A story of Impact

Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation Prompts 

Fire Hose Performance Testing and Revised 

Standards 

Personal protective equipment, such as fire fighter turnout gear, is vital in firefighting operations. 

Turnout gear offers thermal protection to keep fire 

fighters safe. Hoselines are also important protective 

equipment for fire crews entering burning buildings. 

However, hoselines have been damaged during recent 

firefighting operations. 

Fires involving modern materials burn much faster 

than those of several decades ago, resulting in rapidly 

deteriorating fire conditions that can damage hoselines. While thermal protection for firefighter turnout 

gear and breathing apparatus have improved, thermal 

protection for fire hoses has remained unchanged. 

Although unchanged, there are existing testing requirements that fire hoses must meet.*

In 2014, a fire lieutenant and fire fighter died fighting 

a fire in a residential Brownstone. Their deaths were 

the result of a combination of factors, including: open 

doors that created an unrestricted flow path for the 

fire, strong winds that intensified the fire, and damage 

to the hoseline that prevented water flow. 

 Fire hose bench test with radiant heat 

exposure in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Fire Research 

Laboratory. Photo courtesy of ATF.

Relevant Information

• ATF tested the impact of radiant heat on fire hoses to establish thermal performance tests.

• NFPA proposed a requirement

for new thermal performance

standards for fire hoses in the

future edition of NFPA 1961.

• NFPA issued an attack fire hose

safety bulletin in February 2017.

• UL and the UL Firefighter

Safety Research Institute are

studying the impact of thermal

conditions on fire fighter gear,

equipment, and hoses.

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The lieutenant and firefighter entered the building through the front door with a hose without water and moved downstairs to the basement, searching for the source of the fire and a 

potential victim. High winds impacted the intensity of the fire, allowing it to spread quickly. 

The lieutenant gave the order to charge the hoseline with water, but the extreme heat had 

burned it through preventing water flow. A back-up hoseline was also burned through. The 

lieutenant and fire fighter became trapped. 

The NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP), which 

conducts independent investigations of fire fighter line-of-duty deaths, observed the damaged hoseline during their investigation1

 and were aware of it occurring in other incidents. 

To address this issue, the FFFIPP investigators contacted the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) in May 2014 for assistance. 

Impact 

NIOSH provided samples of commonly used hoses to ATF. ATF tested the hoses in controlled fires of actual townhomes to measure approximate heat and temperature exposure 

at the time of rupture. Testing then moved to a controlled environment at the ATF Fire 

Research Laboratory. There, tests replicated the heat exposure recorded in the townhouse 

testing and established a repeatable method to compare the performance of different hose 

types. Samples of hoses from 5 manufacturers were tested.2

In May 2016, ATF presented their findings to the National Fire Protection Association 

Technical Committee (NFPA) on Fire Hoses, and proposed new standards for thermal performance. These standards are expected in the next edition of NFPA 1961. In the interim, 

NFPA published a bulletin on the importance of adhering to current hose requirements.3

Beyond studying hose performance, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute are working with manufacturers, NFPA, and NIOSH to study 

the thermal exposure conditions in house fires.4

 Study findings will help in understanding 

thermal performance of fire fighter protective clothing and equipment, including hoses. 

*According to the National Fire Protection Association 1961, an attack fire hose must meet the testing requirements of 

ANSI/UL 19, Lined Fire Hose and Hose Assemblies, Heat-Resistance Test; FMClass Number 2111, Factory Mutual Approval Standard for Fire Hose, Heat Resistance Test; or equivalent.

Mention of company names or products does not imply endorsement by the National Institute for Occupational Safety 

and Health. Additionally, citations to websites external to NIOSH do not constitute NIOSH endorsement of the sponsoring organizations or their programs or products. Further, NIOSH is not responsible for the content of these websites. All 

web addresses referenced in this document were accessible as of the publication date.

For more information about the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program, and to see a complete listing of our reports, visit: (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/fire/).

1-4 For a complete list of references, see www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2017-205/.

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DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2017–205 

September 2017

Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention

National Institute for Occupational 

Safety and Health