Scuttlebutt 12/21

Free Training Course Supports Cancer Organizations

Vector Solutions is offering complementary access to one of its most critical online training courses for the fire service, NFPA 1851–Cancer-Related Risks of Firefighting. The company will donate $1 for every course completed before Jan. 31, 2022, to the American Cancer Society and the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, up to $5,000 to each organization.

In accordance with the NFPA 1851: Standard on Selection, Care, and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting, the training course addresses fire-service-related cancer risks for firefighters and fire personnel.

For more information, visit info.vectorsolutions.com/nfpa1851-free-cancer-awareness-course.

CHEMTREC Provides $50K to VFDs

In honor of CHEMTREC’s 50^th anniversary, the company partnered with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) to award five NVFC members $10,000 for their volunteer fire departments through the 2021 CHEMTREC HELP (Hazmat Emergencies Local Preparedness) Awards. Funding is provided to strengthen departments’ hazmat incident response capabilities and to increase local readiness for hazmat events.

This year’s recipients are: Gilsum, NH, Fire & Rescue; the Kirksville Volunteer Fire Department in Richmond, KY; the Ladonia Volunteer Fire Department in Phenix City, AL; the Shelbyville, KY, Fire Department; and the Tusculum Volunteer Fire Department in Greeneville, TN.

For more on each department, visit firehouse.com/21245013.

The Los Angeles County Fire Museum will host a 51^st anniversary celebration of the TV show “Emergency!” on the day that the show first aired. Plans to celebrate the 50^th anniversary were sidelined by the pandemic, but museum staff have worked tirelessly to honor the show and the people who introduced many to the fire service. Cast members, including Randolph Mantooth (John Gage) and Kevin Tighe (Roy DeSoto), and firefighter/paramedic-advisors will take part in a meet and greet. The event takes place Jan. 14–16, 2022, and includes tours of the station that was used in the show, the fire museum, the Squad 51 vehicle and two pumpers that were used as Engine 51. The original ambulance that was used in the show is being restored by staff.

For more information, visit lacountyfiremuseum.com.

Pierce Expanding Facilities, Adding Jobs

Pierce Manufacturing Inc. is expanding two of its locations in Wisconsin and adding more than 200 positions to its workforce. The company’s main facility in Appleton will receive a 90,000-square-foot expansion, while an additional 60,000 square feet of production space will be added to the company’s facility in Neenah.

Product demand has been the main driver for the need to increase space to produce fire vehicles. The facility expansion will provide additional space for product assembly, material storage and testing of finished products.

New Pierce team members will receive an initial training program before transitioning to their hired role. Additionally, each team member may access $10,000 per year for continuing education to pursue an associate, bachelor’s or master’s degree.

For more information, visit piercemfg.com.

E1 Aims to Offset Carbon Emissions

Emergency One Group Ltd. (E1) vowed to completely offset its carbon emissions by planting a tree for every fire apparatus that it builds, becoming, according to the company, the United Kingdom’s first carbon neutral manufacturer of fire and rescue apparatus. With an output of 250 vehicles per year, E1 claims that it’s the U.K.’s largest manufacturer of specialized fire and rescue service vehicles and equipment, supplying to the U.K. and international markets.

The Scottish-based company, which launched the world’s first fully electric fire engine, the E1 EVO, in October 2020, also declared its ambition to be absolute zero by 2030, which would be ahead of its original commitment of 2050.

For more information, visit e1group.co.uk.

All-Electric Truck for Arizona Department

E-ONE is building an all-electric Vector fire truck for the Mesa, AZ, Fire and Medical Department. Parent company REV Fire Group announced the introduction of its Vector all-electric fire truck in August 2021, and Mesa is the first confirmed order. The company says that the customizable Vector has the industry’s longest electric pumping duration using 316 kilowatts of total battery power, which enables the truck to pump at 750 gpm through four hoselines for four hours on a single charge.

This rig will support the city of Mesa’s Climate Action Plan and goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

For more information, visit e-one.com.

Nfff Memorial Weekend Thank You Troy Markel 617b1277e1f2a

NFFF Chair Pens an Open Letter to the Fire Service

Troy Markel, who is chairman of the NFFF board of directors, wrote a thank you note to those who made the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Weekend a reality for the families of the nation’s fallen bravest. Here is an excerpt from that letter.

“Thank you!!! Thank you to the American Fire Service and everyone who volunteered to make the 2021 National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend a reality for the families of the nation’s fallen firefighters. It was the first in-person national firefighter or police memorial service held since 2019!

“The pandemic created enormous challenges. During the planning, and as late as September, the National Memorial again faced the possibility of being postponed. At each of those moments, the hundreds of Memorial Weekend volunteers, NFFF staff and our partners at the U.S. Fire Administration found ways to overcome these obstacles. This allowed the fallen to be appropriately honored and their families to see the gratitude of our nation.”

To read the letter in its entirety, visit firehouse.com/21244417.