Town Pump grant adds Hose Monster to Fire Department arsenal

The Town Pump Charitable Foundation has donated $2,600 worth of equipment to the Havre Fire Department through a grant program, and Assistant Fire Chief Nathan Courtnage said the city's firefighters have already put their new Little Hose Monster to use.

Havre's Hose Monster is a part of a 10-piece hydrant flow testing bundle that is used "to measure water flow-rate and to diffuse and divert discharge water in fire pump testing, fire flow testing, and main flushing," according to The Hose Monster Company website.

The device is meant to help measure water pressure levels in fire hydrants, which is a process the fire department goes through each year, Courtnage said.

Courtnage, who was approved by Havre City Council as assistant fire chief Monday, said the previous set of equipment was at least eight to 10 years old and that the Hose Monster provides advantages over older models of equipment.

"It's a safer product because it diffuses the water better than the old one," Courtnage said. "It gives us more control."

A crew has already tested out the device at Montana State University-Northern, and they will be putting it to good use later in the summer when the department begins flushing fire hydrants around town.

Courtnage said flushing hydrants has two main benefits; first, it helps clear any rust or old water from the city's pipes, and second, it allows the department to test the water pressure levels of each hydrant so that they know what to expect when responding to a fire.

"We want to know how much pressure is coming out of it, whether it's low pressure versus high pressure," Courtnage said, adding that the knowledge of a hydrant's pressure helps firefighters make decisions while working because having enough water to fight a fire is critically important to the job.

This is not the first time the Fire Department has received a Town Pump Grant.

"We've received grants from them before," Courtnage said. "We've gotten gloves before, we've gotten jackets before."

The Town Pump Charitable Foundation, which was established in 1999, gives grants to non-profit and government organizations around the state of Montana to help provide basic needs for communities. The foundation donated a total of $500,000 to fire departments in the state in 2017.