Harrison Twp. Fire Department aids in classroom security by donating old fire hoses

HARRISON TOWNSHIP — Fire hoses are the latest tool to try and keep students safe in an active shooter scenario.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott spoke with Harrison Township Fire Department about how they are trying to save lives by donating old supplies.

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Chopped-up pieces of old fire hoses are inside schools right now as a way to lock doors. These hoses already save lives by putting out fires, but one day they could do the same thing in a classroom in the Miami Valley.

“We’ve cut it up into small sections,” Michael Crist, Harrison Township Fire Chief, said.

Crist said they use the cut-up sections of old fire hoses to slide over hydraulic door closures in schools.

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“That actually prevents the door from being opened,” Crist said.

While the old hoses are no longer good for putting out flames, they will last as doorstoppers.

“There’s not even a slightest bit of strain or stress on these. There was three very large men that we had pulling on these doors to try and see if we could get it to fail; you can’t,” Crist said.

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The only way the piece would come down is if the teacher took it down.

“You have to be inside the room. There is no way to be able to do it from the outside,” Crist said.

He said the idea came from a program that security at Northridge Local School did. During the program, a trash can was dumped, and participants had to use debris to keep students safe - a piece of an old firehose was in the garage.

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“They reached out to us again, shortly after that, and we kind of worked on whatever ways we can help them out. Price is a very big concern. We found the abilities we have to save the community money as well as increase the level of safety and protection for students and staff.” Crist said.

He hopes no one will ever have to use them.

“God forbid we never want to have any kind of circumstances like this ever, but again we just want to make sure that we’re prepared,” Crist said.

For schools interested in this safety method, Crist said he is more than willing to help with donations.

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