Fire Safe ANZ technicians were recently carrying out testing at a car park in Sydney’s North when they came across a hose reel that could not be released due the hose being caught behind the reel (refer photo).  It took two technicians almost ten minutes of manipulating and pulling with some force to free the hose from its jammed position.

In the event of an emergency, the reel would have been inoperable to anyone attempting to use it.

The most likely reason for this is that someone using the hose reel to wash a car on the floor of the car park had not returned the reel to its original position correctly.  If a fire hose reel has been used, it is important to remember the following points when returning a hose reel to its correct position:

• The hose is fully charged before being rewound in even layers, the nozzle re-engaged correctly in the interlock and the valve is shut off
• The discharge nozzle has been opened and then closed to depressurise the hose
• The hose can be withdrawn easily in any direction, ie. the hose shall be capable of being unwound when subject to an initial horizontal pull not exceeding 100N

For further information, please refer to the AS 1851.9 -2012 & AS 2441 -2005.

Alternatively, to have your fire hose reels tested contact us.