The other day a group of firefighters were inspecting a
hose that was damaged during a recent house fire. Sometimes they get run over, dragged on
the ground, punctured by debris or any number of things. Hard to tell. Therefore, departments
must fix hoses when needed or purchase new ones to ensure their equipment is emergency ready.
Unless you got a large bank account, which is unlikely in
most fire departments, you will need to fix as much equipment as possible
versus pulling out your check book. Therefore, a good group of handy men/women
and financial support can go a long way.
Most of the firefighters I have met are pretty good at
working with their hands. They do their own home repairs, fix cars, farm, work
in the trades, so on and so forth. A couple of people have been doing this for
so long that they have gained decades of knowledge.
Something I Learned: Having some mechanical
skills, knowing how things, work, etc. can help ensure that fire equipment is
in tip top shape without encuring ehorbant costs.
To fix this puncture we cut the hose and put a new coupling
on. The videos below have special equipment, but we were able to do this by
hand simply by using a razor (took a little work) and some lubricant to help
slide the hose on the coupling to be bolted together. We hen hose tested it with 200 psi preeure until the release valves became turned on. Lots of muscle and some
knowledge did the trick.
If you are interested in donating to a great fire department that serves their community, as well as the surrounding communities, consider sending me a message to the right and I will point you in the right direction. We got some things to buy that can't be a handy special.
You can read Regular Maintenance and Inspection in Fire Departments
If you want to learn what makes up a hose watch An Introduction to Hoses
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