BOSTON —A major factor in the deaths of two Boston firefighters trapped in a basement last March was the failure of their hose, which burned through as they were battling a wind-driven blaze., a fire hose, failed in a wind-driven blaze that killed two Boston firefighters in March. A local television news station, Channel 5, has researched hose failures and found that the problem may be more widespread than people realize.
This isn’t the first time fire hoses have failed in battling fires where firefighters were killed. According to the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, in 2008 two firefighters in North Carolina and one firefighter in Alabama died when an attack hose burned through. In 2010 an Illinois firefighter was killed when a hose failed.
The fatal fire at 298 Beacon Street last spring started as a routine fire but exploded into an inferno, and a two person attack team, Lt. Ed Walsh and firefighter Michael Kennedy, died in the basement when they lost their water supply after their hose burned through. They called frantically for water.
Kennedy’s mother hopes the tragic loss of her son and the failure of a key firefighting tool are a catalyst for change. She founded the Last Call Foundation, which is funding research into fireproof attack hoses
For more details and updates, see http://www.wcvb.com/news/5-investigates-discovers-key-firefighting-tool-has-failed-in-deadly-fires-across-country/29684752
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