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Posted: Sep 12, 2022

Gulfport (FL) Uses ARPA Money for New Fire Truck

Gulfport is getting a new fire truck, but it might be a year or more before it’s delivered, TheGabber.com reported.

The city council voted September 6 to approve the $835,160 purchase using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) coronavirus recovery funds, the report said. A city official said this kind of equipment takes about 18 months or more. So the city will get a 2024 truck that likely will not arrive before late 2023 at the earliest.

According to officials, the Gulfport Fire Department’s current Engine 17, a 2012 model, has recently cracked the 100,000-mile mark. Maintenance and upkeep has increased over the years due to its age and the number of calls it runs daily, officials said.

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Posted: Sep 12, 2022

Lexington (KY) Fire Department Donates Retired Fire Truck to Fayette County Public Schools

Lexington (KY) Fire Department recently donated retired Engine 5, a 1986 fire truck, to students at Fayette County Public Schools in the Fire Service Pathway Program through Eastside Technical School, FoxLexington.com reported.

The truck served the community for 36 years, now it will help train young firefighters.

Eastside Technical Center is training 79 students to become firefighters.

The Lexington Fire Department is hopeful they will see students who graduate from Eastside Technical Center join their ranks.

Students are eligible to enroll in the Fire Service Pathway as first-years, and those who complete the two-year program will earn certifications in basic life support, bleeding control, CPR and AED, and multiple FEMA certifications.

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Posted: Sep 12, 2022

Ground Monitor Mounting Locations

By Bill Adams

Numerous articles written about ground monitors (aka “attack” monitors) and their advantages on the fireground include Purchasing Ground Monitors (Part 1) and Purchasing Ground Monitors (Part 2).  Essentially, they flow twice as much as a 2½-inch handline but less than a master stream as defined by the National Fire Protection Association NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus

There is no questioning ground monitors’ effectiveness or operational characteristics. Nor is there any debate about the types of nozzles used. Let the monitor manufacturers (Elkhart Brass, Akron Brass and Task Force Tips) promote their own specifics. What purchasers may be interested in is the various locations they are carried on the apparatus and whether or not they are preconnected. Those decisions are the sole responsibility of each fire department and also are not questioned.

At a recent regional trade show, there were a number of monitors mounted on various manufacturers’ rigs that have been in service or will soon be.  My observations are strictly from the standpoint of me being the firefighter sent to retrieve the device and put it into service.   Other comments are personal opinions about the rig’s layout.    

  1. This E-One’s rear panel mounted monitor appears reachable from ground level. It is preconnected with 3-inch hose; looks easy to deploy.

[There’re four other rear preconnects; a 2½-inch next to the 3-inch and three 1¾-inch on the right side.  The two on the far right are connected to a leader line wye just visible behind the hose.  There’s a decent size rear work platform but no handy spanners.]

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Posted: Sep 12, 2022

Laurel (NE) Hosts Open House for New Fire Hall

Laurel (NE) just got a much-needed upgrade with a new fire hall, SiouxLandProud.com reported.

Sunday was the open house and dedication. The facility holds seven fire rigs, two ambulances, storage space and a common area that will double as a classroom, the report said.

This project has been in the making for more than five years.

The all-volunteer department has 25 firefighters with 17 members part of its rescue squad, according to the report.

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Posted: Sep 12, 2022

Should You Build Your Own Live-Fire Training System?

Live-Fire Training

In today’s economic environment, getting maximum value for your money is imperative. That’s why a lot of fire departments with a tight budget might be inclined to build their own training systems and props.

After all, when you take a simple look at some fire training systems, they just look like shipping containers placed together. Someone adds wood, sets it on fire, and there you go. Training is safely completed. But was it? Was it done safely? Or did we just get lucky again?

Should fire departments build their own fire training system rather than purchasing a fully designed and engineered structured?

Several issues arise when considering a training structure. First and foremost would be liability. We’re going to come back to liability, but let’s consider everything else.

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1402, Standard on Facilities for Fire Training and Associated Props, 2019 Edition, lists a variety of requirements to meet the standard; among them is engineered drawings of any training system.

Firefighter training systems require very specialized structural engineering. They are not like building normal structures since they will be repeatedly exposed to heat, fire, smoke, and much more. Understanding the impact requires an expert structural engineer who’s specifically aware of the stresses for fire training systems.

 Although it looks like a shipping container, several engineering alterations are made for safe, predictable fire and smoke behavior. (Photos courtesy of Dräger.)

That structural engineering extends to elements one might not consider including the foundation and how the training system is secured. Just because someone knows a welder doesn’t mean the welds are structurally sound.

While from the outside a Swede system live fire training prop looks like an ordinary Class A shipping container, the interior has been significant altered to create fire environments that enhance firefighter training.

How to conduct the required educational components in these systems is outlined in the 2018 Edition of NFPA 1403, Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions. Generating repeatable, safe evolutions that demonstrate recognizable fire and smoke behavior is paramount for an effective training program. Interiors must be properly engineered for ventilation that allows for the appropriate fire and smoke behavior to occur. For example, learning to recognize the fire and smoke behavior in an eventual flashover and ways to delay or mitigate it requires significant infrastructure in a training system.

Everything burns, and long-term exposure to the heat in metal structures can impact the integrity of the metal. Each training unit where a burn occurs is engineered with proper insulation to endure repeated exposures.

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