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  • May 2025

    • May 2025

    Issue Description: The May issue of Firehouse includes feature articles on Swiftwater rescue kits, the evolution of ventilation, cancer prevention, the differences between misconduct and incompetence, and a special supplement on Station Design 2025. Cover Description: Technical rescue team members of the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department and the Burleson, TX, Fire/EMS Department responded to a call for a contractor who came in contact with electrical lines 150 feet high. On arrival, the technicians saw three contractors who were at the top of a cell tower. Two got down by themselves. One was injured. The power was turned off. After a plan was created, technicians ascended the pole—amid winds that pushed the pole back and forth—to build the systems that were required to safely lower the injured contractor. Several hours after arriving, the technicians brought down the patient. Photo by Glen E. Ellman. Dedication: Four U.S. firefighters recently died in the line of duty—Assistant Chief Donald Kammerich, Fire Chief Gary Moore, Firefighter Chevy Gall and Firefighter/EMT Roy Smith. This issue of Firehouse is dedicated to these firefighters.

    More content from May 2025

    Legal implications as well as risk to a fire department’s integrity and culture of growth and professionalism might result when situations aren’t evaluated fairly in terms of misconduct versus incompetence,.
    Curt Varone explains how legal implications as well as risk to a department’s integrity and culture of growth and professionalism might result when situations aren’t evaluated...
    May 15, 2025
    Photo by Scott Carnahan
    Cycling, jogging, rowing and walking improve mitochondrial function, cardiorespiratory fitness, heart rate recovery and one’s chronotropic index—and they don’t cost a dime nor depend on what a department provides.
    Russ Burnham and Michael Conner make clear to firefighters that their risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and mental health problems can be mitigated by their own attention...
    May 14, 2025
    Many EMS providers might now know how to achieve positive outcomes when responding to emergency calls that involve mental health, behavioral concerns or substance abuse.
    Megan Funk explains what might elude many EMS providers about how to achieve positive outcomes when responding to emergency calls that involve mental health, behavioral concerns...
    May 13, 2025
    Photo by Colin Buckley/BRW Architects
    A renovation of the Harris County ESD 16 Klein Station in Tomball, TX, included new bi-fold apparatus bay doors and a new entry that provides a secure vestibule. The bi-fold doors helped to resolve a problem with the station's response times, which negatively affected the firehouse's Operational Efficiency grade. The secure vestibule helped to improve the station's Site & Accessibility grade.
    Marcus Gibbon and Peri Sutton provide the means for a fire department to develop a data-driven approach to assessing a firehouse to put the department in a better position to ...
    May 12, 2025
    Photo by Alider Pratts
    For an over-the-edge rope rescue, companies of North Hudson, NY, Regional Fire and Rescue (NHRFS) created their anchor by breaching walls and wrapping several studs.
    Robert Policht urges city, suburban, volunteer and rural departments alike to familiarize themselves with his lessons for over-the-edge and rope-from-above rescues.
    May 11, 2025
    Photo courtesy of Super Vac
    PPV fans and smoke ejectors are the latest pieces of fireground equipment to experience the transition to battery power. As a result, the units can be put into service more quickly and more precisely than their electric counterparts. As a consequence of not needing to be connected to a portable generator, the noise is minimized, which helps in terms of fireground communication.
    The emergence of PPV fans and smoke ejectors that are battery powered brings numerous improvements to the fireground and firefighters' efforts.
    May 10, 2025
    Photo by Andrew McIntyre
    A belt-mounted 4-3-2-1 kit that includes an Anderson Rescue Solutions (ARS) Multi-Loop Rescue Strap, an H2O Rescue Gear Sharpshooter throwbag and a pouch to carry hardware.
    Andrew McIntyre talks on-the-water kit, pulley/rope compatibility, rope grabs, webbing and victim medical treatment, so rescue technicians are best prepared when they are called...
    May 9, 2025
    Firehouse Labs Staff
    All four apparatus bay doors of Station 52 of Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue open in less than five seconds. This is just below the 60 inches-per-second maximum speed at which the doors are capable of operating and far faster than the 7–12 inches per second of traditional doors.
    Firehouse Labs field analysis of Hörmann High-Performance Doors at Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue's Station 52 confirmed the promise of great value, door-opening speed and aesthetics...
    May 8, 2025
    Photo by Jeffrey D. Gaskin
    Chassis movement during acceleration and braking is reduced by the design of the RespondAir heavy-duty air ride suspension from Link Manufacturing.
    Jeffrey D. Gaskin found four apparatus component/system introductions at FDIC 2025 that he believes serve as evidence that these types of specialists continue to innovate.
    May 7, 2025
    Firehouse
    Power Hawk Technologies’ Auto Crib-It automated cribbing devices have a piston-actuated extender system that automatically rises to engage the working surface and locks into place.
    Firehouse Labs' field analysis of Power Hawk Technologies' Auto Crib-It vehicle stabilization tools verified their capability to automatically set and lock as a vehicle is lifted...
    May 6, 2025
    Photo courtesy of FGM Architects
    This special Station Design Supplement includes feature articles on future-proofing a fire station, designing a firehouse for physical and mental health, and building a facility to aid in recruitment and retention.
    This special Station Design Supplement includes articles on future-proofing a station, firehouse designs for physical and mental health, and building a facility to aid in recruitment...
    May 6, 2025
    It’s crucial that every member of the fire service does everything possible so that firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice aren’t forgotten.
    Peter Matthews reminds that the legacy of members who sacrificed their life must not be constrained to Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend but throughout May and always.
    May 5, 2025
    Among the matters that fire department leaders and architects should discuss en route to the design and construction of a new station is how the facility can incorporate facets that consider the potential—even likelihood—for expansion and the implementation of technology that currently isn’t employed.
    Jason Moore and Scott Roseberry delve into a half-dozen factors that require consideration at the onset of a station design project to ensure a department isn't caught behind ...
    May 2, 2025