SAN DIEGO, Calif. – If you ask David Soler, the most important tool in the firefighter’s arsenal is the Halligan bar and it has been for decades.
“The Halligan bar is to a firefighter what a rifle is to a Marine,” said Soler, the founder of firefightertoolbox.com and a lifelong firefighter. “No matter what call you are on, you’re going to want a Halligan.”
Soler and a colleague, Jim Moss, a lieutenant with the Metro West Fire Protection District, St. Louis County, Mo., presented a class: “The Halligan Bar: The Ultimate Guide for the Ultimate Fire Service Tool,” at Firehouse World.
Soler and Moss outlined the history of the Halligan, its versatility, how to modify it and its evolution and iterations over the years.
“The Halligan is one of the few tools that came up from or started with the fire service,” Soler. “We’ve adopted a lot of tools from other industries, but this one that came up from, or started, with the fire service.” He added many of the tools used in the fire service have come from the military or other disciplines. The Halligan, however, has now been adopted by other agencies, like police and the military.
“It is the best representation of firefighter ingenuity going,” Soler said.
As part of the presentation, Soler and Moss described the history of the tool. It was invented by FDNY First Deputy Chief Hugh Halligan in 1948.
Moss said one of the little known facts about the Halligan is that because it was invented and marketed by a member of the FDNY, the city wouldn’t buy them because of a perceived conflict of interest.
Instead, the Boston Fire Department warmly embraced the new tool and bought one for every fire company.
FDNY members also recognized the value of the Halligan bar and a few ponied up money to buy them personally, Moss said, noting that Halligan discounted the retail price of $36 to $33 for firefighters.
“They were widely used in Boston, Philadelphia, Hoboken, Syracuse and other place,” Moss said. “But they were never bought by FDNY.”
Soler said one of the most frustrating things Halligan faced was figure out ways to make firefighters aware of the product and then how to train them on it.
Nevertheless, Halligan made and sold the product for nearly 30 years, Moss said, note that by 1970, Halligan stopped making them and turned to mission work in retirement.
FDNY Lt. Bill McLaughlin approached Halligan with the intent of improving upon and marketing the tool and Halligan gave his blessings, Moss said.
The improved device was called the Pro Bar which offered some tweaks on the original Halligan to improve its functionality. The Pro Bar has remained just as popular as the original iteration and is extensively used on the fire grounds to this day, he said.
Moss added that yet another set of revisions to the 70 plus year old design is gaining favor with firefighters today. The tool is called the “Maxximus Tool” which is a “tuned up” version of the pro bar that was introduced in 2014.
Soler said it’s remarkable how every 30 to 40 years, the tool is improved and continues to be the most popular hand tool on the fire scene.
“It’s the ultimate tool in the fire service,” Soler said. “It can be used on multiple different calls.” He ranks it up there as essential as water and personal protection equipment. “Firefighters need to be knowledgeable on how to use it, how to modify it and how to take care of it.”
Soler and Moss showed at least 20 different and unusual ways of using the bar of the 100s of different techniques and sub sets of uses.
“There’s so many different ways to use the Halligan,” Soler said. “It’s critically important for up and coming firefighters to learn all the ways to use it on the firegrounds.”
Moss described the anatomy of the Halligan bar and how it became an amalgamation of several tools, including the claw tool of the ‘20s, which had a circular claw on one end of a long shaft with a fork on the other. That was mated with a Kelley tool and the Halligan has a prying end and a duck bill lock breaker.
The pro bar took the best features of the Halligan and added a pike and adze, Moss said, adding that while the general features are the same from one brand of tool to another, not all bars are created equal.
Moss said some bars have multiple pieces that are pinned together which makes the tool weaker and some are made of less durable metal. He recommends that firefighters look for bars that are forged from one piece metal for more strength and durability.
Moss and Soler also discussed the uses of the bars including breaking padlocks, taking hinges off doors, removing security grates and breeching drywall.
They can also be used as automobile hood props, used to remove battery terminals in car wrecks and there are at least four different way to secure ground ladders with bars, Moss said.
The tool can be used for foot braces on roofs by slamming the pike into the roofing material for vertical ventilation operations, he said, noting that they can be used for virtually any bracing needs, removal of manhole lids and street grates and they can be used as gas meter shut off tools.
They can also help firefighters gain window access and become a step to help firefighters get over tall fences, Moss said.
“Just make sure you have webbing to get the tool back when you’ve made it over the fence,” he said.
While it might be the ultimate tool, there are some ways to “tune” it up, Moss said, noting that welding a chain link to it might help with connecting webbing to it and other uses. Wrapping the bar with hockey tape might make it easier to grip for some people, he said, adding that filing down the tips for a lower profile will make it easier to get the tool into tighter spaces and adding a depth gauge to the adze will improve its functionality.
“We encourage firefighters to get to know all they can about the Halligan,” Moss said.
Soler and Moss are working on a book about the Halligan and its descendants with a goal of having it available this summer.
