Recently, the Nesquehoning Hose Company had 11,200 feet of fire hose tested by Waterway Twin Tier of Montrose, an independent contractor hired to conduct the testing.

The standards outlined in NFPA 1962 were followed during testing.At the urging of Fire Chief John McArdle, the Nesquehoning Borough Council voted last year to allow the monies received from the sale of the Seagrave Aerial truck to be put towards the hose testing of all three fire stations in the borough.McArdle said fire hose failure in an emergency situation could lead to a major preventable injury, property damage and even contribute to death. Fire hoses spend far more time wrapped up in storage on trucks and in fire stations than they do in use, which may lead to them drying out or leaking as they age.Chief McArdle stated "When the fire hoses are put under pressure, any one of the couplings used to connect the hoses together could fail and disintegrate; even more of a reason to have a control test by experienced people."This was the first time in the department's history for this type of testing to occur."We semiannually would perform a service test on the hose however firefighter safety is a major concern," McArdle said. "By following the guidelines set for by NFPA we are one step closer in preventing line of Deputy Deaths which should be the responsibility and goal of all fire departments."Only 3 sections of hose failed from testing.