Oak Creek firefighters found a creative new use for an old fire hose. Its the department's new training dummy.

The Oak Creek Fire Department has a new member named HOSE-A.

Made out of old rubber fire hose, HOSE-A, named in part by the community, is a training dummy firefighters can use during drills for various scenarios.

Firefighter Aaron Krukowski said many departments donate old fire hose to area zoos where it’s used to weave chairs and beds for animals or just hung in monkey exhibits. While this is the first hose mannequin in Oak Creek, the idea isn’t isn't original and came from a fire department in Arizona.

“I actually got the idea from a Tucson fire department YouTube channel,” said Jeremy Fontanez, a firefighter in Oak Creek. “From there we tweaked a couple things to make it our own for our own training needs.”

About 300 feet of rubber fire hose was utilized to make HOSE-A.

“It just starts out as a huge mess,” Fontanez said. “It’s a lot of just manipulating the hose with certain bends and a lot of screws making it into somewhat of a body shape.”

Fire hoses are tested every year, usually in September or October, by hooking them to a device, filling them with water and “cranking it to high pressure,” according to Krukowski. This hose was “pretty impressive” in its tenure in fire service passing the test every year since its purchase around 2005.

“It was older but it just kept passing the testing,” he said.

When the hose was finally slated to be retired, the department brainstormed ideas how to utilize it for training and the idea of creating a dummy was proposed. Fontanez said the department was overdue for new training dummies because they get “put through the ringer.”

Typical training dummies cost about $1,500, are full of sand and more rigid.

“I prefer this dummy,” Krukowski said of HOSE-A, saying it moves more realistically and isn’t as rigid as the purpose-built mannequins. “These have made up joints so it’s really realistic how weight is distributed.”

HOSE-A weighs a little over 100 pounds but air bottles can be added to increase the weight, if needed.

The department has been using HOSE-A as a training aid for about three months. It has played the part of a downed firefighter in a confined space and a civilian rescued from a second or third story.

Krukowski said HOSE-A has been such a hit, a pediatric-size dummy will be constructed along with possibly another adult-sized dummy.

The public will be able to meet HOSE-A. The department plans to dress him up for community events, and kids will also be able to take the pediatric dummy through an obstacle course, Krukowski said.

Recycled hose could be used to stop mass shootings in schools, department says

The fire department is also working with the Oak Creek Police Department and school district to possibly utilize segments of old fire hose to save lives during a mass shooting — specifically in schools.

Krukowski said pieces of fire hose fit onto pistons that operate most modern doors. Placing the thick rubber hose on the arms of the piston like a sleeve prevents the doors from opening.

“In an active shooter situation, a teacher can slide this hose over the piston,” he said.

The fire department is figuring out how many different types of doors this idea will work to secure and is hoping to incorporate the hose into lockdown drills.

Krukowski said the goal is to have the hose in place for the start of the 2022-23 school year.

Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com. Like his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter at @ES_Hanley.