Holmatro is now the Official Rescue Equipment provider for America's National Park of Speed. Along with over 500 events held seasonally at the 640-acre facility, 10 major weekends are open to the public, which include the NTT IndyCar Series, the MotoAmerica Superbike series, three vintage racing events, numerous Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) events, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Additionally, Road America's award-winning safety team staffs numerous track days and test days where they will rely on Holmatro Rescue Equipment.
“Our first priority at Road America is the safety of our fans, drivers, teams and those who utilize our facility," said Road America President and General Manager Mike Kertscher. "We all know that potential dangers exist in racing but having the best equipment and knowledge in the hands of our safety team when they respond is vital whenever an incident occurs.”
Holmatro has a proven track record of supporting the racing industry through race safety teams like in the NTT INDYCAR Series along with various tracks. Most recently Holmatro signed a partnership with The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).
Road America will have several response vehicles equipped with the Holmatro Rescue Equipment and first-in supplies, along with extinguishing and cleanup systems that can assist all the different types of cars that utilize the 4.048-mile racetrack and the CTECH Manufacturing Motorplex during events.
For more information, visit holmatro.com.
SVI Trucks has added Oklahoma apparatus dealer Heartland Fire Trucks to SVI’s highly selective dealer network, which is made up of only 25 dealers across the nation, each expert in the custom-build process. As one of the nation’s leading custom fire apparatus manufacturers, SVI Trucks is best known for its rescue trucks, command vehicles and hazmat units.
Heartland owners Mark Richardson and Jeff Davenport bring a combined 50-plus years of service as firefighters in Oklahoma. “Together, we have been selling fire equipment to departments across Oklahoma for more than 40 years,” Richardson said. “In all of that time, it’s been one of our dreams to work with SVI Trucks because they bring a reputation that few manufacturers can match.”
Heartland Fire Trucks is based in Marlow, OK., just an hour south of Oklahoma City and an hour east of Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. Surrounded by such diverse terrain and varied population, Heartland is prime to sell SVI Trucks’ full lineup of apparatus, which not only includes light, medium and heavy rescues, but also brush trucks, rescue pumpers, wildland tankers and more.
“Our dealer partnerships are very important to us here at SVI Trucks, especially given the custom nature of our trucks,” said Bob Sorensen, vice president of SVI Trucks Sales. “We know Heartland is going to be a great addition to the SVI Trucks dealer team.”
For more information, visit svitrucks.com.
Gary Wilkins has joined Super Vac and Command Light as the brands’ new Northeast sales manager. He brings more than three years of experience in the fire equipment industry, representing brands like Amkus, FireDex Gear and Honeywell SCBA, as part of C.W. Williams. Wilkins now represents Super Vac’s lineup of ventilation equipment, as well as Command Light’s scene lighting products.
Wilkins also brings 11 years of fire service in North Carolina, where he resides. He is experienced in auto extrication, engine operations and heavy rescue, as well as specialized operations, like RIT team, hazardous material mitigation and wildland search and rescue. During his time volunteering with the Northeast Stokes Vol. Fire & Rescue, he held various positions and currently is the assistant rescue chief.
“We were drawn to Gary’s forward-thinking approach, mixed with his understanding and appreciation of tradition,” said Roger Weinmeister, president of Super Vac and Command Light. “Overall, we’ve never had a candidate come to the interview as prepared as Gary. Not only was it commendable, but that kind of preparation is going to make him a valuable asset to any dealer or department in the southeast.”
Wilkins said it’s an exciting time to join these two brands. “With Super Vac’s new DeWalt- and Milwaukee-battery powered fans, there’s so much buzz just around the Super Vac brand, and Command Light is pushing a light tower giveaway tied to product demos. I can’t wait to get started.”
For more information, visit supervac.com and commandlight.com.
Emergency Reporting (ER) has announced a partnership with First Arriving, a company that provides marketing, recruitment, website, and technology services for fire, EMS, and public safety workers.
With the new integration, users will be able to display key Emergency Reporting features and data plus real-time incident alerts, easy-to-update information, critical messaging, and more. Some of the features from ER that can be pulled into users’ First Arriving dashboard are out-of-service hydrants, daily rosters, work orders, calendar events, equipment maintenance, and a turnout time dial.
“We continuously search for innovative companies in the fire and EMS industry that we can create useful and seamless integrations with and that will maximize efficiency for our users,” said Dave Adams, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Emergency Reporting. “First Arriving fit the bill—and we’re happy to welcome them to our growing community of partners.”
ER connects first responders with other useful software products for improved efficiency, response time, operations, asset management, and more. By seamlessly integrating with third parties, ER can provide first responders with a single platform that contains all mission-critical information to make more accurate, data-driven decisions, and to save valuable time spent entering and extracting data from multiple accounts.
For more information visit emergencyreporting.com.
Cradlepoint has chosen the first responder charities it is pledging to donate a portion of its 2019 public safety revenues to in January 2020. The charitable contribution is part of Cradlepoint’s FirstConnect program, designed to ease the challenges often faced by first responder agencies in purchasing, deploying, and supporting fixed site, in-vehicle, and IoT-based routing solutions for access to FirstNet and other nationwide public safety broadband networks.
Cradlepoint’s FirstConnect first responder charity contribution is administered under its CradlepointCares community involvement initiative. For 2019, the following charities have been selected based on the importance and relevance of their missions, and their efficiency in minimizing administration costs so that the majority of funds pass to the cause.
First Responders Children’s Foundation (firstresponderkids.org): The First Responders Children’s Foundation (FRCF) is committed to ensuring that the children of first responders receive the resources necessary to help them thrive and become the heroes of tomorrow.
Leary Firefighters Foundation (learyfirefighters.org): The Leary Firefighters Foundation (LFF) was founded by actor Denis Leary after the loss of his cousin and a childhood friend in an abandoned warehouse fire. LFF’s mission is to provide funding and resources for fire departments to obtain the best available equipment, technology and training. It is dedicated to helping maintain the highest level of public safety in its communities.
“With over 3,000 first responder agency customers—including police, fire and emergency services in some of the nation’s largest cities—we understand the challenges and sacrifices that first responders experience every day and the role technology plays in improving their efficiency and safety,” said Todd Krautkremer, chief marketing officer at Cradlepoint. “We feel an obligation to be more than just a solution provider, which is why our mantra is ‘we connect and serve those who protect and serve our communities’, and why our FirstConnect program includes an annual charitable contribution to first responder causes.”
For more information, visit cradlepoint.com.
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) joined with AT&T to form an alliance to educate firefighters and paramedics on the 21st century tools available to provide critical data and inter-agency communications through FirstNet—America’s public safety communications platform.
With this alliance, the IAFF and AT&T are committed to educating firefighters and paramedics about the benefits of FirstNet and the impact it can have on public safety communications. The IAFF will also work with AT&T to convey the needs of frontline firefighters, including pushing for the FirstNet network to enable mission-critical voice communications for all firefighters during emergency response.
“The IAFF is dedicated to keeping our members and the communities they serve safe,” said Harold Schaitberger, general president of the IAFF. “The FirstNet data and communications platform is one more tool that our members will have to gather information to make life-saving decisions when seconds count.”
The goal of the alliance is to cut through the clutter and make sure firefighters and paramedics have the right information to understand the cutting-edge capabilities and benefits of FirstNet, helping them adopt and use the technology in their own jurisdictions. Additionally, the alliance will benefit FirstNet by having the IAFF’s input on providing mission-critical voice capability as the service grows to meet the needs of its public safety users.
“FirstNet exists to serve public safety and to better their communications capabilities,” said Chris Sambar, senior vice president of FirstNet, AT&T. “But to get FirstNet into the hands of firefighters, they have to know this new tool is available, and they need to understand the transformative power it can bring to their day-to-day. The opportunity to collaborate with the IAFF to drive this critical education forward will go a long way in helping firefighters and paramedics get the modern communications they need.”
FirstNet is the only nationwide broadband network dedicated to public safety. Rising from difficulties communicating during the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, FirstNet delivers a single, nationwide, interoperable LTE network purposely built to enhance communications across the entire public safety community. It’s being built with AT&T in a public-private partnership with the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority)—an independent agency within the federal government.
“Our nation’s firefighters serve as the foundation for resilient communities, large and small,” said Edward Parkinson, acting CEO of the FirstNet Authority. “They deserve the best tools to help them keep themselves safe and carry out their lifesaving mission. We are pleased that the IAFF has joined AT&T to collaborate further on informing and getting feedback from members of the fire service on how FirstNet—
The alliance will also facilitate additional information sharing between the IAFF and AT&T, providing another avenue for public safety to provide feedback, input and guidance for the evolution of FirstNet services.
“Ensuring that firefighters and paramedics have access to reliable cell service and the internet is vital,” said Schaitberger. “We look forward to working with AT&T on FirstNet to improve our ability to help our members keep their cities and neighborhoods safe.”
For more information, visit firstnet.gov.
Firehouse Staff
Content written and created by Firehouse Magazine editors.
