GH fire hoses have been manufactured in Straubenhardt in the northern Black Forest since 1872. What goes into more than 150 years of hose development?
It has been a long road from the hand-woven hemp hose of 1872 to the fire hose used for firefighting today.
In the case of Gollmer & Hummel, proximity to practice and the users - the firefighters - plays a major role. You can only develop the perfect hose if you know exactly what the needs and requirements are.
The extinguishing strategy differs depending on whether, for example, there is a fire in a 5th-floor apartment or if a dumpster has caught fire. Key questions are:
Questions that Gollmer & Hummel answers with suitably developed fire hoses. Because at Gollmer & Hummel, these practical requirements flow directly into hose development.
The question of water supply remains. In the event of a major fire or depending on the development, large quantities of water are needed to extinguish and protect surrounding buildings.
The water hose as a supply line should have a large diameter, be pressure-resistant and robust. Then it can reliably provide water from a fire pond or hydrant.
The special fabric construction with polyester warp threads and polyamide weft threads ensures high continuous operating pressure, superior bearing separation strength and significantly lower pressure loss compared to a 100% polyester fabric.
The fabric is completely embedded in the rubber coating and offers optimum protection against mechanical damage.
In the case of an apartment fire on the 5th floor, it is clear that no hose can be pulled across the stairwell and hose may still be needed in reserve.
The emergency services carry the unfilled hoses either in a hose carrying basket or tied up as a package. As a hose reserve, for example, the hose from a hose package carrying system is additionally laid down in front of the apartment door as a hose loop.
Not every hose is made for indoor attack - it should be relatively light, must fit easily into a basket or carrying system without bending.
Especially for interior attack, it should be maneuverable and flexible to follow every movement. Firefighters should concentrate on the firefighting attack and not be hindered by their work equipment!
The hose for indoor attack is designed to be light, flexible, durable and maneuverable without kinks. This is because a kink always creates an enormous point load - movement causes the hose to be worn down and damaged at points.
The well-known twill weave has been further developed by GOLLMER & HUMMEL into the special GH 4Z weaving system: during circular weaving, the weft thread is optimally covered and protected by warp threads. The bending radius is small - in some cases considerably smaller than required by DIN 14811. Kinks and extreme point loads are thus significantly reduced in use.
If a garbage container, trash can or car is on fire, the water supply on the fire truck is sufficient. But it has to be quick, so the quick-attack hose is used: it is a dimensionally stable hose that is loaded on a reel in the fire truck.
With the quick-attack hose, water is delivered directly from the water tank via the integrated pump in the vehicle, without having to lay several hose lines or a distributor. Extinguishing is often carried out using the impulse extinguishing method, which, in the case of hoses from other manufacturers, often leads to the hose becoming tangled on the reel and slows down the rapid attack.
The flexible rapid-attack hose must be ready for use without restriction when rolled up, withstand high pressures, and be able to be rolled up and stowed away again quickly afterwards to save space.
The lightweight, dimensionally stable quick-attack hose is reinforced with monofilament spirals in the weft. Thanks to the GH 4Z weaving system, its bending radius is small and the weft thread is optimally protected. The hose is kink-resistant and does not tangle due to the recoil in the impulse extinguishing process. Its inner core is made of EPDM rubber, making it flexible even in cold conditions and ready for immediate use.
