By Robert Greim
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — A leading fire safety researcher is sounding the alarm over faulty fire hoses, warning that the popular lightweight version — similar to the one that burned in a Beacon Street blaze that killed two Boston firefighters — are failing nationwide.
“This is a problem that has just bubbled to the surface. It’s a tsunami,” said Kathy Notarianni, an associate professor in the Fire Protection Engineering Department at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “We’re finding more burn-throughs around the country of fire attack hoses. This knowledge needs to get out there so firefighters can buy thicker hoses.”
WPI, one of only three fire safety research centers in the nation, was recently awarded $75,000 from the Last Call Foundation to study fire hoses and develop one that will be more fire-resistant. The foundation was started by Kathy Crosby-Bell — the mother of Boston firefighter Michael Kennedy, 33, who died March 26 along with colleague Lt. Edward Walsh Jr., 43, in a nine-alarm fire at 298 Beacon St.
Full story: Hose failure uncovered