Globe Gear Giveaway Winners
The Ellis Grove, IL, Volunteer Fire Department and Ripton, VT, Fire & Rescue are the latest recipients of MSA and DuPont’s Globe Gear Giveaway. The two departments each will receive four sets of turnout gear and four helmets that MSA, DuPont and the National VolunteerFire Council will provide.
The 18 members of the Ellis Grove Volunteer Fire Department provide numerous emergency services in addition to firefighting, including rescue, water rescue and hazardous materials. However, the department doesn’t have enough turnout gear for all of its members. Ten sets of gear are worn or obsolete according to national safety standards, and five members have no gear at all. The new turnout gear and helmets will help to alleviate the situation.
More than 70 percent of the response area of Ripton Fire & Rescue is national forest. This means that, in addition to providing fire protection and medical first response, the department provides year-round wilderness rescue for hikers, skiers and hunters. Fundraising efforts allowed the department to replace an antiquated vehicle and establish an SCBA upgrade and replacement schedule, but it’s proven difficult for the department to provide its 27 volunteer firefighters with adequate PPE. Ten members don’t have assigned turnout gear, and nine members are using gear that’s more than 10 years old. The department’s chief enthusiastically welcomes the contribution.
The final three awards of 2023 were about to be announced at press time.
Visit nvfc.org for additional info and announcements.
Optimized Ambulance Intelligence
The Multiplex Modular Connected (MMC) electrical system, which is design to optimize vehicle intelligence, boost ambulance performance and enhance the overall vehicle environment, was introduced by Crestline Ambulances. Available in the CCL 150 product lineup, the MMC provides digital controls for the ambulance, which enables EMS providers to control their workspace and comfort. It also enables vehicle diagnostics and offers a complimentary Bluetooth app for troubleshooting through real-time input/output visibility while near the vehicle.
All new ambulance orders include the MMC.
Go to ccl150.com/mmc-ambulance-multiplex-system for all of the MMC features.
Hazmat Preparedness and Response Funding
Because many volunteer fire departments can’t afford equipment, resources and training that are pertinent to hazmat incidents, CHEMTREC and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) selected five NVFC members to receive $10,000 through the CHEMTREC Hazmat Emergencies Local Preparedness (HELP) Award. The award allows the departments to obtain critical training, equipment and resources that they otherwise wouldn’t be capable of accessing to prepare for and respond to hazmat emergencies.
This year’s recipients are the Caledonia, NY, Fire Department; Gales Ferry, CT, Volunteer Fire Company; Haynesville, LA, Volunteer Fire Department; Patrick Springs, VA, Volunteer Fire Department; and Sequoyah County Rural Fire Protection District #1 in Gore, OK.
To be eligible for the award, departments must be more than 50 percent volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or fewer and have an annual budget of less than $250,000, and the person who applies or the chief of the department must be a member of the NVFC.
Learn more about the HELP Award at chemtrec.com/chemtrec-services/emergency-responders/help-award.
NVFC Training Summit
Registration is open for the 2024 NVFC Training Summit, which will convene June 21–22, 2024, in Buffalo, NY, at the Hyatt Regency Buffalo Hotel and Conference Center. The event, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2024, includes two days of classroom-based breakout sessions, general sessions, keynote speakers and networking events. Three learning tracks, which will include 18 courses, will focus on responder health and safety, volunteer recruitment and retention, and emergency services leadership.
To view the event agenda, go to tinyurl.com/nvfcsummit.
9-Vehicle Contract Includes Volterra
Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services (Ontario, Canada) ordered nine Pierce apparatus. The vehicles comprise the first two orders that are part of a five-year supply contract that the department secured with Commercial Emergency Equipment Company.
The two orders include a Pierce Enforcer heavy-duty rescue pumper, four Enforcer pumpers, a Saber tanker, an Enforcer hazmat truck, an Ascendant 107-ft. aerial ladder on an Enforcer chassis and a Volterra electric pumper. The latter is destined for the department’s soon-to-open, net-zero Station 125. The 10,000-sq.-ft. station features sustainable materials, high-speed bi-fold doors and on-site renewable energy generation, including 238 solar panels to power the firehouse’s operations and charging for the electric apparatus.
Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services is a full-time career department that responds to approximately 30,000 emergency calls per year.
For more information, visit piercemfg.com.
Line-of-Duty Deaths
7 U.S. firefighters died in the line of duty. Three died from a health-related incident, two died from injuries that were sustained while at the firehouse, one died from injuries that were sustained when he was struck by a moving vehicle on scene of a traffic incident and one died after suffering a medical emergency at the firehouse. This issue of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters.
LT. JUSTIN BOWER, 30, of the Kinnelon, NJ, Volunteer Fire Company, died on Nov. 18. Bower responded to a carbon monoxide alarm at a residence. Approximately two hours after he returned home, his wife found him unconscious and immediately called 9-1-1. Emergency personnel attempted to revive him but were unsuccessful. Bower died from an apparent heart attack.
SAFETY OFFICER DANIEL POTTS, 74, of the Whitney, TX, Fire Department, died on Nov. 24. Potts was found unconscious after he was getting in his support vehicle to respond to a residential fire. He was pronounced deceased from an apparent heart attack.
CHIEF RALPH STEGBAUER, 71, and CAPT. JEFFERY SKAGGS, 62, of the Concord Green Township Fire Department in Washington Court House, OH, died on Nov. 25. Stegbauer and Skaggs were utilizing a mechanical lift to make repairs to the firehouse radio tower when the lift tipped over. Both men were ejected from the lift’s basket from several feet in the air. They were pronounced dead at the scene from the injuries that they sustained in the fall.
CHIEF JOHN NORRIS, 55, of the Forest Bend Fire Department in Webster, TX, died on Nov. 25. Norris responded to a structure fire at an abandoned house that was scheduled for demolition. Shortly after he returned home, Norris suffered a heart attack. 9-1-1 immediately was called, and he was transported to the HCA Houston Healthcare Clear Lake Hospital, where he died a short time later.
FIREFIGHTER MATTHEW DAWSON, 34, of Lubbock, TX, Fire Rescue, died on Nov. 26. On Jan. 11, 2020, Dawson and fellow members were dispatched to an MVA on an inter-state highway. While they were on scene, an automobile crossed the median and struck Dawson. He was transported to the hospital. It was found that he suffered a traumatic brain injury. After three years of health challenges, Dawson died. Lt. David Hill and a police officer died on Jan. 11 from injuries that they sustained in the accident.
FIREFIGHTER/DRIVER RICHARD “RICK” MILLER, 69, of the Henderson County Fire Department in Lexington, TN, died on Dec. 1. Miller responded to an alarm activation at a school. Shortly after he arrived home, he suffered a medical emergency. Miller was found unresponsive by his family. CPR immediately was performed, and he was transported to the hospital but couldn’t be revived. Miller was pronounced dead a short time later from an apparent heart attack.
