Waterford ― For the last three years, two firefighters have made four American flags from pieces of retired fire hoses. Last week, they donated the fourth one to the Jordan Fire Department.

Firefighters Kevin Dougherty, a member of Waterford Professional Firefighters Union Local 4629, and Ben Chasse, a volunteer for the Killingworth department, became friends in 2018 when they were both volunteers at the Killingworth department, Chasse said.

About two years later, the department that had brought them together decommissioned many of its fire hoses.

“Some people just throw it out,” Dougherty said. “Other people have it hanging around, some people cut it off and make shorter hose lines.”

“We grabbed a bunch of it when they were throwing some of it out,” he added.

Fire hoses are typically retired after about 10 years of use, Dougherty said, or if they fail a yearly pressure inspection.

The two began brainstorming ideas for how they could reuse them, Dougherty said.

Chasse said that’s when he came up with the idea to make a flag, and after doing some internet research, concluded the project would be feasible.

“You get an idea and you just see what’s out there and your try to see what you wanna do, he said. ”This is what I thought was the best that I could do.“

“We built our first one for the Killingworth Fire Department Christmas of 2020,” Chasse said. “That went really well.”

“Now we’re on our fourth,” he added.

The other two department flags are located in Guilford and Killingworth, while a third one was given to a retired Killingworth firefighter at his Old Saybrook home, Dougherty said. Chasse added that they’re all made in the same design.

Places that are special

The flags, complete with wooden frame, are about 7 feet long and constructed mostly of red, white and blue lengths of fire hose. The stars, made of pine, were burned and then coated in polyurethane to make them shine, Daugherty said.

One of the rows of red hoses just below stars bears the name of the hose manufacturer, Supreme. The flag also features two couplings, metal pieces used to connect two ends of fire hose to make one longer hose.

Chasse said each flag took about 22 to 24 hours to complete, not including the time it took to acquire materials or for the paint to dry. The two used a razor blade to slice through the synthetic fibers of the hoses, Chasse said.

“The whole thing is completely hand made. A lot of hours went into it. It’s all slow and tedious. That’s why I only made a few and I gave them to people and places that are special ― and I just donate them,” said Chasse.

“The guys,” Dougherty said, referring to the more experienced firefighters at the Jordan department, “Have definitely put in a lot of work to bring the new guys up to speed.”

“I thought it would be nice to give something back,” he added.

d.drainville@theday.com