Strange ask, I know...

[pollyglot]

...but if you lived in an icebound environment, or were experiencing a really cold winter and the pipes were frozen, how would you fight a major fire that broke out in your house?
Perhaps I need to explain...I'm writing a book and have no experience of really cold weather.
Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

The fire service take water directly from the mains supply don't they? They don't use the kitchen taps in your house.

Well, you sent me down an intriguing rabbit hole!

Here's one result: https://www.firehouse.com/safety-health/article/10457581/tips-for-wintertime-firefighting-operations-firefighter-training-education

I searched "firefighting in frozen winter". Have fun 😄

Where I live it can get down to -45C. I'd call the fire department as normal. Our mains water supply still works at those temperatures.

When we lived remote rural in the same climate, outside of any fire department coverage, I'd have not even attempted to do anything about a major fire, other than getting the family to safety.

Thank you so much, all of you - very interesting for someone who lives in the subtropics.

What I should have explained (and apologies for wasting your time) is that I'm writing a novel based on an ancestor who was in Boston for the siege during the Rebellion. Or, if I must, the War of Independence. He was a British soldier with his wife and children who lived through terrible times, wife and 2 babies dying of smallpox. I know that fire was always an issue and wondered how on earth they would extinguish a fire during the terrible winters they experienced both in Boston and in Newfoundland, where they spent almost 3 years. I hoped maybe someone who lived remotely without a fire service might have some idea of how water was obtained, so Cobrachicken thank you. Where on earth does it reach -45 deg? I can't imagine that temperature! We put on sweaters and complain like mad when it reaches 15 deg!

CobraChicken and I live in Canada. -45 is not unusual with the wind chill.

If no mains water, I would expect a chain of people with buckets or breaking ice on a lake or river and using a hose and a hand pump. Given that most buildings would be timber, I doubt either would be very effective.

Wow...so interesting, Moose, thank you. I'm guessing that there was no chance of getting water from the iced-over Placentia harbour. Maybe a little more hopeful in Boston.

Water is pretty unique that it freezes from the top down. Life on earth wouldn't exist in its current form if it didn't.

It also means that even in very cold winters, there is liquid water under the ice. I've been in the North of Canada and ice fishers drill down and fish. I'd imagine breaking the ice and bucket chain would have been common for fires. They would have to have had a source of water anyway for cooking, drinking and washing. So just using that. And running water doesn't freeze as quickly as still so rivers run after it's under zero.

We have an ice road North of us. It won’t be open for as long as usual this winter as it has been unusually mild. It stretches roughly 500km from just north of Fort McKay to Fort Chipewyan and then on to Fort Smith, NWT

Opening weight is usually restricted to 5,000kg. It is usually increased to 15,000kg once we get into consistent very cold temps.

MrsP and Moose

Thank you again for your most interesting contributions. Seems as though local ponds were the source of drinking water and other domestic purposes, despite the ice and the Little Ice Age at the time. Women's drudgery never ended.