Fire Axe Combo Tool

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What tool does a firefighter carry? More often than not, the answer will be a fire axe. Although the stereotypical pick-head fire axe is an important tool in the fire service, there are still countless other hand tools that are vital to fireground operations. To name two of them, the halligan pry tool and the hydrant wrench are two of the most common and widely used tools. The halligan pry tool is a combination tool that consists of a pick, adz, and prying claw or fork. The halligan tool is often used in conjunction with a flat-head axe for forcible entry on the fireground. The flat-head axe is used as sledge-hammer to pound the halligan tool’s adz or claw into a door frame, car door, etc. Equally important is the hydrant wrench, which is a unique pentagonal wrench used to open fire hydrant valves. Fire hydrants use a pentagonal nut rather than a normal hexagonal nut to prevent tampering and water theft. Without water, you can’t fight a fire, and without a hydrant wrench, you can’t get water from the hydrant. My Extreme Redesign Challenge project was to combine the pick-head fire axe, halligan pry tool, and the hydrant wrench into a single tool. I was able to mimic the function of the halligan tool by adding an adz to the side of the axe, and incorporate the function of a hydrant wrench by cutting a pentagonal slot into the axe head. The opposite side of the adz on the axe-head can be used as a striking surface to drive in the adz tool, or strike another tool. Additionally the slot for the hydrant wrench also includes a Threaded knob that allows you to adjust the wrench to any size hydrant nut. This axe-head tool combo can be mounted to any common wood or nylon axe handle. This new combination tool can be used in the same capacity as an axe, a halligan pry tool and even a hydrant wrench, giving the user more flexibility on the fireground. When seconds count most in an emergency the firefighter won’t have to worry about forgetting a tool behind, when they have all the tools they need in one package. FDM, PLASchool: Bergen County Academies Adviser: Joseph DeFalco