Manufacturer’s Announcements

Ward Grantham Joins Gamewell

Ward Grantham was recently elected Vice-President and General Manager of The Gamewell Company. Newton Upper Falls, Mass.

He was born in Georgia, October 5, 1908. and is a graduate of George Tech, Class of 1930, B. S. in E. E. He is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, Tau Beta Pi, and Alpha Tau Omega and is also a member of Apawamis Club and Shenorock Shore Club, both of Rye, New York.

He has formerly been associated with Westinghouse Electric Corporation, P. R. Mallory & Co., Inc., Nathan Manufacturing Co., and Jerome Barnum Associates.

Resignations of Fred B. Philbrick, President and General Manager, and E. J. McCarthy, General Sales Manager, were recently announced.

Roy Pulver Opens Michigan Fire Equipment Company

Roy G. Pulver has organized the Michigan Fire Equipment Co., with headquarters in Lansing, Michigan, to represent fire apparatus and equipment manufacturers of the nation in a distribution capacity.

Mr. Pulver, who has enjoyed not only wide recognition by the fire service, and those allied with it. was formerly manager of the fire truck division of a large Michigan corporation. Later lie occupied an important post connected with state civil defense. He has been a student of fire control and protection for over a decade and has assisted in the development of fire fighting ideas and equipment, particularly the application of high pressure fog. He has also been active in firemanship training.

Mr. Pulvers’ organization, of which he is president and general manager, will distribute “everything for the fire department.” The address is P.O. Box 751, 200 Dawn Ave., Lansing, Mich.

Ahrens-Fox Company Changes Hands

Announcement has been made that on August 1, Walter Walkenhorst, of Cincinnati, purchased the “entire interests” of the Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company, one of the pioneers in the building of fire apparatus.

Mr. Walkenhorst is President of the General Truck Sales Corporation of Cincinnati, one of the large sales branches of General Motors Corporation, with which he became identified in 1908. It is of interest to note that nearly fifty years ago, he worked for the Ahrens-Fox Company.

Ahrens-Fox traces its origin back to Alexander Latta, who developed the first successful steam fire engine in 1852. Chris Ahrens acquired the business from Lane and Bodley in 1868, and established the Ahrens-Fox Fire Engine Company in 1905.

One important policy of the new company will be the manufacture of fire apparatus “constructed for use on commercial truck chassis.” Piston and centrifugal pumps will be revamped for use on such chassis.

It is also planned to conduct distribution and sales service on a worldwide scale.

Mr. Walkenhorst intends to stress prompt and efficient service. Air express will be employed, where necessary. to insure quick delivery of parts needed for replacement.

Canvas Water Tanks for Fire Fighting

Lack of water at the scene of a forest or rural fire, one of the big problems faced by the fire fighters, has been partially solved with the recent introduction of a new type canvas water tank.

The tank called Harodikes was invented by Franklin E. Smith, a South Dartmouth, Mass., textile engineer, when he was “marooned” in England during the London “blitz”. When the German Luftwaffe destroyed London’s water mains and water supplies, Civil Defense experts sought some suitable auxiliary supply. Smith, among others, was called on for some solution to the problem.

Mr. Smith, who taught at the New Bedford Textile Institute, developed, and later patented, a simple system of making canvas hose, a hose coupling of rubber to replace scarce metals, and also dikes to provide a reservoir supply of water.

The Harodikes tank has been in experimental use by forest protection agencies in this country for the past year and is said to have met the rigid requirements of forest fire fighters. The dike, or tank, has proved its usefulness especially in areas where irregular terrain and dense underbrush prevent the entrance of motorized tankers.

The tanks, or dikes, are available in three standard sizes, 150, 300, and 600 gallon capacities. The 150-gallon dikes have a square base of 48″ and have been designed so that they can be loaded in pairs on the usual utility pick-up truck which is standard equipment at most fire-fighting stations and carried full to the fire site. In similar manner, two of the larger tanks can he transported to the scene of the fire on an ordinary flat-bed truck.

The tanks have a low center of gravity. Even when carried fully loaded on trucks moving at reasonable speeds, the tanks do not throw the vehicles off balance nor do they shift excessively.

The tanks are completely collapsible, and when empty are light enough to be carried as hack-packs. The 300 gallon tank, for example, folds into a compact unit 13”x28”xl7” and weighs only 24 pounds.

In tests conducted by fire fighting agencies, Harodikes tanks have been found to be valuable when used in a series for a relay pumping operation. The tanks can be dropped at any interval of distance along the path of firefighting use, and because of their unique construction filling and either pumping or siphoning can be maintained from one “dike” or tank to another through as many series of hoses as may be desired.

New Bulletin on Mechanical Foam for Polar Solvent Fires

AER-O-FOAM “99”, a new liquid type mechanical foam for extinguishing polar solvent Or petroleum products fires is described in detail in a new bulletin published by National Foam System, Inc., West Chester, Pa.

The bulletin tells how this new mechanical foam, developed after extensive research, offers dependable protection when applied to fires fueled by methyl, ethyl, isopropyl alcohols, esters, ketones and ethers. AER-O-FOAM “99” is reported equally effective on petroleum products fires, offering a new measure of fire safety to a wide range of industries vitally concerned with fire protection problems.

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News of the Manufacturers

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Chief Dick Kennison “Osmologist”

That’s a title you’re going to hear more and more as time goes on. Osmology is the science of deodorization —a new innovation adopted by the fire service to help reduce property losses from fire, smoke and odors.

Taking a hint from another Iowa fire chief who “osmologizes,” Chief Chas. Slade of Des Moines, Chief Kennison had his first opportunity to try out his ‘find’ last July. It was only a small dwelling fire, but the removal of the pungent odors caused by burning of a plastic handle was so complete that the chief was encouraged to go further.

Since that time he has recorded use of his “Osmix 21” spray, manufactured by Airkem, Inc., 241 East 44th Street, New York 17, N. Y., at four representative incidents, one in Seerley Hall, a boy’s dorm’, Iowa State Teacher’s College (cause, pipe ashes, which ignited furnishings) ; one in a home furnishings store (cause, cigarette dropped into pile of new rugs); one a frame dwelling (cause, lightning igniting wires and curtains), and one in a bank building. The latter actually was not a fire but a tear-gas accidentally set off by a burglar alarm. A smoke ejector also was used on this incident.

In all these emergencies, Chief Kennison reports odors were fully removed in a matter of minutes, eliciting praise from those whose occupancies were “deordorized” and so quickly made livable.

Kidde Adds Mechanical Foam to Line

Storage of flammable liquids for use in industrial production creates fire hazards that often a,re inadequately provided for. Month after month valuable plants go up in smoke for lack of effective extinguishing systems to combat fires originating with these fluids.

For years Walter Kidde & Company, Inc., producer of carbon dioxide systems, has provided industry with equipment to extinguish fires resulting from handling and storage of flammable liquids. To their line of industrial fire protection, Kidde has now added Mechanical Foam Systems, particularly suited to this type of hazard.

Generally, operation of a mechanical foam system depends on normal plant water pressure to draw, mix, and deliver the fire extinguishing agent. In large installations where main pressures would be inadequate to do the job, special pumping may be required.

The components of foam are water, foam liquid, and air. The basic mechanical foam system starts with water under pressure passing through pipes or hose lines. The velocity of the water creates a vacuum which draws the proper amount of foam liquid from its storage chamber into the stream. Further along, a second vacuum is created which pulls air into the waterfoam solution. Then it is immediately “mixed”, creating fire-smothering foam, and is discharged over the burning liquid from either manually controlled hose lines or fixed units.

While requirements of a particular installation may va,ry the spacing between introduction of foam’s elements, its mixing, and method of discharge, the same basic pattern is followed.

New Fire Detector

A new model fire detector, intended for protection of schools, hotels, hospitals and other occupancies, has been introduced by Fenwal, Incorporated, of Ashland, Mass. It operates on a principle described as “Rate Compensation”.

The fixture is unobtrusive when fitted into the ceiling and it can be installed within new or existing alarm systems or can be made to actuate an extinguishing system directly. It is called the Fenwal “Detect-a-Fire” and sounds an alarm when the air temperature reaches the temperature for which it is set. There is said to be no time-lag in operation. Temperature settings up to 325 deg. F. may be had. The unit is available for either normally open or closed circuits, and is reported to carry the approval of the Coast Guard and Factory Mutuals Laboratories and is listed by the Underwriters’ Laboratories.

Convenient Kit to Repair Apparatus Stripes and Letters

A bane of the fireman’s life—if he’s at all fastidious about the appearance of his apparatus, is to repair faded, broken, uneven gold striping and lettering on his vehicles.

To help solve this difficulty without sending the job to the paint shop, Charles E. Roever, 291 Washington Street, Hempstead, N. Y. has devised what he calls the “Roever Stripe Kit.” The complete kit is contained in a box 5 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches, and includes, besides the simple instructions, the necessary gold leaf, brushes, sizing, varnish and border paint.

With this kit any fireman with little artistic ability can touch up damaged gold stripes and letters with genuine gold leaf, such as never could be done with gold paint.

Randolph Issues New, Helpful Extinguisher Guide

A new two-color, 12” x 22” poster, which quickly tells employees the correct fire extinguisher to use on rubbish, wood, inflammable liquid or electrical type fires, has just been released by Randolph Laboratories, Inc., Chicago, Illinois.

Ideal for posting in the plant at strategic locations, and for use in plant fire schools and employee lectures, the Randolph Extinguisher Guide illustrates all standard type fire extinguishers, and graphically explains the proper use for a soda acid, pump tank, foam, carbon dioxide, carbon tetrachloride, and dry powder extinguishers. The guide also indicates which extinguishers are subject to freezing, as a help in proper placement in heated and unheated areas.

Truman’s Bomb Cellar

President Truman reportedly has earmarked $881,000 for construction of a bomb shelter at the White House. Following hearings on the appropriation bill, at which the plan to build the shelter for the chief executive was disclosed, there was considerable comment among senators on the entire question of sheltering representatives of the government against enemy attack.