February 1, 2011

To: Chief Alberto May Borges

From: Bill Salmon

Reference: Turbodraft Exercise, February 1, 2011

My observations:

1) The men arrived at 05:58 in Lingo, and immediately committed to establishing water
supply using Turbodraft.
a. One 2.5” hose was laid to the south in anticipation of supplying MahXe.
b. Water was being established with the Driver’s side Turbodraft but there was a
problem with the 2.5” hose and this caused an approximate 5 minute delay.
c. First sustainable water was obtained to Lingo via one Turbodraft (Driver’s side) at
06:16; water showing from MahXe 1.75” line across from Sedana.
d. An injury to the person in the water was identified, and care given. This is why
having medical respond as part of an exercise to treat our firefighters is a
necessary part of large incidents.
e. 06:30 second sustainable Turbodraft Established
f. The supply lines flowing to MahXe were set at what pressure? (MahXe was
flowing 150 gpm in line 1, and 250 gpm in line two, for a total of 400 gpm)
g. 06:30Second line 2 ½” line flowing from MahXe. (see chart for what they should
be set at)
h. 06:32 broken line; repaired in less than five minutes – excellent
i. Lingo being pumped at 300 psi to both Turbodrafts; Lingo overheated and I asked
Elezer to lower pressure to 200 and monitor temperature. Eventually lead to
overheat condition and antifreeze on the ground. I requested Claudio respond to
look at Lingo.
2) MahXe arrived at approximately 06:10 and setup south of Lingo’s position to receive
Turbodraft water.
3) MahXe crews were not engaging to setup hose or other actions while size-up was
completed of Sedana for a report on Conditions by Mauricio. I asked Arturo to talk about
this delay in the critique of the event. The crews assigned to MahXe eventually placed a
200’ 1 ½” line with a fog nozzle across from Sedana. Sustained water was flowing at
06:30 (32 minutes from first arrival)
4) Once MahXe was accepting the second 2.5” I observed a large amount of water coming
from below the pump of MahXe. I pointed this out and originally believed it to be the
 pump tank fill valve open. After seeing that Lingo was pumping at 300 psi; I need to
know what the lines flowing from Lingo to MahXe were set at. It is possible that either
the lines were being pumped too high from Lingo to MahXe and caused the pump intake
relief valve to operate (generally set at 150 psi); or the tank fill valve was open and the
water tank was overflowing onto the ground. It is important to note which one because
if the tank fill was left open that was taking pressure off the pump and would lessen your
capacity to flow multiple lines.
5) The broken 2 ½” hose which broke was safely and quickly shut down and replaced by
crews. This was a very well accomplished task, since it was unexpected.
6) Incident Command:
a. What challenges were noted by the Incident Commander (Albetto)?
b. What challenges were noted by the Operations Section Chief (Arjona)?
c. What challenges were noted by the Officer of Lingo?
d. What challenges were noted by the Officer of MahXe?
e. When the men involved at all levels are asked: “did anyone ever not know who
they were working for, or what their assignment was?” you may learn a lot about
leaders giving and receiving assignments in your command structure.
f. Using the planning event we conducted on Monday is an excellent way to plan for
successful responses which are in a” reactive” mode. This same planning tool
will help you to plan for moving from the reactive phase of an extended incident
into a proactive Incident Action Plan with defined operational periods of 12 or 24
hours.

My overall observations of this exercise are positive. I see a significant effort by all levels to
improve, and only through planning and field exercises like this one can we improve. This is
true for any fire department in any city.

Follow-up:

1) What damage was done to Lingo?

2) Are the temperature gauges working on Lingo?
3) What were each line in service being pumped at?
4) How did the men perform each of the flowing lines? What questions do they have about
operating their nozzles?
5) How can we use the media video taken to produce an excellent video of Cozumel
Bomberos in action?

Let me know if you have questions.

Well Done! Bill Salmon