New Britain herald., 1920-12-27
FIRE PHENOMENON
 MOST PERPLExING
Boston Gets Many Queries About
 Fire Hose Blaze

Boston. Dec. 27.-So much public
 interest has been aroused by the
 phenomenon in tests of fire hose here
 when flames broke through cotton
 coating of the hose through which
 water was being forced at high pres
 sure. that the Fire Commissioner,
 John F. Murphy, has been receiving
 requests for information from all
 over the country.
 Ignition of a fire hose while water was being pumped through it though no fire was near is something new to those who consider the fire-fighting business as science. To determine the
 cause of this peculiar incident and ascertain how to avoid 1t. the Boston Are department will undertake a series
 of tests and experiments.
 Professor Augustus H. Gill. of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 at the request of Commissioner Mur-
 phy examined the hose burned and.
 without making a chemical analysis.
 reported his belief that the hose was
 ignited from excessive friction caused
 by vibration beween two cotton
 Jackets. The hose was of the standard
 two and one half inch rubber lined
 double cotton jacket type, made ac-
 cording to the specifications of the
 Boston fire department. which con- form with those of National Board
 of F'ire Underwriters.
 A T50 gallon pumping engine was
 being tested under direction of en-
 gineers of the National Board of Un- derwriters and officials of the Boston fire department. For four hours the engine had drawn water from the Charles river basin whom the order for high pressure test was given. Two lines of hose were used. one from each side of the engine and each about 300 feet long. Morse gates were placed between the first and second length of each line and the gates were | checked down to about one third capacity, the gates on the engine out lets being similarly reduced. About fifteen minutes after the en- | zine was started with a pump pressure | of 250 pounds. smoke came from the hose about n foot from the coupling at the engine connection. Investigation | showed that the hose was very hot | and in q moment flame burst through | the outer covering, Within a minute | the same thing happened to the hose | on the other side of the engine. It was decided by the chiefs and experts | that the checking down of the gates had resulted in a tremendous amount | of wated being forced through a small opening. The water In passing | through tho engine gate instead of | filling tho hose at the coupling was forced in nt an angle. striking one ! side of the hose with a fine sharp | point, with sufficient force to generate | heat.
 This point Of water, together with | tlIe friction caused by the two cotton jackets rubbing against each other l apparently caused the flame. The fire did not injure the rubber | lining, which was not even charred, | the flames working entirely in the 1 cotton mixture. This was scorched | for several inches around the burned | hole. . The condition under which the en- | zine was working when the hose l ignited were said to be such as would l never occur while a fire was being | fought and for that reason the firn fighters have only keen aca<n interest rather than serious tn< of their horse burning dux1r unless it comes in confAe11
 | of sparks.