Northern California Firefighter Turns Hoses Into Patriotic Art

(Left) Ryan Chagonjian working on a flag. (Right) Flags of various sizes. Courtesy of Ryan Chagonjian

A fire captain turns old hoses into pieces of art, honoring the men and women who serve on the front lines.

Ryan Chagonjian lives in Napa, California, with his wife Katie and their three daughters. He has been in the fire service for 14 years and created his first U.S. flag from old hoses when he was a young firefighter who had just finished training and his 12-month probationary period.

“When I got off probation, I wanted to make a gift for my station,” Chagonjian told The Epoch Times.

He said he saw some old, decommissioned hoses lying around that were going to be thrown away. At that moment, he decided to create an American flag, which still hangs on the wall at station No. 2 near Napa High School.

Ryan Chagonjian during an online interview on Sept. 20, 2024. (Screenshot/The Epoch Times)jpg

Then in 2015, a parent from the high school was raising money for athletic programs and saw the flag at the fire station and asked if Chagonjian could make one for the fundraiser. He agreed and the flag sold for $13,000 at the booster event.

Chagonjian ’s hobby slowly transformed into a family business as demand for his craftsmanship grew.

Over the years, he continued creating flags from out-of-service hoses and gifting them to local fire stations and retiring firefighters. To date, his craft has raised around $200,000 in donations for various charities, including for fallen first responders, people who lost their homes to wildfires, high school teams, nonprofits that specialize in PTSD for first responders, and the Red Cross.

Hanging up a flag. Courtesy of Ryan Chagonjian

“It’s an American flag, which is super important to us and our family,” Chagonjian said. “It also represents not only firefighters but first responders in general, whether it’s dispatchers or police officers or military.”

Designs also include the thin blue, red, and green lines to represent police, firefighters, and military respectively, according to the Custom Fire Flags website.

“I think you know that’s the backbone work of America, blue-collar work. These flags, in my mind, signify our support for them and for our country,” he said.

At the Napa County Sheriff's Office in 2021. Courtesy of Ryan Chagonjian

Because each flag is made from hoses meant to fight fires, he says the craft has an extra layer of meaning. But the hoses used can be new or old depending on the order. Larger orders require more material, so those are bought directly from suppliers. Chagonjian says the out-of-service hoses are typically obtained through government auctions or donations.

To make each flag, the fire hose is cut into pieces, flattened, and nailed into a wooden frame. These “stripes” are painted depending on the design. The stars are made from laser-cut birch wood.

Chagonjian also makes custom flags for families who lost an officer in the line of duty. For such orders, he uses a laser engraver to add a wooden badge with the officer’s number.

In recent years, he says the family business is averaging around 600 to 700 orders per year, totaling a few thousand flags since it began.

As successful as he is today, his business had humble beginnings as a small crafts shop on the e-commerce platform Etsy.

Flags made from retired fire hoses. Courtesy of Ryan Chagonjian

As it gained traction over the years, Chagonjian and his family built the website, and it “turned into a pretty big business.” People can customize their flags by calling or submitting a request online.

“It was all word of mouth, and people kept asking for them,” said Chagonjian. “It’s always super humbling when people come across our stuff and they appreciate it.”

People from around the country have bought his flags, which have even received international recognition. He has shipped a flag to England and another to Canada. Currently, he is working on a Puerto Rican flag.

In 2023, the White House placed an order for a flag from Chagonjian’s business. He explained that a doctor who is a friend of his family was on a Zoom meeting with the president, who saw the flag in the background of the doctor’s video. After the order was placed, Ryan and his family got to work making and sending one of his custom creations to the nation’s capital.

“For a small business to make it to to the White House was pretty cool,” Chagonjian said.

His team has also replaced flags for customers who lost theirs in the 2017 wildfires that destroyed homes across Napa County.

When you run into your dad on a call. Courtesy of Ryan Chagonjian

All the work happens in a garage shop at his home and he says the whole family is involved, including his wife, father, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and one day maybe even his kids.

He says everyone has a job, whether it is putting on the stars, painting the hose, cutting the hose, or creating the frames.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “We’ve created this kind of nice assembly line.”

At the end of the day, he says the goal is to “focus on the fundamentals,” making sure his flags are well-crafted. And when he is not running the business with his wife, he says he is “a dad first.”