Water Delivery The earliest firefighting done in America, was done with buckets passed by hand from a water source to a fire. What was known as bucket brigades were labor intensive and very inefficient. Large amounts of water were lost during passing of the buckets before it was thrown on a fire. In 1693 Dutchmen Jan Van Der Heiden, Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, and his son Nicholaas, developed the first fire hose of the modern era called a “fire hoase. The fifty foot lengths of leather were sewn together like a bootleg. These inventions allowed firemen a steady stream of water and the ability to more accurately deliver it directly to a fire. Later, Van Der Heiden developed the first suction hose by installing a wire through it to keep it from collapsing. Prior to 1790, water used for fighting fires came from wells, cisterns and natural bodies of water. As water main services came into existence, fireplugs and hydrants were then able to allow fire companies local access to water supply systems. In 1807, two Philadelphia firemen, James Sellars and Abraham Pennock, used metal rivets instead of stitching to bind the seams of the leather hose together, thus allowing for higher pressures and less incidences of breakage. However t, this increased the weight of a 50 foot length of hose to about 85 pounds. Leather hose had many disadvantages. It was high maintenance, often times dried-out and cracked, and it had to be washed, dried, and preserved using codfish and whale oil as a preservative. Some stations would use beef tallow and Neat’s oil instead, which was made from cattle bones. After applying this oil, the leather become sticky and caused the hose to smell. Sellars and Pennocks invention though, made it possible to use this ridged hose for suction. The thought of using suction to pump water had been considered in America as early as 1698, but without ridged hose it was ineffective. In 1793, New York City had taken delivery of a suction engine, and this type of hose also allowed pumpers to pump water a greater distance further than before. James Boyd, in 1821, received a patent for a rubber lined, cotton-webbed style fire hose. In 1825 the Mayor of Boston reported that a 100 feet of hose would do the same work as 60 men with buckets and more efficient. In 1827 the Fire Chief of New York City put 30 pumpers in a line to pump water a half mile. Charles Goodyear in 1839 discovered the vulcanization process for rubber. In 1871 B.F. Goodrich developed rubber hose reinforced with cotton ply. The Cincinnati Fire Department was one of the first to use this hose. As more and more manufactures enter the market place, they each had there own size and sty;e of couplings. In 1873 this problem was finally addressed at the first convention of the International Association of Fire Engineers. The Association adopted a standard size of threads per inch. Although this standard was adopted, many couplings styles were already being used in their respective departments and cities didn’t want to spend the money to change over. In 1878 the American Fire Hose Manufacturing Company of Chelsea MA, was manufacturing the first seamless cotton fire hose, produced specifically for steam fire engines. In a short time many other companies improved the weave and could get pressures up to 350psi. Cotton Hose still had to be washed and dried to prevent the growth of mold. Of course the cotton hose back then was carried to the top of a hose tower, and hung up to be dried. For busy urban cities during their war years, this was not a pleasant task. A wet 50 length of cotton hose was quite heavy to climb 3-5 stories after a fire. A dry hose line would then be replaced on the apparatus for the next fire. In 1932 the National Fire Hose Standard was enacted and 2 1/2-7.5 threads per inch became the standard. Not until 1957 was 1 1/2” fire hose standardized. Departments all over the country at this time were still using odd threads due to the cost of change over. In mid 50’s Robert Ely a San Diego Battalion Chief and Master Fire Mechanic built a machine to rethread fire hose to National Fire Hose Standards. The machine know as the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer” could rethread a coupling in 90 seconds without taking the coupling off the hose. Chief Ely stated that across the county, there were ten different diameters used and 462 different thread pitches. On Mutual Aid calls different agencies couldn’t connect to one another. I wasnt until October of 1957 that 1 1⁄2” fire hose was standardized. California State Fire Marshal Joe Yockers traveled to San Diego to take delivery of three of the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer” to change hose couplings through out California. In 1963 the National Fire Protection Association developed a standard for 3”, 3.5”, 4”, 4.5”, 5” and 6” hose to the National Fire Hose Standards. This time Departments were open more to changing over due to the ease made by the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer. During the 1970’s Polyesters and Dacron hoses were being manufactured and incorporated into new fire hose designs. These hoses did not rot like cotton did, but still needed to be dried to prevent mold. The rubber lining was still subject to aging so it needed to be hydro tested every year. In the late 70’s and early 80’s the Jones Snap connections were introduced. About the same time, the Storz fittings often seen today came along. Most of Jones Snap connections have been replaced by the Storz fittings, and are still being used today. Modern day supply hose is called Large Diameter Hose (LDH for short) and is made out of reinforced plastic with rubber lining. This single jacket hose is lighter weight and can be repacked wet without rotting. Mold can still grow on the plastic covering however, and that can make for unpleasant conditions. These hoses are for high volume water flow at much lower pressure. On August 14, 2004 The International Association of Fire Chiefs presented the IAFC Presidents Awards to Assistant Chief Robert Ely for spending over forty years of his life to standardizing fire hose threads nationwide. They also recognized his invention of the invention of the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer” that was saving departments countrywide thousands of dollars retooling their hoses. Chief Ely passed away on his 92nd birthday in November of 2003. Photo: Water Delivery The earliest firefighting done in America, was done with buckets passed by hand from a water source to a fire. What was known as bucket brigades were labor intensive and very inefficient. Large amounts of water were lost during passing of the buckets before it was thrown on a fire. In 1693 Dutchmen Jan Van Der Heiden, Superintendent of the Fire Brigade, and his son Nicholaas, developed the first fire hose of the modern era called a “fire hoase. The fifty foot lengths of leather were sewn together like a bootleg. These inventions allowed firemen a steady stream of water and the ability to more accurately deliver it directly to a fire. Later, Van Der Heiden developed the first suction hose by installing a wire through it to keep it from collapsing. Prior to 1790, water used for fighting fires came from wells, cisterns and natural bodies of water. As water main services came into existence, fireplugs and hydrants were then able to allow fire companies local access to water supply systems. In 1807, two Philadelphia firemen, James Sellars and Abraham Pennock, used metal rivets instead of stitching to bind the seams of the leather hose together, thus allowing for higher pressures and less incidences of breakage. However t, this increased the weight of a 50 foot length of hose to about 85 pounds. Leather hose had many disadvantages. It was high maintenance, often times dried-out and cracked, and it had to be washed, dried, and preserved using codfish and whale oil as a preservative. Some stations would use beef tallow and Neat’s oil instead, which was made from cattle bones. After applying this oil, the leather become sticky and caused the hose to smell. Sellars and Pennocks invention though, made it possible to use this ridged hose for suction. The thought of using suction to pump water had been considered in America as early as 1698, but without ridged hose it was ineffective. In 1793, New York City had taken delivery of a suction engine, and this type of hose also allowed pumpers to pump water a greater distance further than before. James Boyd, in 1821, received a patent for a rubber lined, cotton-webbed style fire hose. In 1825 the Mayor of Boston reported that a 100 feet of hose would do the same work as 60 men with buckets and more efficient. In 1827 the Fire Chief of New York City put 30 pumpers in a line to pump water a half mile. Charles Goodyear in 1839 discovered the vulcanization process for rubber. In 1871 B.F. Goodrich developed rubber hose reinforced with cotton ply. The Cincinnati Fire Department was one of the first to use this hose. As more and more manufactures enter the market place, they each had there own size and sty;e of couplings. In 1873 this problem was finally addressed at the first convention of the International Association of Fire Engineers. The Association adopted a standard size of threads per inch. Although this standard was adopted, many couplings styles were already being used in their respective departments and cities didn’t want to spend the money to change over. In 1878 the American Fire Hose Manufacturing Company of Chelsea MA, was manufacturing the first seamless cotton fire hose, produced specifically for steam fire engines. In a short time many other companies improved the weave and could get pressures up to 350psi. Cotton Hose still had to be washed and dried to prevent the growth of mold. Of course the cotton hose back then was carried to the top of a hose tower, and hung up to be dried. For busy urban cities during their war years, this was not a pleasant task. A wet 50 length of cotton hose was quite heavy to climb 3-5 stories after a fire. A dry hose line would then be replaced on the apparatus for the next fire. In 1932 the National Fire Hose Standard was enacted and 2 1/2-7.5 threads per inch became the standard. Not until 1957 was 1 1/2” fire hose standardized. Departments all over the country at this time were still using odd threads due to the cost of change over. In mid 50’s Robert Ely a San Diego Battalion Chief and Master Fire Mechanic built a machine to rethread fire hose to National Fire Hose Standards. The machine know as the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer” could rethread a coupling in 90 seconds without taking the coupling off the hose. Chief Ely stated that across the county, there were ten different diameters used and 462 different thread pitches. On Mutual Aid calls different agencies couldn’t connect to one another. I wasnt until October of 1957 that 1 1⁄2” fire hose was standardized. California State Fire Marshal Joe Yockers traveled to San Diego to take delivery of three of the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer” to change hose couplings through out California. In 1963 the National Fire Protection Association developed a standard for 3”, 3.5”, 4”, 4.5”, 5” and 6” hose to the National Fire Hose Standards. This time Departments were open more to changing over due to the ease made by the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer. During the 1970’s Polyesters and Dacron hoses were being manufactured and incorporated into new fire hose designs. These hoses did not rot like cotton did, but still needed to be dried to prevent mold. The rubber lining was still subject to aging so it needed to be hydro tested every year. In the late 70’s and early 80’s the Jones Snap connections were introduced. About the same time, the Storz fittings often seen today came along. Most of Jones Snap connections have been replaced by the Storz fittings, and are still being used today. Modern day supply hose is called Large Diameter Hose (LDH for short) and is made out of reinforced plastic with rubber lining. This single jacket hose is lighter weight and can be repacked wet without rotting. Mold can still grow on the plastic covering however, and that can make for unpleasant conditions. These hoses are for high volume water flow at much lower pressure. On August 14, 2004 The International Association of Fire Chiefs presented the IAFC Presidents Awards to Assistant Chief Robert Ely for spending over forty years of his life to standardizing fire hose threads nationwide. They also recognized his invention of the invention of the “Ely Fire Hose Thread Standardizer” that was saving departments countrywide thousands of dollars retooling their hoses. Chief Ely passed away on his 92nd birthday in November of 2003.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 01:47:54 +0000
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