The 15-Minute Drill: Practice With Your Equipment Before You Ever Need It
Owning equipment and knowing how to use it are two different things. In an emergency there's smoke, wind, noise and stress. That's not the time to read instructions for the first time.
Run This Drill Once a Month
- Minute 1-3: Get your gear out of storage. Time it. Is it where you thought it was?
- Minute 3-6: Lay out the hose with no kinks. Connect the nozzle. Check the gaskets in each coupling.
- Minute 6-10: Walk the hose around your house. Does it reach every side? Every corner of the roofline you can see?
- Minute 10-13: Practice the nozzle settings: stream, fog and off.
- Minute 13-15: Roll it back up and put it back exactly where it lives.
Practicing With Water
Practicing with real water pressure is the best training there is. My local fire department pointed me to a hydrant to practice with. Don't open a hydrant on your own. Ask your local fire department first, and follow their rules.
Bring the Family In
Everyone in the house should know where the gear is and what it's for. If you're the only one who can use it, you're one bad day away from nobody being able to.
What You Need to Know
Fifteen minutes a month is all it takes. In a real emergency, you'll do what you've practiced.
Call 911 first. Always. Check your local laws and talk to your local fire department before you use a hydrant. Equipment supplements evacuation. It never replaces it. When you're told to go, go.
See the Ace Fire Defense Complete Hydrant Kit →
It's insanity not to be prepared. Please like and share this. It helps neighborhoods be safe.
Sherwin Ross is the founder of Ace Fire Defense, based in West Hills, CA. After the 2018 Woolsey Fire, he became CERT-trained and started building wildfire defense equipment for homeowners.