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  • July 2014

    • July 2014

    Apparatus

    Industry News

    Firehouse Staff
    July 1, 2014
    SMEAL FIRE APPARATUS CO. has acquired the assets of LTI, including LTI ladders, platforms and tractor-drawn aerials, Squrt and TeleSqurt boom-ladders and Snorkel articulating ...
    Photo by Keith Cullom
    APRIL 30: SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CA – Firefighters responded to a two-alarm fire in the City of Goleta that destroyed two homes and caused major damage to two other houses as flames spread across close properly lines and wind pushed the fire through property line hedges and vegetation. Thirteen fire companies from both the Santa Barbara County and City Fire Departments worked to stop the extension of the fire.
    Operations & Training

    Fire Wire 7/14

    Firehouse Staff
    July 1, 2014
    MAY 1: LYNCHBURG, VA – A train carrying crude oil derailed and led to the evacuation of nearby buildings and drinking water was drawn from an old canal system instead as a precaution...
    Thermal Imagers

    Thermal Imaging: A Change For the Better

    John Hays
    July 1, 2014
    T hink back to your childhood days. Do you remember your parents telling you that life was all about change? As adults, we have learned that change is constant, and we have to...
    Copy Of Fama 11526777
    Rescue

    Rural Firefighting Academy: ISO Implements Changes In Fire Suppression Ratings - Part 2

    Dominic Colletti
    July 1, 2014
    In this, the second installment in a multi-part series of columns, I met with Bob Andrews, vice president and chief operations officer of community hazard mitigation services ...
    Photos by Ron Moore
    Looking at this steering column, the white plastic ball joint by the coiled spring is the column's tilt-adjustable joint. There may be a solid steel shaft below this tilt joint and a solid shaft above it connected to the steering wheel itself. The tilt joint, however, is generally a weak point of a column. If the column is to be totally cut through, this would be a great place to start.
    Vehicle Extrication

    University of Extrication: Total Steering-Column Removal

    Ron Moore
    July 1, 2014
    SUBJECT: Steering Column, Part 5TOPIC: Total Steering Column RemovalOBJECTIVE: Understand modern vehicle steering wheel and column design TASK: Given an acquired vehicle and rescue...

    More content from July 2014

    Photos by Frank Wesnoski
    Crews from the Darby Fire Company and Collingdale Fire Company 2 operate on the Alpha side of the building.
    Operations & Training

    On The Job Pennsylvania: 31 Departments Respond To 3-Alarm Fire At Darby Market

    Jay K. Bradish
    July 1, 2014
    On Saturday, April 13, 2013, a three-alarm fire destroyed the Liberian Water Side Market in downtown Darby. The fire required the resources of 31 fire departments from Delaware...
    Untitled 11303757
    Operations & Training

    Wildland Fires Sidebar: CAL FIRE: Planning for Success

    Anthony P. Favro
    July 1, 2014
    Succession planning, changing faces and workforce planning – these are all terms that address a reality facing agencies throughout California and the nation, in both the private...
    Photo courtesy of Auburn Fire Rescue
    The department's fitness area should be organized for maximum use of equipment and floor space, but to also enable members to move freely while reducing the risk of trip hazards.
    Health & Fitness

    Firefighter Fitness: The Safety Triad: Reducing Risk in the Exercise Room - Part 1

    Rich Meyer
    July 1, 2014
    Rich Meyer shares why safety and the need to understand equipment in the weight room is just as important as the fireground.
    Photos by Steve Redick
    Northlake Truck 803 and Leyden Quint 133 set up as Franklin Park Ladder 2 applies water and firefighters lay hoselines.
    Operations & Training

    On The Job Illinois: Four-Alarm Fire Destroys Northlake Tire Shop

    Jay K. Bradish
    July 1, 2014
    NORTHLAKE FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICTChief: Robert HjelmgrenPersonnel: 2 chief officers, 15 career firefighters, 6 paid-on-call firefighters, 1 auxiliary memberApparatus: 2 pumpers...
    Photos by Keith Addie
    Heavy smoke met firefighters upon arrival. Firefighters made an aggressive attack, but had to back out due to the rapidly advancing fire conditions.
    Operations & Training

    Progress Report New Jersey: Six-Alarm Fire Destroys Unoccupied Elementary School

    Harvey Eisner
    July 1, 2014
    EDISON, NJ, MARCH 22, 2014 – A 50-year-old unoccupied elementary school was destroyed by a six-alarm fire. Edison firefighters responding to the early-evening fire at the James...
    Leadership

    Leadership Lessons: "Standing on the Shoulders Of Giants"

    Steven M. Gillespie
    July 1, 2014
    “Standing on the shoulders of giants” is a proverb meant to describe the process of using the understanding gained by major thinkers who have gone before in order to make intellectual...
    Photo courtesy of NIOSH
    Employee wearing personal protective equipment works in an enclosure while handling powder-form nanomaterials.
    Operations & Training

    Tools & Technologies: Nanomaterials and Fires: Why the Concern?

    Shelly Kuyat
    July 1, 2014
    Every day, more industrial processes are moving to a new, more active form of the materials they use. This new form is 1,000 times smaller than the micrometer-sized materials ...
    John Salka 11474871
    Operations & Training

    The Fire Scene: What Are You Thinking?

    John J. Salka Jr.
    July 1, 2014
    One of the most interesting and exciting aspects of being a firefighter is that every run, every alarm and every call for assistance is different from the last run and from the...
    THE NEEDHAM, MA, FIRE DEPARTMENT has taken delivery of a KME 79-foot AerialCat rear-mount ladder
    Apparatus

    New Deliveries 7/14

    Firehouse Staff
    July 1, 2014
    THE NEEDHAM, MA, FIRE DEPARTMENT has taken delivery of a KME 79-foot AerialCat rear-mount ladder built on a KME Predator MFD chassis powered by a 450-hp Cummins ISL engine. Components...
    Photo courtesy of LVFR
    This photo was taken by one of the rescue personnel on scene and sent to me before I arrived on scene. I then sent it out to the media immediately to advise the public why a ramp on the interstate was closed during rush hour. Media that who could not respond to the scene due to time restraints used the image while the incident was still in progress.
    EMS

    The Fire Service PIO: Social Media and the PIO

    July 1, 2014
    Working as a public information officer (PIO) for the past 30-plus years, I have used a number of ways to get information out to the public, mostly through the media.In the very...
    Careers & Education

    Speak Up: Stop Doing Something You Know Is Dead Wrong

    Firehouse Readers
    July 1, 2014
    While standing at the command post on a working fire, it troubles me to see the efforts that members of the fire service go through to make a stand for something, but cannot help...
    Gary Ludwig 11502423
    EMS

    EMS: The "ETOH Patient": Follow Medical Protocols

    Gary Ludwig
    July 1, 2014
    It’s 3 o’clock in the morning and the tones go off. “Rescue 8, meet the police at the intersection of Main and 5th streets to check on the welfare of a civilian.”When you arrive...
    Photo by Jeff Zimmerman
    SAN DIEGO, CA
    Operations & Training

    Hot Shots: 7/14

    Firehouse Staff
    July 1, 2014
    SAN DIEGO, CA, ADD DATE – Numerous homes lay in ashes after flames jumped from ridge to ridge, destroying everything in their path. Santa Ana winds blew for three days, hampering...
    Las Vegas Fire Chief William McDonald (center, holding award) along with staff members of LVFR accepted the American Heart Association's Mission: Lifeline EMS Bronze Award from representatives from the American Heart Association.
    Operations & Training

    For the Record 7/14

    Firehouse Staff
    July 1, 2014
    LVFR Receives EMS AwardLas Vegas Fire & Rescue (LVFR) has received the American Heart Association’s Mission: Lifeline® EMS Bronze Award that recognizes its commitment and success...
    Photo from Paul Hashagen Collection
    This undated photo shows a Hearst Metrotone News crew filming a silent newsreel featuring a building fire. The company was renamed News of the Day in 1916. It is interesting to note the wooden platform being used by one cameraman. It is not clear whether the fire was staged.
    Operations & Training

    Rekindles 7/14

    Paul Hashagen
    July 1, 2014
    CHARLOTTE, NC: JULY 1, 1914 – The Charlotte Fire Department responded to a barn fire behind the home of a railway contractor. Unknown to the firemen, the contractor had dynamite...
    WATEROUS has introduced the CRU2C21 pump
    Pumps & Valves

    New Products 7/14

    Firehouse Staff
    July 1, 2014
    Industrial Fire PumpWATEROUS has introduced the CRU2C21 pump, created with the industrial firefighting market in mind. Rated at 4,000 gpm at 100 psi with flow through rates up...
    Photos by Nicholas Wilbur
    Operating fire apparatus on a sunny day with sun glare is hard enough to do safely. Texting while driving makes a bad situation worse. This is extremely dangerous.
    Apparatus

    Emergency Vehicle Operations: Texting, Cell Phones And the Apparatus Operator

    Michael Wilbur
    July 1, 2014
    Mike Wilbur warns that you should know cell phone rules before sitting behind the wheel of an emergency vehicle.
    Tt 7 14 Doug Barry Pic 11518251
    EMS

    Tools & Technologies: Clackamas Fire Puts More Eyes on More TIs

    Doug Barry
    July 1, 2014
    Like many fire departments around the country, Oregon’s Clackamas Fire District 1 has depended on thermal imagers (TIs) for well over a dozen years as a critical tool in helping...
    Photos by Lee Genser
    Photo 1: Heavy smoke was followed by fire coming through the roof (Photo 2) of the 5,000-square-foot house and a subsequent complete collapse.
    Operations & Training

    Close Calls: Light Smoke Showing, Then Heavy Fire & Major Collapse: Part 4

    Billy Goldfeder
    July 1, 2014
    This concludes a multi-part account of a close call experienced by the Manhasset-Lakeville Fire Department (M-LFD) of Long Island, NY, at a house fire on Jan. 18, 2014. Thanks...
    Photo by Robert Burke
    Anhydrous ammonia (NH3) is one of the leading sources of nitrogen fertilizer applied to agricultural crops in the U.S.
    Hazmat/Specialty

    Emergency Response to Agricultural Ammonia Releases

    Robert Burke
    July 1, 2014
    Robert Burke explains the characteristics of Anhydrous ammonia and how it can impact rescuers and their equipment.
    Photo by Jeff Zimmerman
    The fire service, from the first unit on the scene of any type of incident, makes a decision on whether to operate in an aggressive, offensive manner or take a defensive position.
    EMS

    Eisner: Decisions, Decisions: Education and Training Are Key

    Harvey Eisner
    July 1, 2014
    Editor’s Note: The Firehouse staff wanted to share some of long-time Editor in Chief Harvey Eisner’s work. Harvey, a fixture on New York City firegrounds and at major events and...