Vince Lombardi on Fire Fighting

OK, it isn't Vince Lombardi (PBUH), but it is Grampa Bluewater over in comments at USNIBlog. That is close enough. Reality based thinking - you know - the kind you can't fit on a PPT.

... I know about about fixed marine fire fighting systems from magazine flooding, sprinklers and CO2 to HYFOG, Halon replacements and the rest. You ducked the point.

They all assume a degree of structural integrity to work at all. They work fine in a sealed isolated space with delivery piping in place. ONCE, for the most part. In a running fight with multiple hits that is a rosy scenario indeed. Fire fighting in a battle on a battle damaged ship is done with hoses, hose teams, bunker gear (fire fighting clothing ensemble), AFFF cans, in line foam proportioners and pick up tubes, HV and LV fog and OBAs/SCBA's. And Guts.

You crawl down ladders that will scorch the skin off you without the gloves and fire suit, sqeeze through scuttles you can't see for the smoke in spaces where ambient temperature approaches the inside of a toaster oven, lugging the very breath of life on your back. You wade through ponds of shifting scalding water you applied to the fire moments before and clouds of scalding steam from the same source. You use every firefighting tool you have as fast as you can get it to the scene, because the fire doubles every minute. The key is isolation, which assumes structural integrity, to stop the fire, force it back, force down, and force it out. You exhaust the sailors you don't loose to burns, scalding, incoming ammunition, internal flareups, or
heat stroke establishing and maintaining the fire boundaries and backup boundaries. Most of the gee whiz stuff you cite is used up, shot up, or screwed up and didn't work. THAT is how you fight fires.

On.a.ship.with.no.structural.aluminum.

Can I get an AMEN!