Hose reels are the fixed firefighting equipment most people walk past every day without knowing what they are for. They deliver an unlimited supply of water where an extinguisher gives seconds of agent, which sounds like an advantage and is also the reason they are argued about: an unlimited supply invites somebody to stay and fight a fire that they should be leaving.
A fire hose nozzle, and the three settings it has
The nozzle on a standard reel has three positions and knowing them is most of the training. OFF, which is also how the hose is left, because the valve at the reel is often opened first and the nozzle is what controls flow. JET, a solid stream that carries further and is used to reach the base of a fire from a distance. And SPRAY, a cone that covers more area, absorbs heat better and gives the person holding it some protection from radiated heat, which is why spray is the setting to use when approaching. The other detail that matters in practice is that the hose has to be run out before the water is turned on, because a pressurised hose still on the drum is difficult to pull off and will kink.
Where a hose reel is required, and where it is a liability
Nothing in fire safety law names hose reels: the duty is appropriate firefighting equipment decided by the risk assessment. They appear where the design guidance allows or expects them in larger buildings, in older commercial and industrial premises where they were installed as standard, and where an insurer asks. The case against them in an occupied building is real and worth stating: they encourage untrained people to fight a developing fire instead of evacuating, water is the wrong agent for an electrical or a cooking oil fire, and an unattended running hose does damage of its own. So the honest position is that a reel is useful where there is trained staff, a large open risk and a sensible reason to hold a fire rather than flee it, and that in a small office the extinguishers and the exit are the whole answer.
Maintenance, and the annual test that gets skipped
A reel needs three things. A visual check with the other fire equipment: accessible, unobstructed, signed, no leaks, nozzle present and in the off position. An annual inspection and service by a competent person, which runs the hose out fully, checks the flow and the pressure at the nozzle, examines the hose along its length, and confirms the reel turns and the valve operates. And a pressure test of the hose itself at the longer interval the standard sets, commonly every five years, because rubber perishes from the inside and a hose that looks fine can burst under working pressure. The annual full run out is the step most often skipped, and it is the one that finds the two common faults: a hose that has been repacked with a kink and a valve nobody has turned since installation.
What fire hoses are, and how a building reel differs from a fire service hose
Two quite different things share the word. The reel on a wall is a fixed installation: a semi-rigid hose on a drum, permanently connected to the building's water supply, meant for an occupant to check a small fire on their way out. The hoses a fire and rescue service brings are flat lengths coupled together and run from a hydrant or an appliance pump, and nothing about a building's equipment is designed to do that job. The practical consequence for a duty holder is that a reel is part of the premises and has to be maintained as such, while the service's own hoses are not the building's concern at all. Where a risk assessment says the premises needs firefighting equipment, a reel and an extinguisher are the two candidates, and the argument between them is the one above rather than a question about hoses.
Questions people ask about fire hose nozzle
Should staff be trained to use one?
If there is a reel, somebody should know how it works, because the alternative is that in an emergency an untrained person uses it badly. The training is short: run the hose out first, set the nozzle to spray, aim at the base, keep your escape route behind you, and stop if the fire does not go out quickly. The more important half of the training is when NOT to use it, which is any fire involving electrical equipment or cooking oil, any fire bigger than one room's contents, and any situation where the smoke is above head height.
Can a reel be removed?
Where the fire risk assessment concludes that the equipment is not appropriate, yes, and in some buildings removing a reel is the safer decision because it removes the temptation and the maintenance liability. What the decision needs is a recorded reason in the assessment and a check that nothing else relied on it, for instance where a design accepted a longer travel distance or a larger compartment because firefighting facilities were present. Removing it quietly, with no assessment and no check, is the version that causes trouble at the next inspection.
Do hose reels freeze?
They can, in an unheated store, a loading bay or an external cupboard, and a frozen reel is a reel that does nothing at the moment it is needed. Where a reel serves an unheated space the options are trace heating, a dry riser arrangement instead, or accepting that the reel is unsuitable there. It is worth checking in any building where the plant room or the yard has a reel that was installed when the space was heated and is not any more.