Unfortunately for firefighters, being in the line of duty comes with certain dangers, among them even death. According to the NFPA, there were 97 on-duty firefighter deaths in 2013. The good news is that that number is down to 87 in 2014, but this is still a number that must be improved upon. Sadly, some of these fatalities are the result of popular lightweight fire hoses that are suffering from “burn-through,” a scenario where the fire hose burns as a result of the fire they’re trying to extinguish, and is therefore rendered useless to our heroes. This was the case in a March blaze in Boston, where two firefighters were killed in a nine-alarm fire on Beacon Street.
This problem is exacerbated by using the lightweight hoses for routine house and apartment fires, since these hoses are supposed to only be used for high rises. This was not the case in the Boston fire, but it’s a common issue seen elsewhere. Continue reading