Place fire water points so that every building is within 30 m of one by walking path, with each point reachable without crossing a fence or ditch, clear of walls that could burn, and marked for use in smoke. A straight row of 8 houses at a 16 m pitch needs 2 barrels because one barrel reaches only 4 of them, while the same 8 houses grouped round a courtyard are all within 30 m of one, and one person carrying buckets over 30 m delivers only 8-12 L a minute.
Part of Fire Prevention in Settlements
Distribution and access points are the places where fire water is stored and drawn, together with the paths, marks and refill arrangements that make them usable in the first minutes of a fire.
Thirty Metres Is A Walking Distance, Not A Radius On The Plan
The fire guide wants water reserves within 30 m of every building, because the time to reach water, fill buckets and return is the critical factor in the first 3 minutes. It sets 10-15 buckets per cluster of 4-8 houses, stored at the water and not inside the buildings. The water-point article gives the method of drawing a 30 m circle around each point (Water Points for Fire Fighting). A circle on a plan flatters the layout: the real distance is the path, round the fence, the ditch and the building.
Worked Example: How Far A Barrel Reaches
Inputs: houses 8 m wide with 8 m gaps, so a pitch of 16 m between house centres (the building-spacing article’s preferred figure with an assumed house width); a barrel at the middle of the row; reach 30 m.
- Houses in a straight row of 8: centres at ±8, ±24, ±40, ±56 m from the middle.
- Within 30 m of the barrel: the centres at ±8 and ±24 m, which is 4 houses. The other four are 40 m and 56 m away. A second barrel is needed, or two barrels at one-quarter and three-quarters of the row.
- Grouped round a courtyard 16 m square, two houses 8 m wide and 8 m deep on each side, with the barrel in the middle: each house centre is 4 m along its side and 8 + 4 = 12 m out, so √(4² + 12²) = 12.6 m from the barrel, well under 30 m, and one barrel serves all 8.
Carrying: a person walks at about 1.4 m/s unloaded (the figure used for the gate in Gate Placement) and more slowly with a full bucket; take 1.0 m/s. For a point 30 m away, a round trip is 60 m, so 60 ÷ 1.0 = 60 s, plus about 15 s to fill (assumed), 75 s in all. A bucket of 10-12 L per 75 s is 8-10 L/min per carrier, or 10-12 L/min if walking at 1.4 m/s and filling at 15 s (58 s a cycle), so one carrier delivers 8-12 L/min. Against a line’s 50-80 L/min, that is 50 ÷ 12 = 4 to 80 ÷ 8 = 10 carriers for the same flow. Their cycle lengthens in proportion to the distance, while a line’s rate does not fall with distance but needs more people to span it.
What You Need
- A water point for each cluster that is compact enough for the 30 m rule
- A clear path from every building to the point, without fences, gates that stick or ditches
- Raised stands or open-topped barrels at a height where a bucket can be dipped
- A mark visible in smoke and dark: a painted post, a lamp (shielded), a rope guide
- A refill rule and a cart route to the point, since a full 200 L barrel weighs 200 kg of water alone
Method: Place Each Point
Step 1: Draw the paths, not the circles, from each door to the nearest point.
Step 2: Group the houses into compact clusters of 4-8, round a court or in a square, not strung out along a road.
Step 3: Put the point on the side away from the wind and not against a wall that would burn.
Step 4: Cover and fence the water against drowning and debris, with a lid that opens in one movement.
Step 5: Mark the point and test finding it with eyes closed, by touch, from the door.
Step 6: Walk the carrying time with a real bucket from the farthest door, and time it. Adjust if it exceeds the first 3 minutes.
Common Mistakes
- The point behind a building or a fence. The path is longer than the plan shows.
- One central tank. A fire on the far side of the settlement is beyond 30 m (Water Systems for Fire Fighting).
- Barrels left uncovered and unlocked against frost. Drownings and ice lids are both ruinous.
- Buckets hung in the houses. They burn with them.
Safety
Drowning, ice and slips at the water
Uncovered barrels and tanks drown small children; an ice-covered barrel is a trap for hands; a wet path round a water point freezes and drops the person carrying a bucket. Cover the water, break ice before use, and keep the path gritted or raked in frost (Water Reserve Sizing gives the reserve it must hold).
What’s Next
- Learn next: Bucket Brigade Organization — how the points are used
- Combine with: Evacuation Routes & Assembly — keeping paths clear for people too