Ah, yes. One of the essential tools of the firefighter: hose. To be perfectly honest, there's not a whole lot to be said about hose; it's ultimately designed to get water to the fire. There's some math involved in pumping it, but it really boils down to a simple plumbing problem. We've got all sorts of adapters, couplings, gated valves, nozzles, and other "appliances" that help with it, but it's been the same concept since bucket brigades and leather hose: get water from Point A to the much hotter Point B. Now, we just have more efficient tools with which to do it.
What seemed to throw some people for more of a loop was how to get the hose off of and then back onto the fire engine; it's another one of those strange movements that I'm sure all firefighters find to be second nature now, but there's not a whole lot to really compare it to. What was the line from Backdraft?
"Get it on your shoulder, Probie! It's not a football!"
I'm sure everyone in the recruit class will be an expert in dragging hose up and down and out and back and every which way before we're out of here. Engine 34 and the Tower will ensure that we are well-trained Jedi masters when we leave.
But hey, even sweating it out in the drill yard is better than being in the classroom, right?
(It's like a firefighter iPod commercial.)
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