Development of the Fire Resistant Firehose
Last Call Foundation is funding the research to develop a next generation fire attack hose that will reliably extinguish every fire. ​
Last Call Foundation funded a study at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Fire Engineering Program led by Professor Kathy Ann Notarianni. The history of fire hose and its evolution through the years were studied. Most recent issues affecting fire hose performance, thermal qualities and failure rates were studied. It was proven that more than 90% of the reported fire hose’ that failed, were charged, meaning water was flowing. It was also uncovered that fire hose failure is untracked and unreported.
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According to reports from WPI, fire hose failure on the fire ground is far more common than anyone was aware of.
Please contact WPI and ask to see the Data Base of Fire Hose Failure established at WPI, which has not been released as promised to those who provided the content, and need the information most, the Fire Service.
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​Last Call Foundation provided the funding for a joint effort by an independent outside fire engineering company, Fire & Risk Alliance to design and build, with the input of the NFPA 1961 Technical Committee Members, a reliable fire hose test mechanism.
This provides a method for testing to be uniform, repeatable and economically viable. The Mechanism design was sent to UL – Underwriters Laboratories in January 2018, for testing and approval, following UL approval it was referred to in an updated NFPA 1961 Standard to be published in 2019. What this mean to you, if it was tested it is eligible to be stamped NFPA compliant, there is no pass fail. Why? Well because the Manufactures representatives on the NFPA 1961 Technical Committee absolutely refused to allow the NFPA to define fire hose failure.
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FIRE SERVICE - PLEASE BE AWARE there is no requirement for the manufacturer to disclose test results to buyers. YOU MUST ASK for TEST RESULTS.
The new predictive fire hose thermal test standard is a timed test, with direct flame impingement, either to the point at which significant water pressure (agreed upon by fire fighters on the committee) has dropped, or the hose failed catastrophically resulting in total water loss. PLEASE for the safety of your firefighters REQUIRE complete TIMED TEST DISCLOSURE - prior to purchase.This will at least allow the fire service to understand the thermal expectations of the hose they purchase.​
You can help.
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Please contact WPI and ask to see the Data Base of Fire Hose Failure established at WPI, which has not yet been released to those who provided the content and who need the information most, The Fire Service.
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Kathy Ann Notarianni
Phone: 508-831-6786
kanfpe@wpi.edu