In brief
A fire hose cabinet is a fixed installation designed for people inside a building to control a small fire nearby; with a fire that has grown, the right decision is evacuation. With a semi-rigid hose reel, the valve is opened first, then the hose is run out without kinks and the water is aimed at the base of the flames; with a lay-flat hose, the valve is not opened until the hose is fully run out. A hydrant is a tool for the fire brigade and trained teams. Keeping the area in front of cabinets and hydrants clear at all times is a legal requirement.
Using a fire hose cabinet: first, when is it used?
Art. 94 of the Regulation on the Protection of Buildings from Fire defines the fire hose cabinet installation as a fixed installation that enables people inside a building to control and extinguish a small fire nearby. Using a fire hose cabinet is therefore aimed at an incipient fire; with a fire that has reached the ceiling and whose smoke fills the corridor, the right decision is not intervention but evacuation.
To decide to intervene, four conditions must all be met:
- The alarm must have been raised and the fire brigade called.
- The fire must be small and at a single point.
- The escape route must be behind the person intervening.
- If the burning item is electrical equipment, its power must have been cut.
The regulation makes fire hose cabinets mandatory in high-rise buildings; in manufacturing plants, workshops, warehouses, accommodation, healthcare, assembly and educational buildings with a total enclosed area of more than 1000 m²; in enclosed car parks larger than 600 m²; and in boiler rooms with a thermal capacity of more than 350 kW. Cabinets are placed on every floor and in every section separated by fire walls, no more than 30 metres apart, near corridor exits and stair landings.
| Feature | Semi-rigid hose reel cabinet | Lay-flat hose cabinet |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | TS EN 671-1 | TS EN 671-2 |
| Hose | 25 mm diameter, at most 30 m | Nominal diameter at most 50 mm, at most 20 m |
| Design flow and pressure | 100 l/min, 400 kPa | 400 l/min, at least 400 kPa |
| Who uses it? | Building occupants and the firefighting team | Trained firefighting personnel |
| Difference in use | Water can be applied before the hose is fully run out | The valve is not opened until the hose is fully run out |
Using a fire hose step by step
Most workplaces have reel-type cabinets with semi-rigid hoses. With this cabinet, the fire hose is used in the following order:
- Raise the alarm. Press the manual call point or shout a warning; the designated person calls 112.
- Check the power. If the fire is in a panel, machine or electrical appliance, make sure the power has been cut before applying water.
- Open the cabinet. If the door is glazed, use the break hammer.
- Open the main valve. On some reels, the valve opens automatically when the reel is turned; show the type of cabinet in your workplace during training.
- Run out the hose. With the nozzle closed, pull the hose towards the fire; take care that the hose does not kink as the reel turns.
- Take up position. Stand crouched at a safe distance from the fire, with the escape route behind you.
- Apply the water. Open the nozzle and aim the water not at the top of the flames but at the base of the burning material. The spray setting creates a screen against the heat.
- Cool and watch. After the fire is out, cool the burnt material and wait for a while in case it reignites.
- Tidy up and report. Close the nozzle and the valve and wind the hose back onto the reel. Report the incident so that the cabinet used can be checked.
With a lay-flat hose cabinet the order is different: the hose is first run out completely and without kinks, you make sure the nozzle is connected, and the valve is opened last. A lay-flat hose full of water is heavy and a noticeable recoil is felt at the nozzle; this cabinet is used by two trained people.
Two-person operation
A fire hose can be used by one person; but safe use is with two. The division of tasks is as follows:
- The nozzle operator holds the nozzle with both hands, stands with knees slightly bent and leaning forward, and directs the water. Their eyes are on the fire.
- The assistant carries the hose one or two steps behind the nozzle operator, preventing the hose from snagging and kinking at corners and door thresholds. They watch the area behind that the nozzle operator cannot see, the spread of smoke and the route for withdrawal.
The two communicate with short commands agreed in advance: "water on", "water off", "advance", "withdraw". The assistant is the person who can decide to withdraw when the smoke thickens or the fire grows. In a prolonged intervention, the two swap places.
Before tackling a fire in a closed room, the door is not opened; check whether the door is hot with the back of the hand. If the door is hot, it is left closed and the fire brigade is awaited. This routine is part of the hands-on training we describe for the firefighting team in our article on support staff training.
Hydrants: whose job, and how are they accessed?
A hydrant is a system installed around a building for intervening from outside in fires that could not be extinguished by first response. Under Art. 95 of the regulation, the hydrant system is designed for a flow of at least 1900 l/min at an outlet pressure of 700 kPa. The distance between hydrants is taken as 50 m in very high-risk areas, 100 m in high-risk areas, 125 m in medium-risk areas and 150 m in low-risk areas; hydrants are placed on average 5 to 15 m from the buildings they protect.
This flow and pressure are not at a level an untrained employee can control alone. Hydrants are used by the fire brigade and teams trained for this work. The job of other employees is to keep access to hydrants clear and direct the fire brigade to the nearest hydrant. In OIZs (organised industrial zones), this direction plan should be made together with the OIZ fire brigade; see emergency coordination with the OIZ fire brigade.
For hydrant checks, look at the following on the site walk:
- No vehicles, pallets, snow or vegetation in front of or around the hydrant.
- The hydrant is marked and visible from a distance.
- Caps are in place; the hydrant key and hose cabinet are accessible.
- No leaks, impact damage or signs of corrosion.
Blocking a fire hose cabinet: a small oversight, a big consequence
Annex I of the Regulation on Health and Safety Measures in Workplace Buildings and Annexes requires firefighting equipment to be always ready for use, visible and in easily accessible places, with no obstructions in front of it. The equipment and its locations are marked. The fire protection regulation also requires cabinets to be used only for firefighting.
Blocking a fire hose cabinet can delay the response to an incipient fire by minutes; in that time, a small fire gets out of control. The violations we see most often on site and their permanent solutions:
| Violation | Why is it dangerous? | Permanent solution |
|---|---|---|
| Pallets or boxes placed in front of the cabinet | Reaching the cabinet and running out the hose is delayed | Mark the area in front of the cabinet with a floor line, replan the stock area |
| Material stored inside the cabinet | The hose cannot be run out, the reel does not turn | Use the cabinet only for fire, open it and look inside on site walks |
| Cabinet locked, key nowhere to be found | The cabinet cannot be opened | Use a glazed door and break hammer |
| Hose wound up haphazardly | A kinked hose does not let water through | Winding instruction and check after use |
| No sign, or sign not visible | The cabinet cannot be found in a panic | A suitable sign at a visible height |
For the colour and placement rules for signs, see our article on health and safety signs, and for general fire prevention checks, see our article on the workplace fire prevention checklist.
Fire hose cabinet maintenance and inspection schedule
Fire hose cabinet maintenance arises from two separate obligations. The fire protection regulation requires the building owner, manager or responsible building official to have the periodic maintenance specified in the TS EN 671-3 standard carried out on cabinets and hose reel systems. Annex III of the Work Equipment Regulation requires periodic inspection of fire installations at least once a year.
| Check | Frequency | Who does it? |
|---|---|---|
| Visual check: access, sign, hose, nozzle, leaks | Monthly (internal procedure recommendation) | Firefighting team or designated person |
| TS EN 671-3 maintenance | Once a year | Competent service company |
| Testing the hose at maximum working pressure | Every 5 years | Competent service company |
| Periodic inspection of the fire installation | At least once a year | Authorised person registered on EKİPNET |
You can track periodic inspection dates with the OHS calendar tool and check intervals in our article on work equipment periodic inspection intervals.
The fire training we deliver consists of theoretical and hands-on parts; this is the easiest way to practise the steps in this article. To test what you have learned after the training, you can use the scenarios in our article on the emergency drill.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can use a fire hose cabinet?
Semi-rigid hose reel cabinets are designed for trained building occupants to respond to incipient fires. Lay-flat hose cabinets and hydrants, because of their high flow, should be used by a trained firefighting team or the fire brigade.
In which buildings is a fire hose cabinet mandatory?
In high-rise buildings; in manufacturing plants, workshops, warehouses, accommodation, healthcare, assembly and educational buildings with a total enclosed area of more than 1000 m²; in enclosed car parks larger than 600 m²; and in boiler rooms above 350 kW.
How much space should be left in front of a fire hose cabinet?
The legislation does not give a numerical distance; it requires there to be no obstruction in front of the equipment and for it to be easily accessible. In practice, the most practical solution is to mark with a floor line the area in which the cabinet door can open fully and the hose can be run out unobstructed.
How often is fire hose cabinet maintenance carried out?
Under TS EN 671-3, maintenance is carried out once a year, and hoses undergo a pressure test every five years. In addition, the fire installation is subject to periodic inspection at least once a year. We recommend adding a monthly visual check to the workplace's own procedure.
Fire classes, choosing the right extinguisher, hands-on extinguishing in a safe open area and an evacuation drill, all in one training.
Bursa SİSTEMER OSGB Technical Team — written from the field experience of our OHS specialists and workplace physicians. Legal information is valid as of the publication/update date; contact us for an assessment specific to your business.