The Braintree Fire Department is only the third department in the state to get a new hose that will withstand extreme heat and fire for more than an hour without failure. Fire hose burn through is a major issue and led to the death of two firefighters battling a fire on Beacon Street in Boston in 2014. 

Lt. Ed Walsh and Firefighter Michael Kennedy died in the fire after their hose burned through. The two could be heard calling for water, but nothing came through. Ever since his death, Kennedy's mother, Kathy Crosby-Bell, vowed she would do something to change the time to failure standards for fire hoses. 

"If you look at the time to failure test, most hoses that are carried in Massachusetts fail in three minutes or less when 12 inches away from a flame," said Crosby-Bell. "I can't tell you how frustrating it is to know the technology to make this safer hose existed before Michael was born, but there is no motivation to make it. Fire hose companies make money because it fails and has to be replaced." 

Crosby-Bell, alongside the Last Call Foundation, have been helping to get better hoses in the hands of firefighters in Massachusetts. She says a 20-month study from WPI showed 172 incidents where a hose burned through. 

"Catastrophic failure" in seconds

"We have reporting issues. A lot of times you leave a fire scene, and you wrap up that hose, throw it in the back of headquarters, and they dispose of it. It was never reported that has changed," said Jason Burns, Executive Director of the Last Call Foundation. "We have to do a deep dive into the standard, and how it was set, and the science behind it. The hoses were tested at 450 degrees. When you have a fire hose that fails at 350 to 400 degrees, I mean that tells you catastrophic failure in a matter of seconds." 

Burns says fires can often be 750 to 1200 degrees. Last Call helped the Braintree Fire Department get their new Snap-Tite hose by matching funds raised by the city. The new hose was tested against more than 700 degrees over the course of an hour and 39 minutes and never failed. Crosby-Bell said the manufacturer only stopped the test at that time because they needed to head to lunch. 

"There are only three communities in Massachusetts that I am aware of that have this fire hose. It's Boston, Fall River, and now Braintree," said Burns, adding that the hose does cost more, but lasts longer. "This isn't an area where we count the beans so to speak, this is an area where we protect the firefighters and the public." 

"[Crosby-Bell] turned a tragedy around into a way to protect other firefighters. The standards weren't there. The tests weren't there," said Brian Connors with the Braintree Fire Department. "The idea is you want to go into a fire believing that everything you are wearing, the tools you're carrying, and the people around you, are all prepared to do what they need to do to make sure you get out OK." 

Connors said the hoses not only are used to fight fires but can also be key to escaping a fire. 

"If we get lost or disoriented, we can follow the hose as a trail out of the building. If it gets burned through and separated from the fire engine, you may not find your way out," said Connors.