Niedner

Niedner is the leading manufacturer of fire hoses in the United States. The company has roots all the way back to 1895 when Charles Niedner first started manufacturing linen fire hoses in North America.

Niedner - The Brand Name of the Water Hose

Niedner is the leading manufacturer of fire hoses in the United States. The company has roots all the way back to 1895 when Charles Niedner first started manufacturing linen fire hoses in North America. This was around the time when the linen hose formed part of the industry standard in firefighting whether it was interior firefighting or forestry. The industry requirement led to the expansion of the first plant in Massachusetts, and was an important time for the water hose company.

Looking at Niedner’s History

The plant went from strength to strength on the US until 1912, when the sons of the original owner started up another branch in Montreal. This branch still exists today. However, the brother felt that they were located much too far away from the original planted and looked at relocating to Sherbrooke, but moved to Coaticook instead, which proved to be a great move for the region and for the company.

Advancing the Water Hose Industry

After a few years of the successful manufacturing of water hoses, and business relocations, William Niedner bought his brother’s shares of the company, which made him the sole owner of Niedner. In 1953, about 10 years after, William took over full ownership of the company, and Niedner was bought by Wajax Limited. Wajax Limited took the company into the early 70’s and decided that the product line was too limited for the industry.

Moving into the 21st Century

This led to the new production of water hoses and technologies, which meant that Niedner could now saturate a larger part of the water hose market. This led to the company’s acquisition of the Canadian branch of American Biltrite and the adding of a new manufacturing facility in Pennsylvania. In 1992 the company decided to invest over 3.3 million dollars in their Merril Street manufacturing plant, in an effort to consolidate their water hose production to one facility. A venture that proved to be a success in 1993 with the end result being a 70 000 square foot plant that housed research, manufacturing and testing areas for lay flat liquid distribution water hoses that would be distributed nationally (Canada) and internationally (USA).

Setting the Benchmark for Water Hose Manufacture

For the next few years the company was bought over by Wildfire Group, a new venture at the time, which was then bought by Tyco Canada before settling in with its current owner Sanexen Environmental Services in Quebec. Sanexen is a subsidiary of Montreal Logistic, a company that is registered on the Toronto stock market. Niedner now offers a wide range of linen water hoses and woven jacketed products along with rubber and polyurethane lined hoses.

This all comes on the back of the original company that pioneered the lightweight water hose in the 70’s and 80’s that are created specifically for the firefighting industry. Today the company also produces super strength waters hoses for industrial applications, water main rehabilitation, and snow making.