12/8/2018 The Ins and Outs of the Halligan - Firefighting Tools

The Ins and Outs of the Halligan

10/30/2017
Part 1: Chief and His Ugly Bar

By Clay Magee

Photos by author except where indicated

The halligan. It is perhaps the most iconic tool when it comes to firefighting. But where did it
come from? Why was it developed? Who made it? How have we progressed to our present-
day halligans? A lot in the fire service have heard the back story, at least to some degree. If
you’re into folklore, you may have heard the rumors about markings on the original halligans.
If you’re a tool nerd like me, not only do you care about the history of the tool, but you also
care about its quality, functionality, and not only whether the tool works, but how it works and
why. This series is broken down into three parts: The history of the halligan from
predecessors to the modern Pro-Bar, modern halligan comparisons, and finally the science
behind the halligan, and why it works (levers and mechanical advantage.)

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(1) Claw tool. Courtesy of Rise Above Fire Training, LLC.

In 1916, Hugh Halligan was appointed to the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) and
served until 1959. For 43 years, Chief Halligan devoted himself to the fire service, having
served in all bureaus of the department and having risen to the rank of deputy chief. A few
years after he joined the fire service, the FDNY adopted its first modern pry bar, the claw tool
(photo 1). The claw tool was heavy, hard to use, and hard to strike with because of an off-
center striking surface. It had a claw on one end and forks on the other. As the story goes in
FDNY history, bank robbers set fire to a bank to cover their tracks. During overhaul,
firefighters discovered the claw tool. Intrigued by its design and that it could be used to break
into a bank, the firefighters adopted it, with replicas began being produced until it was the
adopted forcible entry tool for the FDNY.

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(2) Kelly tool. Courtesy of Rise Above Fire Training, LLC.

Some years went by and things changed, as they always do in the fire service. Captain John
Kelly of Ladder 163 produced what was called the Kelly tool (photo 2). The Kelly tool was
shorter, around 24 inches, and made of welded steel. The tool was still very heavy. The Kelly
tool got rid of the claw and off-centered striking surface, replacing the claw with the adz. This
placed the striking point in line with the shaft of the tool. The forks end was also replaced
with a chisel end. This tool became a go-to for forcible entry, however, many firemen still
preferred the claw tool for some specific advantages it had over the Kelly tool. Often both
tools would be carried. We even have a version still floating around at my department called
the Callahan tool. Many of our old heads still refer to the halligan as a Callahan.

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(3) Hugh Halligan, from the pages of Fire Engineering.

Enter Chief Halligan. Chief Halligan thought he could improve on both these tools. Several
years before the invention of the halligan, Chief Halligan was at a cellar fire, where he
noticed many apparent disadvantages of the claw tool. He was so convinced of the need for
a new tool that he approached the FDNY commissioner at the time, John J. McElligott.
Commissioner McElligott ordered Chief Halligan to begin work on something new for the
department. Chief Halligan was impressed with a tool that fire patrol was using at the time,
which had a straight drive and a “sweeping claw.” The disadvantages of this tool were that it
was welded and that it weighed a lot. Chief Halligan wanted something that was lightweight
and easily handled but that was still strong and would not break in the heat of battle. The
chief spent hours researching and using trial and error to come up with the perfect tool. In
1948, the halligan tool was born (photo 3). Chief Halligan stated that the original tools took
18 hours to make. The original tools had to be heated slowly, which several times led to
some of the tools breaking under heavy usage. Chief Halligan refused to cast the tools
knowing that they still would be susceptible to breaking when needed most. Chief Halligan
decided on a drop-forged tool from one piece of No. 4140 (high carbon content) steel.

RELATED: The Halligan: 'The Maximum in Utility, Efficiency, and Speed' | Upgrading
the Halligan Bar's Roof Ring | Tricks of the Trade: Another Use for The Halligan Bar

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The halligan was placed on the market and was an instant success. By 1950, the Boston
Fire Department had placed a halligan on every truck company in the city. Folklore has it
that the FDNY would not buy the tools from Chief Halligan, as they thought it was a conflict
of interest and that no firefighter should be making money off of the department. Chief
Halligan patented his design to make sure to protect it. He would sell his bars to individual
firefighters or companies but not the city of New York. The halligan caught on, however, and
companies across the city purchased the tools.

(4) Original halligan forks. Courtesy of Scott Gamche.

One of my personal favorite folkloric stories of the halligan involves the stamps on the forks.
Later editions of the halligan had AM+DG on one side of the forks (photo 4). Chief Halligan
was a very religious man and it is believed to stand for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, Latin “for
the greater glory of God.” It is said that Chief Halligan would hand make a rosary for each

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new member coming into the FDNY but that the task became too overwhelming. During my
research for this article, I stumbled upon a comments section on hookandirons.com. On their
Web site, they had related this same story. A woman named Virginia Rogers, who states that
she is Chief Halliga’ns granddaughter, commented that AM+DG does indeed stand for Ad
Majorem Dei Gloriam.

(5) Three-piece halligan.

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(6) Pinned forks of a three-piece halligan.

RELATED: Hydraulics vs. Halligans: Choosing the Appropriate Forcible Entry Method
| Modifying the Halligan | Halligan Squaring

Around the time the patent ran out, other tool manufactures began to create copies of the
halligan. The city of New York purchased these tools and began to issue them to companies
across the city. It’s said that ladder companies continued to buy original halligans any time
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they could find them. As other tool manufactures continued to make copies of Chief
Halligan’s design, the quality of the tools deteriorated. Three-piece halligans with pinned
ends became very common in the 1970 as they were cheaper to manufacture (Photos 5 and
6). These halligans had their problems, but luckily another FDNY firefighter saw the need for
a new tool.

(7) Pro-Bar.

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Enter William McLaughlin. Have you heard of the K-Tool? Yeah, McLaughlin invented that
too. The K-Tool was invented in 1972 and in 1975, McLaughlin invented the Pro-Bar (photo
7). McLaughlin and his cousin, Bob Farrell, an FDNY captain, wanted a tool with long,
slender forks and a slightly longer adz than the original halligan. They also wanted an adz
with a slight curve to it, unlike the pinned three-piece halligans that were on the market.
They went through trial and error and, luckily for them, Bob was the captain of Ladder 31 in
the Bronx. Their designs got plenty of use.

(8) Pro-Bar forks, marked K-Tool Co.

McLaughlin already had a patent on it and already owned a company, because he had been
making the K-Tool for the past few years. The original Pro-Bars were made by the K-Tool
Company. That is why to this day the forks are stamped with K-Tool Co (photo 8). Now when
McLaughlin and Farrell were getting ready to go to market with their new bar, they went to
Chief Halligan with the idea of keeping the name “halligan.” Although the patent on the
halligan had long been out, names can be trademarked or renewed indefinitely. McLaughlin
and Farrell told Chief Halligan how they had improved on his tool and how they want to keep
his name. They offered to pay him a permanent royalty and continue to pay his family after
he dies, since the family owns the name of the “halligan tool.” Chief Halligan thought all this
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was great but he had one question: were they going to sell to the FDNY? McLaughlin and
Farrell said that they planned to sell to their own department, if the department will have it.
That was a deal breaker for Chief Halligan, and he never gave them use of the name.

Captain Farrell was injured on the job and retired. He started the company Fire Hooks
Unlimited in 1980. McLaughlin licensed the Pro-Bar and K-Tool to Farrell and Fire Hooks
Unlimited, which continues to manufacture both today. The Pro-Bar is THE standard when it
comes to halligan design and quality and is the forcible entry tool issued by the FDNY and
departments across the country.

Hours were spent searching the internet for material for this article. I’d like to thank Sean
Wilson of Royal Oak (MI) Fire Department and owner of Rise Above Fire Training, LLC for
his help filling in all the gaps.

Clay Magee is an instructor with Magic City Truck Academy and a

Firefighter/Paramedic with Birmingham (AL) Fire and Rescue and
Chelsea Fire and Rescue. He is currently assigned to Rescue 20 at
Birmingham. Clay began his career with the East Oktibbeha Fire
Department in 2004 while attending Mississippi State University. He has
been with Birmingham Fire since 2013. He has a passion for forcible entry and high-rise
operations. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration from Mississippi State
University, an associate's degree in Fire Science from Columbia Southern University, and
multiple certifications from the Alabama Fire College.

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