Shortly after midnight on Sunday, February 28, one unfortunate Las Vegas man was forced out of his home after a serious fire.When the man saw that his backyard storage unit was aflame, he called the Las Vegas fire department, and then rushed to his backyard to try and extinguish the blaze using a garden variety garden hose.
According to Las Vegas Fire and Rescue officials, "Fire dispatchers received numerous calls at 12:12 a.m. Sunday that heavy smoke was coming from the rear of a house...One of the callers was the homeowner who said there was a fire outside and he was using a garden hose in an attempt to put it out. Within minutes Las Vegas firefighters were on the scene of a fire on the outside of the house and it had spread to the attic of house. Firefighters found heavy fire conditions in the attic."
This isn't even the first time a Las Vegas homeowner has tried (and failed) to save their home using a garden hose. In 2015, a similar scene played out when "Las Vegas firefighters responded to a reported house fire at 4213 Fulton Place...The caller reported their front door was on fire, but they thought they had it out using a garden hose. When firefighters arrived, smoke and flames were seen coming from the attic of the one-story, wood frame house. When firefighters checked, they found the fire in the attic. Firefighters had the fire out in approximately 15 minutes."
In both cases, the home fire caused about $60,000 worth of damage and forced people from their homes. Many a homeowner has imagined that they would rush to put out the flames with the backyard hose in the event of a fire. If you've ever wondered if you can put out a fire using a garden hose, the answer is a hard no.
Unfortunately, it just doesn't work that way. Even the most flexible, heavy duty garden hoses won't be able to put out a raging structure fire. In both of these Las vegas incidents, even a fully trained fire crew with professional firefighting equipment had to work for 10-15 minutes before the flames could be brought under control. In the latter case, the residents thought they put out the fire, but it soon spread regardless. Trying to put out a fire with a common garden hose might end in tragedy, with serious burns and life-threatening injuries.
As a commercial water hose manufacturer, we design some of the most flexible, heavy duty water hoses ever designed. Our most flexible hose uses aerospace grade couplings and lightweight materials that can go almost anywhere. Of course, even our most heavy duty industrial water hoses aren't designed with firefighters in mind. A firefighting crew uses specially designed hoses with a diameter of 1.5 to 3 inches in diameter. These hoses are generally 50 feet long and can blast water at up to 600-800 PSI. For reference, our garden hoses come in diameters of 1/2 to 3/4 inch (a 3/4 hose delivers three times the water of a half-inch hose) and lengths of 25 to 100 feet.
So if you ever see smoke in the backyard, call 911 and let the professionals take it from there...
