All posts by Beacon Hose

How to Prevent and Treat Frozen Pipes at Home

It’s been awfully cold this winter.

Since it’s been abnormally cold lately, it’s worth sharing a few tips about preventing frozen pipes. (These are from the American Red Cross.)

  • Keep garage doors closed if there are water supply lines in the garage.
  • Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors to allow warmer air to circulate around the plumbing. Be sure to move any harmful cleaners and household chemicals up out of the reach of children.
  • When the weather is very cold outside, let the cold water drip from the faucet served by exposed pipes. Running water through the pipe – even at a trickle – helps prevent pipes from freezing because the temperature of the water running through it is above freezing.
  • Keep the thermostat set to the same temperature both during the day and at night. By temporarily suspending the use of lower nighttime temperatures, you may incur a higher heating bill, but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.

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BHC’s Extraordinary History with George and Robert Butz

Beacon Hose was sad Monday to learn of the passing of Robert Butz, the son of our very first chief, George Butz Sr. On behalf of Beacon Hose’s officers, we send our condolences to Robert’s family and would like to share a bit of a lengthy story — but one very much worth reading — to illustrate the Butz family’s history with our department.

These two men shared an extraordinary connection with Beacon Hose — one which held beginning and end points more than a century apart. We’ll recap using a combination of our department history and a pair of news stories (which we’ll link to at the end).

George was elected the first foreman of Beacon Hose when it was established on May 11, 1899, as the Beacon Falls Fire Department (which was actually formed as the firefighting unit of the Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company and housed in one of the company’s buildings).

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Beacon Hose Responds to Car Down Route 8 Embankment

During a snowstorm on Monday, Feb. 9, Beacon Hose received a call for a motor vehicle accident on Route 8 South between exits 24-25. En route, C-Med updated that the patient was possibly not injured and the vehicle was down the embankment on the riverbank.

Units arrived on scene to find a vehicle down the embankment. Naugatuck Fire Department was called for mutual aid in the event more resources were needed. Patient contact was first initiated by Firefighter Matt Testani and it was determined the patient was not injured. Naugatuck mutual aid was cancelled by command and Beacon Hose units handled the rope rescue. Rescue 4 was used as an anchor point and a three-to-one haul system was constructed along with a belay line.

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Help Beacon Hose with our Adopt-a-Hydrant Contest

Update: Thanks for your support!

We need to clear fire hydrants around town after the latest snowstorm this week — you know, the one that was bigger than the fearsome blizzard — so we have started a new Adopt-a-Hydrant contest here in Beacon Falls.

If you have a fire hydrant near your property, we need you to help us out by clearing away the snow and ice (3 feet on all sides, including a path to the road). This could make all the difference in us being able to save life and property in case of a fire in your neighborhood. If you can do that for us, here’s how to enter the contest:

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