Hose testing this week. When does your dept normally do it?

[u/Melodic_Abalone_2820]

For my dept the Chief designated August to test the hoses. He also designated Sept to Nov for hydrant testing. Some of the guys don't like testing hoses because of the heat but at the end of the day, its part of our job. We start early right after morning check offs so the weather is tolerable.

[u/Igloo_dude]

We test around this time of year every year, but we have a company that does it for us

[u/The_Drewb → u/Igloo_dude]

Bruh you’re so lucky. We’re testing all of our 5 inch next shift..

[u/Igloo_dude → u/The_Drewb]

Brother I know your pain

[u/Darthbamf → u/Igloo_dude]

I actually hated attack lines more. I was a volly, so of course I was on spanners and nozzles while the full timers work the pump and look like they're doing something. Knees down, knees up, hands about to fall off, cold, wet, here comes a call where I perform like shit, oh now we get to roll allllllllllllll of it, line 5 trucks, and drive the to rest to 2 rural departments.

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for 3 small departments at a time. We had WAAAAAAAAY more hose than any 3 could blow through with daily fires, but... they all gotta be tested.

[u/umad_cause_ibad]

You guys do hydrant testing? That’s for our city works department. We don’t touch public (or private) hydrants.

Edit: do you just test operation and flow or do full A / B services?

[u/Melodic_Abalone_2820 → u/umad_cause_ibad]

do you just test operation and flow or do full A / B services?

We check to see if it's working and check the flow with the pitot gauge

[u/Melodic_Abalone_2820 → u/umad_cause_ibad]

Yes, a lot of the cities in my area test hydrants. All we do is if we find one that's out of service is write down the hydrant location and number then forward it to the service center. Then it's their job to fix it.

[u/That_Reddit_Person → u/umad_cause_ibad]

British brigade. We test all public hydrants from april to september. Just turn it on and let it clear. Make sure it's not leaking excessively around the threading, enough water etc. Then it gets written down as either operable, operable with defect or inoperable. Back of our trucks all have a tablet with a map marking hydrant locations and their status, so we don't end up wasting time tapping a faulty hydrant.

[u/Melodic_Abalone_2820 → u/That_Reddit_Person]

Serious question, I know the weather is kinda crazy over there. How is the weather when y'all are checking them? Do y'all wait for a certain time or do y'all go out whenever?

[u/Tasty_Explanation_20 → u/umad_cause_ibad]

You guys have hydrants?

[u/Ranger_Willl → u/Tasty_Explanation_20]

Can't tell if this is a shitstir or not. Yes, the UK and Australia have hydrants. They're underneath little covers in the footpath(sidewalk) most of the time and you screw in a standpipe that opens a ball valve and you get water. Occasionally you do see above ground hydrants, but not in vehicle areas and they're usually behind a roller door or with universal locks

[u/MuscularShlong → u/umad_cause_ibad]

We test our hydrants just to make sure it works and drains (dry pipe). Though we list the same broken hydrants every year and they never get fixed so tbh whats the point? I guess there will be a paper trail when someone dies in a fire due to lack of water supply. Red tape problems.

[u/FossMan21]

Volunteer here. We just tested ours. Do it in house. We have a pump we connect to the hydrant at the station and hook 2-3 lengths at a time and pressure test. Tue pump/machine has 4 outlets on it. We test ever length of hose that’s on site. Do it once a year.

[u/Thepolander]

I'm a recruit with a volunteer department in Canada but this is the time of year we do it too. It was insanely hot when we were doing it last week but it meant getting some water on you was refreshing. Beats doing it later in the fall I think when it would be getting pretty cold out

[u/Mister_Man]

Germany: We clean an test our hoses after each and every use. We have a special machine for that that documents the tests, clean, dry and pressure test with up to 16bar (232psi)

[u/PerrinAyybara → u/Mister_Man]

That's terrible unless you have very little and small diameter hose.

[u/ffranchhouse → u/PerrinAyybara]

Why is that terrible?

[u/Fred-C_Dobbs → u/ffranchhouse]

A lot of our houses would be doing it nearly everyday. Often twice a day.

[u/PerrinAyybara → u/Fred-C_Dobbs]

It also takes roughly 4hrs to test all the hose on my engine IF I was running multiple test machines at the same time. If I include packing time as well it's extensive

[u/ffranchhouse → u/Fred-C_Dobbs]

I get the issues you fine folks are bringing up and I do not disagree. My experience with German fire companies is that they have a much better system for cleaning, testing, and drying their hose than we do. It doesn’t take that much time and effort with their set up. Again, in my limited experience, they also don’t run multiple fires in a shift or even a week. In short, they don’t face the same issues as many American fire companies. Maybe u/Mister_Man can elaborate for us and/or correct my statements.

[u/Strict-Canary-4175 → u/ffranchhouse]

Because it’s unnecessary to keep a company out of service to test hose 8 times a week.

[u/ffranchhouse → u/Strict-Canary-4175]

I get the issues you fine folks are bringing up and I do not disagree. My experience with German fire companies is that they have a much better system for cleaning, testing, and drying their hose than we do. It doesn’t take that much time and effort with their set up. Again, in my limited experience, they also don’t run multiple fires in a shift or even a week. In short, they don’t face the same issues as many American fire companies. Maybe u/Mister_Man can elaborate for us and/or correct my statements.

[u/Mister_Man → u/ffranchhouse]

Well, I can't speak for each and every department in germany, but at least the bigger departments do run multiple fires in a shift.

The difference is, that we got a bigger storage for hoses. Also: not every station has the equipment to clean or test hoses. They change used hoses for clean ones at the bigger stations or at a FTZ (Feuerwehrtechnisches Zentrum - fire department technical center).

Our hoses have a diameter of:

D - 25mm (mostly for very small fires or vegetation fires)

C - 42mm or 52mm (attack lines)

B - 75mm (Supply lines)

A - 110mm (mostly just suction hoses for open water sources like ponds or huge supply lines for transport over huge distances)

[u/Tasty_Explanation_20 → u/Mister_Man]

Cleaning and repacking I get, but pressure testing after every use? Yikes

[u/Ok_Buddy_9087]

Fall.

[u/ThePureAxiom]

Company does it for our department now, but we used to split drills twice a year in the summer and have one group hose testing while the other did training off site so we wouldn't be in each other's way.

[u/SigNick179]

May

[u/greyhunter37]

French volunteer : Never. We repair/replace hoses when necessary, not on a once per year basis.

[u/NoSwimmers45 → u/greyhunter37]

Testing is an annual practice to pressurize the hoses and make sure they can remain in service. Leaks are identified and repaired if possible. If not the section is taken out of service and replaced. The idea is to identify an issue before a hose failure at an incident.

[u/greyhunter37 → u/NoSwimmers45]

The thing is the fact that it is not leaking the day of the test doesn't garantee it won't leak the next week.

Just take it out of service when a leak starts to happen. A small leak has never compromised a call.

Leaks are identified and repaired if possible

That should be done everytime you use the hoses, not once a year.

[u/TraumaSquad → u/greyhunter37]

Hose testing to NFPA standards includes pressurizing the hose above its normal working pressure and checking whether the hose stretches away from the coupling at all. We aren't worried about leaks. But people have been killed by metal hose couplings exploding when pressurized, so pressurizing your hose to 250psi once a year in a controlled environment gives you a reasonable guarantee that it won't explode and kill you at 150psi while you're standing around on scene.

[u/Fantastic_Bed8423]

We do it on our own ,throughout the year, if we get behind , we do it on training nights

[u/Horseface4190]

Annually, company officers get assigned and complete with their crew sometime during the year.

[u/woofan11k]

June or July, when it's hot as hell outside

[u/B0rnReady]

Most nights, right before I fall asleep.

[u/Melodic_Abalone_2820 → u/B0rnReady]

Just out of curiosity is that with or without help?

[u/B0rnReady → u/Melodic_Abalone_2820]

Brothers don't have anyone out to dry alone

[u/Impressive_Change593]

uh not sure. also what tf are hydrants (lol, we do actually have one now)

[u/Lord-Velveeta]

It's done yearly. Large dept here, we have a team from technical services who visits every station with hose testing manifolds during the summer months. They basically show up at your station one shift and: Surprise! We're testing all of the engines and station's hoses that morning.

[u/McDuke_54]

We do hose testing in March. We hire a company to test the hose and pay OT for off duty personnel to assist with the project .

We don’t touch hydrants . In California, water districts are actually responsible for testing and maintenance ( there is more to that but I don’t feel like typing all of it out )

[u/Agreeable-Emu886]

Northeast, we do hose testing ourselves and it’s usually early/mid May all in one week. DPW is supposed to maintain/flow hydrants

[u/J_TheCzech]

Never, we're happy if we can even consistantly wash and cycle them lol

[u/aumedalsnowboarder]

We usually do May/ June

[u/c00kieduster]

November. We pay a company to come out and do it. But I think we should just do it ourselves.

They unload the hose, test it, then reload it. Inevitably the hose loads look like dog shit. We used to just reload it. Now we stick around and are present for the reload process. Which is why I say we should just save the $ and do it ourselves

[u/ProfesserFlexX]

June. We do it all but thankfully the city public works does hydrant testing and contracts ladder testing

[u/Chicken_Hairs]

Hydrants are PWs job. Hose and pump testing is done by a contractor. Around August each year.

Small rural dept.

[u/sr20rps13]

NFPA 1962: Requires annual service testing of fire hose to ensure its reliability and safety, especially after repairs or extended storage, must be tested during the warmest season of the year.

[u/Wizowski_m]

we have a company that does it now. but before that i think it used to be a requirement to wait until the temps were in the triple digits, because thats when we would have to do it.

[u/Mega_Cron]

If we wait for the special order ever then it’s always the absolutely hottest day possible.

If you have a decent officer you knock it out on whatever day that year you want.

Field shouldn’t be held up for management for some simple annual stuff.

[u/Huge_Monk8722]

We pay a company that come same time every year. Unload, test and reload it for us.

[u/Ok_Umpire2173]

We hire a company for hose testing, but if a section of ldh fails due to a hole we cut the hose into a shorter section and retest on our own.

[u/chuckfinley79]

Most departments I know of do either end of march/beginning of April or end of September/early October, either way when it’s not insanely hot and humid.

We did it in July this year, one girl got blistering sunburn on her arms and another guy got sun poisoning. Plus we were short every day because everyone takes vacations in the summer. So that’s probably what we’ll keep doing.

Although I will say, every piece of hose I’ve seen bust on a fire passed its last hose test so…..

[u/Matt_TereoTraining]

The hottest days of the year. Every year.

[u/KGBspy]

May, it’s a p.i.t.a. and eats up about 3 hrs.

[u/light_sweet_crude]

Early fall. Used to hire out, now do it in house with each shift responsible for a different diameter hose for their station.

[u/JimHFD103]

We typically do ours around February. There's a whole schedule of which crew does it and when put out. It's designed so each individual shift does there's every three years (so 1st Watch will do it one year, 2nd Watch the next, and then 3rd Watch the year after before it cycles back around) and to keep things staggered so the whole Dept isn't trying to do hose testing all at once, some Battalions will do 1st Watch this year while another Bns 2nd Watch is up, and so on.

If that's a chore you really want to avoid, it can make picking up OT in Feb a bit of a challenge (they publish the schedule of whose testing on which dates well advance though) lol

[u/Proper-Succotash9046]

When the sticker says so , we call a company in

[u/ReplacementTasty6552 → u/Proper-Succotash9046]

Dang. Must be rich.

[u/Peaches0k]

September. Hydrants are in April

[u/earthsunsky]

It usually gets assigned as soon as another large more pressing project pops up 🤦‍♂️

[u/Tasty_Explanation_20]

Early September is when we usually do our hoses

[u/skank_hunt_4_2]

The hottest fucking month of the year.

[u/SobbinHood]

Hottest days of the year so I’m told. This was my first year and it wasn’t cold.

[u/ReplacementTasty6552]

Early spring

[u/yourname92]

This week as well

[u/2000subaru]

When the hose testing company shows up in July

[u/cosmicdebrix]

When it’s cold as all fuck, for some reason

[u/dominator5k]

We hire a company. Ain't nobody got time for that