One drafting skill often talked about but seldom used is the damming of a stream in order to impound enough water to support a water supply operation. The basic premise is to place a ground ladder across the flow of the stream and cover that ladder with a salvage cover in order to create a flow barricade (dam). Of course, each water supply situation is different, but this crude dam device can really make a big difference - and since we can normally find at least a roof ladder and a salvage cover on most pumpers - this dam device can easily be constructed.
The photos shown in this story are from June 2004 when a large fire broke out in Libertytown, Maryland involving a church and several surrounding structures. Crews from several counties worked all afternoon and into the evening hours to bring this fire under control - all without the use of a municipal water system. New Windsor VFC's E101 established a draft at a small stream "in town" and filled tankers hauling water back to the fire. Conveniently, much of the water in the stream was run-off water from the master streams being applied at the church - and thus, the water was being recycled. The driver/operator of the E101 was able to dam the stream using the roof ladder and salvage cover from his pumper...and while tremendous amounts of water were not available - he was able to support tanker fill operations - along with several other fill sites.
