Annual Fire Hose Testing

This evening we took on the task of testing our hoses. This involves pulling all the lines off the trucks and stretching them out to approximately 400 foot lengths. Once the hoses are laid out we begin inspecting them for damage and wear spots. After the lines are inspected we tighten the hoses at each coupling, mark the hose at each coupling and proceed with pressure testing. The hoses are tested to a pressure of 300psi for 5 minutes. While the hoses are pressurized we watch to see that the marks we made at each coupling stay at the coupling. If the line appears to have moved away from the coupling we know that the hose is stretching and not fit for fire use. That hose is then put out of service and replaced with a new hose. This process takes a lot of time to complete properly. Tonight we tested hose for approximately three hours with about 20 of our members and we only completed the hose that stays ready on the trucks. This time did not allow for us to finish testing our spare hoses which will have to be done another night. Once a majority of the hoses were tested we also completed maintenance on all of our equipment. A volunteer's work is never done, but it is done with a smile!