April 2009
2500 Feet of Hose Later
I work for my local fire department as an on call fire fighter, and with a volunteer rescue squad at my college. I always carry my Leatherman Wave tool with me because you never know what’s going to happen, especially in a fire.
Last weekend we were doing some training and at the end of the training we had to roll up 2500 feet of hose onto our hose truck. Because we had not charged the line (turned on the hydrant) the hose had gotten kinked and it was taking forever to roll up while untangling it. So another firefighter and I were tasked with uncoupling hose every 200 feet. For anyone who doesn't know, a fire hose is in 100 foot sections, so every other section we had to uncouple. It turns out that every other section's coupling was clogged with dirt and mud, making it impossible to unlock the hoses. So after examining the locking mechanism, I took out my Wave and took apart the lock, unclogged it, and put it back together. Thank god I had my Wave on me or else we would have been there for hours trying to roll up 2500 feet of hose!
Joshua S.
Bolton, MA
OK, you voyeur, you. Enough of reading other people's stories. It's time you told your own tale of gripping heroism or even just neat DIY'ism. We know there's a Shakespeare in you somewhere. Don't make us use the Steens to find it.