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    • February 2012

    More content from February 2012

    Ocala firefighters Jim Williams, Daniel Kiel and Ken Thomas Jr.
    This Month in Fire HistoryFeb. 1, 1974, Dearborn, MIAuto manufacturing plant fire causes $650 million in damagesFeb. 7, 1904, Baltimore, MDGreat Baltimore Fire results in $50 ...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Photo from Paul Hashagen Collection
    IT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY. Baltimore City, MD, Fire Chief August Emrich, his eyes bandaged due to smoke injuries, shakes hands with FDNY Battalion Chief John Howe as New York City firemen prepare to return home after helping battle the Great Baltimore Fire in February 1904.
    CRANFORD, NJ: FEB. 3, 1912 – It was just after 3 o’clock in the morning when A.O. Hopkins, an upholsterer who lived in second-floor rooms in the Opera House, the largest building...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Johnsalka 10568435
    If you look at and believe the statistics, operating at a house fire is one of the most frequent and dangerous events a firefighter can respond to. More firefighters and civilians...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Photo by Bill Bennett
    BROOKLYN, NY, DEC. 19, 2011 – Two firefighters were burned, one critically, during a mid-morning fire in a three-story brownstone-type structure. The fire on the top floor of the occupied building in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn will require one of the firefighters to undergo skin grafts and a several-months-long stay in a burn center. Photo by Bill Bennett
    WAYNE, NJ, NOV. 17, 2011 – A fire in a one-story garage spread to a nearby unoccupied house under renovation. The garage became fully involved. The fire did extensive damage to...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Robert Burke
    The Air-Tractor AT-502, a turbine-engine aircraft that uses Jet A as fuel, is one of the most common aerial-application aircraft in use today. Photos by Robert Burke
    Thousands of agricultural spraying, loading and fueling operations are carried out each season without incident, but when accidents occur, fire-rescue personnel may encounter ...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Kimalyn 10568320
    Retention, productivity and satisfaction. Every fire department grapples with trying to improve these areas. What many leaders fail to recognize is the need for “connection.”A...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Fire safety education is not the most popular part of the fire service, but probably is one of the most important. It can save lives and property as much, if not more than suppressing...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Dupont recently invested $500 million in its Cooper River facility just outside Charleston, SC. This represents the largest single investment in Kevlar and the largest capacity increase since the fiber was introduced in 1965.
    Change is an inescapable reality of our everyday lives and certainly the fire service is not immune to that reality. Sometimes, the need for change is recognized by an organization...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    “There’s always been the vision of FESHE from way back at its beginning – a theoretical foundation – that a core set of courses should form the basis of knowledge that every firefighter should have regardless of where he or she came from.” — Ed Kaplan, education chief National Fire Academy
    In 2009, when Edmund Walker, the state fire training director for Massachusetts, was encouraged by two coworkers to attend a Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Benmay 10613073
    The United States has one of the world’s worst records for loss of life and property from fire. With two key challenges in mind – making the public aware of the fire service’s...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Curtvarone 10613076
    With 2012 upon us, it is time to look back at the most important, interesting and bizarre fire service legal stories of 2011. The important cases are those that set or affirm ...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Garyludwig 10601552
    The “National EMS Assessment,” released in December 2011 by the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS), validates that the fire service is the largest...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Gene Blevins
    A firefighter waits for water on a few well-involved cars after the arsonist moved from Hollywood to the San Fernando Valley a few miles to the north. Photo by Gene Blevins
    One person was arrested following a major investigation after more than 50 car fires were started in and around the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, CA, in less than a week from...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Mike Meadows
    News media want to be close to the action, but who is responsible when they are in danger? Photo by Mike Meadows
    The number of ways news is gathered and reported has increased vastly since the heyday of big-city newspapers and major broadcast TV networks. What has not changed is the media...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Ron Moore
    The location of stored gas inflators for roof airbag systems may complicate efforts to cut through an A-pillar. When flapping the roof forward, the A-pillar remains intact. Photo by Ron Moore
    There are frequent situations with people trapped, where the rescue team is required to move or remove all portions of the roof to allow the occupants to be extricated. This University...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Harrycarter 10477119
    Last month’s column began examining four environmental elements of our fireground size-up by discussing the first element, construction, as part of the risk-management process...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    As a career firefighter, John started his academic journey by going to his local community college to earn an associate of science degree in fire science. Thereafter, a colleague...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Photo by Mike Meadows
    TK
    On Tuesday, July 13, 2010, a major-emergency structure fire in Los Angeles, CA, destroyed a large commercial building that manufactured and stored titanium golf clubs. During ...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Photo by Mike Meadows
    Numerous Los Angeles Fire Department resources and Los Angeles County Fire Department staff were needed at the major-emergency industrial fire. Photo by Mike Meadows
    LOS ANGELES, CA, JUNE 11, 2010 – At 11 A.M., 36 companies of Los Angeles firefighters, 16 rescue ambulances, two arson units, one urban search and rescue (USAR) unit, two hazardous...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    UNITED PLASTIC FABRICATING INC. (UPF) has introduced the POLY-TANK III polypropylene tank. Color-coded fill towers identify water and foam towers. A blue tower indicates the water fill tower. Foam towers are yellow, green and black. The PolyProSeal design consists of a sealant material that is placed in a groove between the welded plastic sheets. The Tanknology tag provides specific information for each tank in an accessible location on the apparatus. Every tag contains a unique QR code to be scanned using a smartphone.
    Polypropylene TankUNITED PLASTIC FABRICATING INC. (UPF) has introduced the POLY-TANK III polypropylene tank. Color-coded fill towers identify water and foam towers. A blue tower...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    ROSENBAUER has won the biggest order in its history, from the Saudi Arabian Ministry of the Interior to supply 1,125 vehicles as part of an expansion of the kingdom’s fire service...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Photo by Bill Bennett
    BROOKLYN, NY, DEC. 19, 2011 – Two firefighters were burned, one of them critically, during a mid-morning fire in a three-story brownstone-type structure. The fire occurred on the top floor of the occupied building in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section. One firefighter is required to undergo skin grafts and a several-months-long stay in the burn center. Photo by Bill Bennett
    Recently across the country, there have been several close calls involving firefighters. The only reason they didn’t suffer further injury was they had all of their personal protective...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Photo by Marc Schroeder
    FORT WAYNE, IN – JAN. 12, 2012: Forty firefighters fought a blaze in an auto-parts shop with leaking auto fuel lighting off and propane tanks exploding. The fire was extinguished with no injuries. Hazmat operations were set up to control leaking fuel runoff into city sewers and streets.
    Pawtucket, RI – Dec. 1, 2011: One woman was displaced by a kitchen fire in her duplex. She was the mother of a Massachusetts National Guardsman who sustained fatal injuries in...
    Feb. 1, 2012
    Ron Jeffers
    THE FORT LEE, NJ, FIRE DEPARTMENT has taken delivery of a Sutphen custom pumper/tanker built on a Sutphen Monarch chassis. Components include a 515-hp Detroit Diesel engine, Telma retarder, 2,000-gpm Waterous CMUH pump, 250-gallon foam tank, Foam Pro 3060D foam system, Task Force Tips Monsoon remote-control deck gun, 15-kilowatt Harrison generator, Will-Burt light tower and Whelen LED lighting.
    THE FORT LEE, NJ, FIRE DEPARTMENT has taken delivery of a Sutphen custom pumper/tanker built on a Sutphen Monarch chassis. Components include a 515-hp Detroit Diesel engine, Telma...
    Oct. 25, 2011
    Modeltech Intl. presents its new Hazard Kitchen Stove Top Module training aid. Public education officers could use a portable 1:1-scale training aid with special effects and interactivity to dramatize the teaching process and boost the learning experience. The module also shows what not to do; ie: Never Move a Pot in Flames!
    Alert-AllAlert-All Corp. offers fire safety educational materials. In business for more than 37 years, the company is a one-stop shop for fire prevention needs from school kits...
    Aug. 16, 2011