ETHERNET ON WIRE IN HOSE
Protecting Entire Neighborhoods from Wildfire with Ethernet
Many new and existing homes have been built at the
Wildland-Urban-Interface. Recent large wildfires have destroyed many of these homes.
New technology is available which can provide low cost neighborhood protection, and increased safety for the crews assigned to fight the fires.
Today, fire crews assigned to protect neighborhoods must leave when approaching fires arrive.
The system shown above is NOT designed for use by an individual homeowner. As shown, it should be deployed by a fire department or a trained crew.
The crew can deploy the system and then leave the area and go to a safer location. The system can be remotely controlled by a cell phone.
The figure above shows a neighborhood that is being protected from a wildfire by a special hose system.
An Ethernet system running on a wire pair in the green hose allows for only selected segments of purple hose to spray.
The white Valve Boxes contain an electric valve that enables or disables water to enter the purple SprayHoses from the green Main Hose. The Valve Boxes are controlled by the Ethernet.
This selection feature allows for water to be sprayed at any only where water is needed. This saves water. The fire pumper can be replaced by a large pump that is supplied by a water tanker.
.png/:/cr=t:0%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:100%25/rs=w:1240,cg:true)
The image above is a MIL Spec Hose that is available from
All-American Hose. The hose has a single wire embedded in its walls. A second wire can easily be added.
This embedded wire pair can be used to support an Ethernet network that runs along the entire length of a hose lay.
Shown above is a detailed view of the Ethernet system components.
Each of the three white valve-boxes in the previous figure contains a battery, an Ethernet circuit board, and a remote controled valve. The valve, when opened, allows water to enter the yellow hose which has Spray Nozzles to create a spray curtain. The black hose has no holes and is used to supply the water to the all sections of hose lay.
The figure above shows a very wide wire moving across the landscape.
Firefighters usually dig a long gap in the vegetation with the hope of stopping such a wide fire.
The Ethernet SprayHose can be used to stop a very wide fire.
If the fire is very straight, the hose can be deployed at an angle to the fire front, so that fewer hose segments will have to spray at the same time.
The button below starts a video that shows two hose sections connected to a fire hydrant. The hoses have a single spray hole every 5 ft. This video was made before the 2 hole Spray Nozzle was discovered. This video gives expanded descriptions of the Ethernet Hose operation.
NOTE, the website at the end of the video is not used any more.
Protecting Critical infrastructure
The image above shows the Ethernet Controlled Spray Hose System protecting Critical Infrastructure from wildfires.
If the infrastructure shown is an electrical substation, then the smoke from the approaching fire can cause electrical arcing which can severely damage the substation. The hose can be positioned far from the substation,and hopefully minimize any smoke damage.
In the figure, the pickup truck in the right foreground is drawing water into the system from a water source.There is no spray enabled by a valve in the truck because there is no fire in the proximity of that hose segment.
The valve in the pickup truck is not allowing spray from the dual hose segment from the truck to the valve at the lower left.
Note the remotely controlled valve box at the lower left of the figure. The valve is not permitting water (or foam) to enter the spray hose of the section controlled by that valve.
The pickup truck at the upper left is deployed if the distance around the protected facility requires RELAY PUMPING to BOOST pressure. Having more than one pump is called
RELAY PUMPING.
Each of the hoses in the system contains a wire pair that supports the Ethernet network that can control the both pumps in addition to controlling the spray enabling valves.
A subsequent page will give details of
DIGITAL RELAY PUMPING.
The spray hose segment fed by the pump on the pickup truck has been enabled to create a water curtain to stop a grass fire that is coming toward the facility from the top of the above photo.
The final remotely controlled valve box at the upper right is not enabling a spray from the spray hose chamber.
Since water is being sprayed only where needed, the system is very water efficient.