COMBATTING VELD AND BUSH FIRES
Hawk Pumps Offers a Quality Solution
Hawk Pumps is a South African company that specialises in high-pressure pumping equipment and accessories. Their bespoke Fire Fighting Units are designed for use in a variety of fire-fighting initiatives, including industrial and agricultural operations.
Different Fire Types
Understanding the different types of fires is important to understanding how Hawk Pump’s solution is effective. Typical fire types include fuel storage fires, building fires, forest fires, and grass fires. While Hawk Pumps does provide a pump option that can be fitted to a standard Fire Engine, the most popular Fire Units have proven themselves incredibly effective in combatting veld, grass, and bush fires.
Three Elements
For a fire to survive it needs three components: fuel, heat, and oxygen. The general rule of thumb for extinguishing a fire is to remove one of the three components, thus rendering the fire unable to survive. When it comes to veld fires the fuel is the grass itself, meaning that a solution must aim to remove either the heat or the oxygen.
Effectiveness
Farmers, game rangers, and lodge owners tend to deal with smaller, albeit devastating, fires. Hawk Pumps provides an effective, affordable solution with its Fire Units, as they can easily be installed on a bakkie (truck) or a two-wheel trailer and towed around the premises. In most cases, having two trailers is recommended, as one can spray while the other is being refilled, to keep a constant flow.
A typical fire unit consist of a high-pressure pump, a hose reel of 30 metres, and a gun. The pump is powered by either a diesel or a petrol engine and is capable of producing high-pressure water flow. The hose reel allows for easy storage and deployment of the hose, while the gun is used to direct the water flow to the fire.
Each gun is adjustable and can change the spray pattern from a solid stream to a hollow-cone atomised jet, which is far more effective in cooling the fire. This design creates a forceful mist from the pressurised nozzle, choking the oxygen and cooling the heat of the fire.
Versatile, Custom-made Designs
The units are available in a range of sizes and models, with various flow rates and pressure levels to suit different fire-fighting needs. The larger units have a capacity of up to 220 lpm and a pressure of up to 40 bar, making them suitable for use in large-scale fires.
Smaller units have a tank capacity of up to 500 lpm and a pressure of up to 40 bar, making them suitable for use in smaller fires. Each hose can deliver 15 l/min although 20 to 30 l/min is more effective.
One of the key advantages of Hawk Fire Units is their portability. These units are designed to be easily transported to the site of the fire, allowing for quick and efficient firefighting.
The trailer version can be fitted with brakes and a tow hitch to suit a bakkie towbar or tractor ring hitch.
In addition to fire-fighting equipment, Hawk also offers a range of accessories for their pumps including hose reels, nozzles, and foam systems. These accessories can be used to enhance the performance of the units and make them more versatile in different fire-fighting scenarios. Hawk Pumps has also provided very large pumps to be fitted to Fire Engines, and they provide custom designs for combatting other types of fires, including fuel storage fires, building fires, and factory fires.
Hawk Pumps has recently celebrated 55 years in the industry and can be counted on to provide effective fire-fighting solutions at any scale.
Visit the Hawk Pumps website or contact one of the Hawk Pumps distribution offices:
Durban: (031) 274-8555
Johannesburg: (011) 822-4039
E-mail: [email protected]
