Drying Hose- Fact or Fiction??

[x635 4,066]

I've been to several firehouses, mainly outside of Westchester, that still practice drying hose.

Example: Hose is layed and used at a fire. After the fire, the hose is taken back to the firehouse, where it is cleaned and/or placed on drying racks. The hosebed is refilled with the hose that is dry and ready to go. (Alternate hose).

Some departments swear that hose needs to be cleaned and dried before being reused.

My question is: with modern day materials that hose is constructed from, is this technique still neccesary??

[DMA327 12]

In my firehouse, we still lay out hose after it has been used, that way it dries out. We do this just to make sure that if the hose is wet and sitting at the bottom of the bed for a long time, it might grow mold on it or rot in certain spots. This actually happened to our high-rise pack which does not get pulled out on a regular basis. We hope that will resolve the problem of possible rotting of hose and keep it in service for a longer period of time.

[WAS967 97]

I vaguely remember one of the members of Bedford Fire talking about thier proposed new firehouse. I believe plans back then included a hose tower where hose could be hung up to dry.

[hudson144 150]

WHY DRY IT? ITS ONLY GOING TO GET WET AGAIN!!! LOL

[Guest rreimund]

We often hang it out to dry, particularly if it's hose that doesn't get used often just to mitigate the smell when it gets moldy. I believe you're right though, with today's materials, the need to dry it out because of the potential to rot the hose is not an issue. But opening up a compartment with a nasty apartment pack in it, enough to make you just about pass out. (like 3 weeks worth of gym socks from a HS football team..) real bad.

[DMA327 12]

I sure as hell do not wanna be opening that compartment.

Hudson...Maybe it comes off in Mount Vernon, but not in Croton anymore LOL

[Stench60 29]

It does have to dried, especially the older canvas jacketed hose so it doesn't rot (yes we still have a few lengths). The newer stuff is great and wouldn't be bothered by water, the problem is all the new fun chemicals and fluids that soak in and have to be washed out before it can be dried then repacked. Some of this stuff does a job on the newer nylon and rubber jacketed hose.

As to it's only going to get wet again; well, you take care of it and it will last a lot longer and when you don't have alot of money to throw around that becomes a big consideration.

[Guest rreimund]

This is true.. If we have the time/manpower we typically do wash/dry the hose after an incident.. even sometimes after drill night. But it's nice to have the peace of mind when we don't, that it won't destroy our hoses..

[Guest alsfirefighter]

It is best to dry it, as already stated to reduce chances of mold and dry rot. It will help to extend the life of the hose.

[John Meeker Jr 0]

How do people feel about pressure washing hose (other then its a pain in the butt). Does it hurt the hose? does it get the dirt out or just drive it in and cause additional wear?

[DMA327 12]

Last time we washed our engine for the Brewster parade, we power washed all of our hose. I don't believe it hurts the hose and it got A LOT of dirt and grime off of the hose. The hose looked really good for the parade and from what the judges said, the hose bed looked fantastic!

[tbendick 27]

As far as the hose we use at my house, If they hose gets full of dirt we will remove and wash them. Most of what we deal with is hi-rise. So we keep about 3 sets of folded 2 1/2 hose. 1 one the rig and two spare, when we use the hose we rotate and put on a new set. Main reason is that we don't want to carry wet hose up 40 floors.

The main problem we get with our hose is location we stored the spare stuff. Our Basement isn't in the best condition, a lot of dirt and water gets in.

[x635 4,066]

I know some of the lore of drying hose went back to the days of leather hose. Many firehouses used to have hose drying towers..........which is evident in the construction of some older firehouses.

I've noted this drying practice used in firehouses in CT and PA, where the houses I'm referring to actually have hose dryers or hose drying racks/rooms, and equipment to clean the hose. I don't ever recall seeing this kind of practice here in the WC.

Another aspect would be in wintertime and moisture freezing the hose together. Also, if the hosebed is not covered, what good is drying the hose if the rain is going to get to it?

[Firefighter57 0]

in BHFD we do cleen and dry hose on racks. After a fire, normaly unless the hose is cleen and somewhat dry, we role the hose then cleen it at the firehouse and put it on the racks. It drys and dosent get all mildewey and nasty on the trucks

[dc2t 80]

NFPA 1962 2-1.2* LOOK IT UP :-k

[COMMANDCHIEF 4]

We wash and dry the hose. I think that it's the best way to extend the service life of your hose. One of our houses was built in the 80's and they didn't bother to put in a hose tower. That small oversight has proven to be a thorn in the side today. We have to rotate hose from HQ to the substation after large incidents where hose has to be replaced for preventive maintainance.

[doug_e 0]

We use our 1970's model Cingulair hose washer all the time. We recently replaced the roller brushes - 5 of them cost over $900!

Works great now and we're gettin' alot of miles out of it now. As for drying, we do.

We'll be purchasing a new drying rack in the '05 budget year...