Firehouse
December 2009
A three-alarm fire ripped through a private dwelling under renovation in Teaneck, NJ, on Feb. 13, 2009. The late-night fire occurred while the home was occupied. Damage to the exposure is visible in the early stages of the fire.
Dedication: This issue of Firehouse® is dedicated to Firefighter James M. Hall, 40, of the Greentown Volunteer Fire Department in Uniontown, OH, who died in the line of duty, May 2009; and to Firefighter Matthew Douglas Tramel, 18, of the Pembroke, NC, Fire Department; Firefighter Jeffrey H. Reed, 39, of the Pulaski, VA, Fire Department; and Firefighter/Paramedic Debra A. Cole, 40, of the South Portland, ME, Fire Department, who died in the line of duty, June 2009.
Cover by: Chris Saraceno
Foster Township, PA, Nov. 23, 2008 — The Derrick City, PA, Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched at 7 P.M. to a reported structure fire. The fire involved a barn that was being used as a workshop and storage area. It housed heavy equipment and two...
Today, fire departments are faced more than ever with the decision of extinguishing a hazardous materials fire or letting it burn and weighing the environmental impact that decision may have. As always, life safety and protection of property are the...
At approximately 11:27 A.M. on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, an explosion ripped through the 425,000-square-foot ConAgra Foods Inc. processing plant in Garner, NC. The facility is the sole source of Slim Jim snack foods for the company product line. The...
On Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2009, a multiple-alarm fire destroyed two buildings at the White Oil Co., a division of Michigan Petroleum Technologies, in Vienna Township, MI. Building one, (the original fire building), built in 1973, was a 128-by-70-foot...
Of course, this is not a realistic means of equipment acquisition. With the changes we have seen in 2009 and the way things are shaping up for 2010, you are as likely to receive a thermal imager (or other critical equipment) from the North Pole as you are...
This story is deeply personal. It's also harsh, perhaps even brutal. That's because I want you to know exactly what I went through so that, perhaps, you can avoid a similar fate. Forewarned, as the saying goes, is forearmed.
Obesity is becoming an American epidemic. An estimated 97 million Americans are overweight or obese. That equals roughly half of the American adult population.
When I learned in late October that the International Code Council (ICC) voted at its annual conference in Baltimore to keep residential sprinklers on the books despite strong opposition from the National Association of Home Builders, I could not help but...
SUBJECT: Dash & Firewall Movement TOPIC: Dash & Firewall Tie Downs OBJECTIVE: Given a late-model vehicle, the rescue team member will be able to identify the location of the dash support tie-down straps and explain how they affect dash and firewall rescue...
Odds are that right now, you are thinking about how wonderful your Thanksgiving (food) was and how great the upcoming Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's holiday season (food) is going to be. Typically, when we give thanks and celebrate, food is...
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFG) has provided fire departments and fire service affiliate organizations with more than $5 billion since the program began. This funding has been used to improve the...
BALTIMORE, MD: DEC. 2, 1909 — The largest fire in the city's business district since the conflagration of 1904 occurred during the night. Five large buildings were destroyed and three others were badly damaged. The fire started at 6 P.M. on the fourth...
When choosing boots, firefighters and departments consider a variety of factors, but one of the most common concerns tends to be cost. This quite often leads to the purchase of rubber boots over leather boots. However, many factors that relate to safety...
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 1959, started out like many other summer days in the Kansas City metropolitan area, sunny with temperatures in the 90s and a south wind of 13 mph. Before the day would end, five Kansas City, MO, firefighters and one civilian would die in...
Perhaps the most important trait for any organization is consistent performance in every aspect of its operation. I cannot think of a single agency that doesn't want to be consistent in how it functions and delivers services or products to its customers.
One of the most promising technological advances to occur within the fire service over the last 25 years was the technology associated with Class A foam and compressed air foam systems (CAFS). This technology, which primarily had its beginnings in...
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the tragic fire in the Worcester, MA, cold-storage warehouse that took the lives of six firefighters on Dec. 3, 1999. We dedicated our March 2000 issue to the tragedy, focusing on the incident, the recovery efforts...
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