Some residents in Lafayette want the city to find a different location for a new fire station saying they were promised 25 years ago to have the site remain as a green space, KLFY.com reported. 

The city-parish government has made a proposal to build the new station at Eastland Drive and Camelia Boulevard to replace the station at Montrose and Johnston Street, the report said.

A fire official said Fire Station 6 is not big enough (it can only hold one truck), and the property is not large enough to build what is needed, the report said.

One resident said the government promised that the area would remain a green space. There’s a resolution 065-97 that maintains that the green space would protect the integrity of the neighborhood, the report said.

A city official said the city hasn’t found any documents that says that the area can’t be used for a fire station and that’s why the city is in the process of putting a station there, according to the report.

By Andy Soccodato

Large-scale firefighting operations require supply pump operators to maximize the flow capabilities from the sources being used. When it’s a fire hydrant, this involves employing a heavy hydrant hookup.

Part 1 of this series examined the variables that affect a fire hydrant’s rated flow capacity—the residual main pressure and the number of outlets used on the hydrant. Part 2 examines the effects that pump operators can expect from double and triple tapped fire hydrants as well as the three major advantages of heavy hydrant operations (photo 1).

• Heavy Hydrant Hookups: Maximizing Hydrant Flows, Part 1
• High-Performance Hydrant Operations
• Maximizing Hydrant Flows Using 6-Inch Soft Suction
• Fire Hydrant Lubricant
• Ratcheting Fire Hydrant and Fittings Wrench
• Hydrant Booster System Brings Hydrants to Rural Areas
• Redundancy in Water Delivery

Supply Line Diameter

The hydrant outlet area is only one part of the puzzle when attempting to maximize hydrant flows. Another variable that must be evaluated when looking to achieve a hydrant’s full flow potential is the hoseline diameter attached to the hydrant outlets. It usually goes without saying that when connecting to the steamer port of the hydrant, the supply line of choice is large-diameter hose (LDH) (photo 2). However, when it comes to the 2½-inch side ports, many firefighters believe that 2½-inch or 3-inch hose is all that is required. These same firefighters are often surprised when the available flow rate from the hydrant barely increases after connecting with medium-diameter hose.

When attempting to maximize hydrant flow rates, we must remember that fluids follow the path of least resistance. When double tapping a fire hydrant and attaching a 5-inch LDH line to the steamer port and a 2½-inch line to the side port, the majority of the total water flow from the hydrant will be through the 5-inch line. This is simply because there is less friction, or resistance, through the 5-inch line compared to the 2½-inch line; the water wants to follow the path of least resistance. In this scenari

The last of more than 1,195 defibrillators have been delivered to CFA districts as part of the rollout of life-saving equipment to every fire truck and operational vehicle.

The devices were purchased using more than $2.5 million of community donations to the CFA Brigades Donations Fund and the CFA Public Fund.

A CFA official said the installation of defibrillators to every CFA Brigade and Group vehicle will help better protect volunteer firefighters and Victorian communities.

For more on this story, please go to NationalTribune.com.au

The Coleman Volunteer Fire Department received a grant from the Texas A&M Forest Service Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program and used it to add a new fire-truck and a fire suppression device called a slip-on unit, BigCountryHomepage.com reported.

The Texas A&M Forest Service said these new tools will allow the fire department to respond to more calls, rotate and repair equipment and increase safety of first responders, the report said.

The Rural Volunteer Fire Department Assistance Program is funded by Texas Legislation, allowing it to assist fire departments with resources and training.

Jessica Abell

Missoulian, Mont.

(MCT)

City, local fire officials and community members gathered at the corner of Foxfield Street and Skeels Avenue in Hamilton on Monday to celebrate a groundbreaking for the new fire hall.

At approximately 12,500 square feet, the new location will give firefighters some much needed room for equipment, along with common spaces and living quarters designed with firefighter safety in mind. The new station design includes four bays to house fire trucks, a fire hose tower and decontamination space, as well as offices, counseling boxes and a fitness center.

“This is an exciting day for the Hamilton Fire Department as well as the city and the community that we serve,” Hamilton Fire Chief Brad Mohn said. “This is a state-of-the-art designed station for firefighter safety. It’s designed with expansion of services in mind and our goal is to serve the city and the area for 50 years, if not 75 years with this station … The mayor and city council has been instrumental in making this hope a reality, or this need come to fruition. I’d like to thank the city staff as well as the residents of the area. The Hamilton community has always been very supportive of the fire department, and continue to be.”

The current fire hall located in downtown Hamilton was built in 1907, posing challenges for the department when it comes to space, as well as keeping up with equipment and safety protocol changes. When the downtown station was built the department relied on horse-drawn wagons. Currently the department is forced to special order vehicles because the bays at the station are not large enough to fit standard trucks. Ventilation systems in the building are also aging and inadequate, posing a possible health hazard for firefighters. Fire trucks and equipment that are unable to be properly decontaminated can bring dangerous carcinogens into living quarters. The new fire hall will be equipped with “hot” and “cold” zones that allow for proper equipment storage and decontamination.

“It has larger bays … so that will save the taxpayers some money because we’ve had to order custom-made fire trucks to fit the station. Now we can order a conventional type fire truck,” Mohn said. “The other big thing is firefighter health. Firefighter cancer has skyrocketed over the last decade or so, and this station is designed with a hot zone and a cold zone to keep the carcinogens and the diesel exhaust and stuff away, out of the office area, out of the living quarter areas.”

Considerable concern exists surrounding cancer among firefighters. A 2020 study cited by the Center for Disease Control’s firefighter resources confirmed previous findings of excess mortality rates in firefighters from all cancers and several site-specific cancers as well as positive exposure-response relations for lung cancer and leukemia. The study looked at approximately 30,000 career firefighters from the San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia fire departments and found “these firefighters had a 9% increase in cancer incidence and a 14% increase in cancer mortality compared with the U.S. general population with elevations observed for respiratory, digestive and urinary cancers as well as mesothelioma.”

“It’s sort of the big difference between old fire stations and modern fire stations,” said architect Mike Dowling. “We’ve recognized over the years that firefighters have safety equipment, but when they go into a fire they’re getting ash and all kinds of stuff that collects on their clothing. So they always come back into a decon room where they put their gear immediately of