Even when the firefighters at Russellville Fire Department aren’t out fighting fires, they are still working hard to make sure they – and their equipment – are in perfect condition when the time comes to strap on their gear and save lives.

On Monday, the RFD performed their annual hose test to check each hose on their trucks for leaks, tears or weak spots.

“When you’re in the middle of fighting a fire is not the time to discover there is something wrong with your hose,” Capt. Aubry Harris said. “This test we do is a pressure test and it will push the hose to the max just so we’ll know that it will work if it needs to be pushed that far.”

Fire Chief Joe Mansell said the test is something they have to do each year in order to meet certain standards with the Insurance Service Office (ISO).

ISO has a Public Protection Classification (PPC) system that rates fire departments on a scale of one to 10, with one being the most prepared and efficient and 10 being the least. The lower the rating, the better community insurance rates will be and the RFD always strives to meet each standard set forth by ISO.

“We always want to make sure that we are completely prepared for any situation,” Mansell said.

RFD performed their test at the FMI plant on East Lawrence Street where they had access to a fire hydrant and had plenty of room to spread out the 1,200-foot hose used in many situations.

“We appreciate FMI letting us use this space to do our tests,” Mansell said. “Testing a hose can be dangerous, especially if it busts or gets loose. You need a lot of room to test these things in order to be safe.”