8. Field method for 2½″ in the 100–300 GPM range: take the first two digits of the GPM and subtract 10 (265 → 26 − 10 = 16).
• E — elevation. Structural: 5 psi per floor, minus the first floor. Computed to the floor the nozzle is on, not the hookup floor. A sub-level is a gain and is subtracted. Exception: on a standpipe with a known pressure reducing valve, elevation is based on the total height of the standpipe.
• A — appliance. The standpipe is a large appliance: 25 psi regardless of flow. That is the same 25 psi the printed 1.6 setup allows.
• N — nozzle pressure. The 1⅛″ smooth bore in the high-rise shut-off flows 265 GPM at 50 psi — the flow both 1.6 drills are written to.

Do not carry the 150 over. The 150 psi pumped into a sprinkler FDC is its own rule, outside this math. A standpipe is calculated normally, with its own 25 psi appliance allowance.

OFD Hydraulic Manual — Calculating Pump Discharge Pressure §2 (FL / EL / AL), Friction Loss Standard per 100′ table, hose coefficient table, smooth-bore tip table · Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-6 (high-rise nozzle) and 6-14 (1⅛″ at 50 psi nozzle pressure). Nozzle pressure counted once, and elevation computed to the nozzle floor, per Engineer Jason Anderson’s 2026-08-29 and 2026-08-30 rulings.

Every figure below is either printed on the 1.6 sheet or comes from the manual numbers in the block above. Nothing is estimated.

Then add the friction loss in your own supply lines. The sheet does not give a length for the two 3″ lines from the pump to the building connection, so that F term comes from the lay you actually made. The totals above are what has to arrive at the standpipe.

If the building has a known pressure reducing valve, the elevation term is not 5 psi per fire floor — it is based on the total height of the standpipe.

Drill figures: ADO-Pumper Task Book, Evolution 1.6 setup, September 2024 · pressures: OFD Hydraulic Manual as cited above.

This evolution is the second arriving Engine’s work on a first alarm. The manual’s assignment sheet gives the engineer the task by name:

“The Engineer shall establish the initial standpipe system and/or support a combination system with primary connections. After securing a water supply, the Engineer should proceed to the standpipe and/or combination system connection, make the connections, and begin pumping operations.”

The rest of that crew is not standing by: the Back-up, Tailboard and Nozzle Firefighters assist the engineer with the water supply and the standpipe connections before the Back-up and Nozzle Firefighters go up with packs and tools. All equipment from the second engine is placed outside the stairwell two floors below the fire, and the company then assists the first engine with advancing the first line.

On the first engine the engineer does not stay at the pump panel — that engineer takes the high-rise bag and pack and goes with the company to the standpipe outlet one floor below the fire floor. Which is why the standpipe gets pumped by the second engine.

The Quick Response Guide gives the same second-engine function: “Establish water supply, Pump standpipe if 1st Engine determines standpipe operations.”

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-11 to 6-12 — Standpipe Assignments · OFD Quick Reference Guide (May 2024), 2nd Engine Company Functions

Standpipe systems are categorized by outlet size and as wet or dry. Wet systems hold water in the riser at all times, supplied by municipal main, gravity tank, pressure tank, or a combination — often with fire pumps boosting pressure to the upper floors. Dry systems have no automatic source of supply and depend solely on fire department pumpers to provide the system demand. On a dry standpipe, “fire department pumpers provide the only water supply available for firefighting.”

• Class I — 2½″ outlets, for fire department use only.
• Class II — 1½″ outlet with 1½″ hose, for occupant use.
• Class III — 2½″ and 1½″ outlets (or 2½″ reduced with a removable reducer), for occupant and firefighter use.

A combined sprinkler/standpipe system incorporates the sprinkler water supply with a Class III standpipe; most new systems are built this way, and they generally require a fire pump to deliver adequate pressure at the upper levels. Engine companies should never use the unlined linen occupant hose — it is often old, poorly maintained, and may fail at fire department operating pressures. The one exception: a ladder or rescue company operating remotely from an engine company during searches, to save civilian or firefighter lives.

Expect standpipes in multifamily residential buildings over three floors, high-rise residential and office buildings, hospitals, terminals, warehouses, industrial buildings, enclosed malls, theaters, stadiums, parking garages, bridges, and tunnels. Risers are usually in enclosed stairwells but can be in public hallways or outside along fire escapes.

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-1 to 6-4 and 6-16 — Standpipe Systems / Supplying Standpipe Systems

The first critical task facing the 2nd due Engine Company at a standpipe-equipped building is to establish a water supply by pumping into the FDC connections. The manual’s assignment:

“The second Engine Company arriving on the first alarm should take a position at the appropriate FDC standpipe connection and supply two 3″ lines into the FDC Siamese and connect to the nearest hydrant. The third arriving Engine Company should relay pump to the second engine company from the next nearest hydrant.”

The two engine companies work in series, not in parallel. This evolution — one engine, two 3″ lines into the building connection — is exactly the 2nd-due engineer’s job. The redundancy the manual requires (“two engine companies for each Siamese connection”) comes from the 3rd due relay-pumping into you from the next nearest hydrant, not from a second engine on the same Siamese. Larger buildings often have multiple FDC connections on different street fronts — later-arriving engines continue the procedure on those.

On wet standpipes the pumper augments the system so flow needs are met at adequate pressure; on dry standpipes the pumper is the supply.

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-16 — Supplying Standpipe Systems · re-verified 2026-08-30

High-rise bundles — four 50′ lengths of 2½″ hose packed in a Denver load with straps; one bundle has the high-rise nozzle pre-attached. The manual requires 2½″ hose and smooth-bore nozzles off standpipes in commercial and residential low-rise and high-rise buildings, mainly because of the limited pressure in wet systems built before 1993 and the extinguishing capability of 2½″ hose. For residential occupancies and hotels, the 1¾″ Minuteman bundle can be attached to the high-rise shut-off, for overhaul and if fire conditions allow.

High-rise kit — a nylon bag with, at minimum: gate valve, spanner wrenches, door wedges, pipe wrench, pressure gauge, 30-degree elbow, and PRD/PRV adjustment tools.

• 2½″ high-rise nozzle — a ball-style shut-off with a built-in 2½″-to-1½″ reducer taking the 1⅛″ smooth bore tip; the shut-off also lets the crew turn off the water and extend the stretch at the nozzle.
• Gate valve — gives the firefighter at the outlet control over discharge pressure and redundancy if the outlet valve or PRD/PRV fails.
• In-line pressure gauge — attached to the gate valve’s 2½″ outlet before the hose, so the company can dial in the correct pressure for the hose stretched.
• Elbow — reduces bends or kinks at the outlet and eases hookup inside a hallway hose cabinet.

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-5 to 6-8 — Standpipe Hose and Equipment / Operating from Standpipe Systems

In low-rise buildings, fire attack crews do not use elevators — hose and equipment go up the stairs. Crews may use the elevators in buildings over six stories, provided that an Elevator Operator is in place and the crews exit the elevator a minimum of two floors below the fire floor.

Pick the hose outlet in the stairway closest to the fire to minimize the stretch. All primary standpipe hookups must be made on the floor below the fire. Additional hoselines may have to connect two floors below the fire or in more distant stairways — second- and third-line companies should anticipate this and add lengths to their stretch. Under no circumstances hook up at an outlet that does not protect the crew from heat and smoke, such as in a corridor or hallway.

Charging the line: in commercial buildings the line is always charged within the confines of the stairway. A bedroom or kitchen fire in a residential building may allow a dry stretch to the apartment door — but with a more developed fire, wind, or an open apartment door, the stairway is the only safe option. If any doubt exists, charge the line in the stairway.

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-8 to 6-10 — Operating from Standpipe Systems

• 1 — Make sure the hose outlet valve is closed before removing the outlet cap. On dry systems, outlet valves may sit open on other floors — firefighters must be assigned to shut them so they don’t rob pressure from the system.
• 2 — Remove or adjust the pressure-regulating device if present. Some PRDs remove; non-removable ones must be adjusted fully open (adjustment tools are in the high-rise kit). A third type can neither be removed nor field-adjusted — the most dangerous kind, which should be identified during pre-fire planning and disseminated to all affected companies.
• 3 — Flush the system through the open outlet valve. Garbage and debris collect in risers, and flushing keeps the nozzle from clogging — it also proves the outlet valve works.
• 4 — Attach the gate valve and in-line gauge, then the hose, ready to charge on the officer’s orders. Pressure adjustments are made on the in-line gauge with the nozzle fully open and flowing.

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-9 to 6-10 — Operating from Standpipe Systems

Flow restricting devices (most commonly an orifice plate) restrict flow through a reduced opening sized to a specific pressure and rate. They do not reduce static pressure, so higher pressures appear at lower flows.

Pressure reducing valves (PRVs) limit downstream pressure at all flow rates — static and flowing — and are set for a specific pressure, usually not adjustable without special tools. They are often installed where risers feed the sprinklers on individual floors as well as on hose outlets. PRVs removed the old ~20-story-per-zone height limit that flow restrictors imposed.

The hazard the manual flags: departments have found PRVs not properly set for the required discharge pressure, leaving crews with inadequate or excessive hoseline pressures. Standards now require a test/drain riser next to PRV-equipped risers so settings can be checked during regular inspections.

Background on outlet pressures: before 1993, NFPA 14 required only 65 psi residual at the topmost outlet — adequate for 2½″ smooth-bore work but not for 1¾″ lines with fog nozzles. The present standard requires a minimum of 100 psi at the top outlet. Know which buildings in the district fall under the old standard, and remember these minimums assume a properly maintained, 100%-dependable system — “a scenario we must realize does not exist in many buildings.”

Engine Company Operations 2023 V-1, 6-4 and 6-13 to 6-15 — Standpipe Systems / Pressure Reducing Devices