Diesel exhaust in firehouses has been and continues to be a problem for many firefighters. A diesel-powered apparatus generates exhaust whenever it leaves or returns to a station. If not properly captured, this exhaust will enter not only the apparatus bay but also the firefighters’ living quarters.
I remember growing up in New York City AND spending the summer days up on the rooftops of the tenements trying to catch some sun. Back then, we referred to the rooftops as “Tar Beach”. I am not sure how that term came about, but I assume the name referred to the hot sun’s beating down on the rooftops and softening the tar.
It’s 3 a.m. fire is blowing out the windows of the private dwelling, and there are reports of people trapped. You’ve got the first handline in operation, and things are looking hopeful. Then comes that URGENT message that freezes every chauffeur’s blood: The nozzle team has lost water!
How many times have you heard, “You should do a 360° walk-around before you develop your incident action plan (IAP) and commit units”? This is sound advice, especially when you hear firefighters in the firehouse talk about what they missed on their last working fire or read a story about what they would have done differently had they actually done a 360° walk-around.
The recent dip in our economy has slowed down many new construction projects, but “Johnny Appleseed” continues to build residential homes. Who is the “Johnny Appleseed” Construction Company? Well, it operates in almost every town, city, and state. Much akin to “Johnny Appleseed,” these builders seem to magically spread house “seeds” in any tract of open land or in your local farmer’s backfield
Many years ago, when I first started in the fire service, 2½-inch hose was prominent in our apparatus hosebeds, which were divided equally between 1½- and 2½-inch hose. During my first assignment in Harlem with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY), old-time nozzlemen would evaluate the situation at hand and then stretch the appropriate sized handline, no questions asked! Over the years, the fire service slowly evolved to using 1¾-inch hose for attack (which took up less space on our apparatus), and the 2½-inch hose was pushed to the side. In the ensuing years, FDNY’s (late) Lieutenant Andrew A. Fredericks highlighted the need for 2½-inch attack lines for situations that require large volumes of water, such as the initial attack at structural fires.
The aim of firefighting is the same the world over, whether it be in London, Chicago, or downtown New Delhi. Among those aims, of course, are to rescue casualties; promote their recovery; extinguish fire; and, most importantly, ensure that the firefighters work safely and return home alive after each shift.
The Mohegan Tribal Fire Department (MTFD) in Uncasville, Connecticut, protects the Mohegan Tribe’s main reservation in southeastern Connecticut, which includes most of the 350 acres the tribe holds in trust. The area includes the tribal government building, warehousing, the utility authority, public safety operations, numerous parking garages, and the Mohegan Sun casino hotel and resort complex.
People love pessimism. No matter how good things get, no matter how well things are going, people are always going to enjoy listening to those who preach gloom and doom more than they will those who preach optimism and opportunity. We all like to believe that we are optimistic, that we are focused on improving, that we are convinced that better days are ahead.
Scenario: A rig returning from a run slowly backs into your station. You hear a firefighter call out “STOP!” to the driver. You then hear that telltale sound of steel on cinderblock. The rig has just clipped your building.
Scenario: It’s 0710 hours at the station and you’ve just set your gear by the apparatus; you’re ready to start the shift and run some calls. But ... are you really prepared? Is your gear placed on the apparatus properly? Is all of your personal protective equipment (PPE) (i.e., gloves, hood, mask, and so on) accounted for? Have you checked your self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)? Is your flashlight charged and working? All of these precautions, as elementary as they may seem, can keep you from getting seriously hurt or killed.
Does your fire department provide emergency medical services (EMS)? In communities with populations of 100,000 or more, 97 percent of U.S. fire departments provide some level of EMS.1 Some fire departments provide emergency medical treatment at the basic life support (BLS) level, using emergency medical technicians (EMTs), while others may provide care at the advanced life support (ALS) level using paramedics.
The new American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International standard, ASTM E2690, Practice for Specimen Preparation and Mounting of Caulks and Sealants to Assess Surface Burning Characteristics, will address materials not easily assessed by using ASTM E84, Test Method for Surface Burning Characteristics of Building Materials. Fire test laboratories, caulk and sealant manufacturers, and code officials will be the primary users of the new standard, notes Paul Hough, manager of product fire performance, Armstrong World Industries, a member of ASTM Subcommittee E05.22 on Surface Burning, part of the ASTM International Committee E05 on fire standards.
The fire service is constantly finding new buzzwords and phrases to describe what we do and how we should do it. One of the newest, trendiest, phrases around is “victim survivability profiling” (VSP). The phrase was coined by Fire Department of New York Captain Stephen Marsar, who presented his view of the topic in multiple articles.,2The difficulty with buzzwords and phrases is they attempt to distill complicated ideas into nugget-sized bits of information.
We have been going through a description and discussion of a basic risk-analysis (size-up) and risk-management framework. The structure of the two-sided system we have presented compares typical incident hazards on one end to the items in our safety system at the other end. This balance depends on the incident commander’s (IC) continually evaluating the ability of the safety system to protect the firefighters from the level of hazard present. The IC must translate that safety system/hazards evaluation into the position and function of the firefighters either inside (offensive) or outside (defensive) of the hazard zone.
The Fairview Park (OH) Fire Department uses this KME pumper as a first-due unit for all fires, MVAs, and hazmats, explains Chief David Simon. Its Class B foam system proves useful at hazmats and highway emergencies.
Honeywell Life Safety has launched WWW.EMERGENCY-COMMUNICATIONS-SYSTEMS.COM to provide up-to-date information on all aspects of Emergency Communications Systems, from its roots in military mass notification mandates to the latest solutions that meet communications, signaling, and intelligibility requirements for typical applications. Visitors can also tap into the Honeywell Fire Systems Group Services capabilities for design and applications services.
W.S. DARLEY & COMPANY was selected as the Family Business Winner of the Annual Illinois Family Business of the Year Award, which is sponsored by Loyola University Chicago Family Business Center. This award program recognizes exceptional Illinois-based family businesses that dedicate a strong commitment to business development, family, and the greater Illinois community. This year’s award had nearly 200 nominations in three business size categories, and the winners were chosen based on positive family/business linkage, multigenerational family business involvement, contributions to industry and community, and innovative business practices and strategies. Darley won the Medium Size business category.
GIL DAMIANI retired as assistant chief of the Mesa (AZ) Fire Department after 30 years with the department. Damiani worked his way up from firefighter to various supervisory positions, including chief of operations, and was well known for helping oversee the emergency management division.
As we arrived on the scene, fire was showing out of four windows on the third floor of a wood-frame dwelling. The engine laid a supply line in and pulled past the house, leaving room for the truck to work. When an engine pulls past the occupancy, it also allows the officer to get a three-sided view of the structure on arrival. This greatly enhances the initial size-up process. Quickly, the engine company pulled the 13⁄4-inch preconnect off the rear of the engine, and the nozzle firefighter grabbed the nozzle and premade loop (designating the “lead” length or first 50-foot section used to cover the occupancy) and began to stretch. The chauffeur disconnected the supply line from the rear bed and attached it to the pump’s intake.
Sometimes the line between problems, issues, and challenges is very fine and not very discernable. Most of the problems discussed in this column are narrow in focus and often are centered on a single individual or event. Many have a certain uniqueness based on the individuals and departments involved. But what happens when the problem transcends the individuals and organizations, becoming a problem/issue/challenge for the entire fire service? Will the same basic principles work in looking for the best possible solution to the problem?
Creating a wider and more in-line path of egress for patient removal has resulted in a recent trend of total side removals at extrication incidents involving four-door vehicles. At a recent training session at the St. Andrews (SC) Fire Department, a student asked how that concept would apply to a two-door vehicle. It became obvious that rescuers seldom take the time to ensure the same path of egress when removing the patient from the driver or passenger side of a two-door vehicle. When rescuers remove only the door, personnel must turn the patient almost 90° to remove him onto a long backboard.
The fire service is evolving at an electrifying pace. Things that were unheard of a few years ago are now taking place. When my father came on the job in 1952, the police did EMS work. To be sure, the fire department was called when a building collapsed or a train hit a car, but the police responded to an ill-person call. I don’t have to tell you where the Toledo (OH) Department of Fire and Rescue is today as it relates to EMS—up to its eyeballs.
