According to a report from WCSC, after several years of construction, James Island (SC) Public Service District Fire Station 1 (JIPSD 1), its oldest and busiest station, is now in a new location and will serve approximately 15,000 residents.

Construction began on the new station in 2019, but the project has been planned for two decades.

The much-needed upgrade to Public Service District Fire Station 1 includes sleeping quarters and 2,000-pound bay doors that open in five seconds. Firefighters believe the station will better serve the residents as well as themselves.

The old fire station headquarters at 622 Camp Road was built more than 60 years old.

JIPSD Chief Shawn Engelman said this was not an ideal location; it increased response times for some spots on James Island, specifically those toward the backend of Riverland Drive. Engelman now says the new location is perfect for the area they serve.

Engelman says the project cost about $8 million, including the land, and that the town is in the process of selling old property.

Features of the new station include three bays for fire trucks, solar panels, and a screened porch for the firefighters to sit outside. The sleeping quarters also have 3/4 walls for firefighters’ privacy as they work their usual 24-hour shifts.

On a typical day, there are five JIPSD firefighters and five administrative chiefs on duty at JIPSD 1.

The post James Island (SC) Opens New Fire Headquarters After Two Decades of Planning appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) announced that a grant has been received from the Emergency Responder Safety Institute (ERSI) to support the Certified Traffic Incident Management Technician professional credential, which is the first accredited national certification for personnel meeting NFPA 1091: Standard for Traffic Incident Management Personnel Professional Qualifications. All roadway incident response personnel who are tasked with traffic control at an emergency scene on the roadway can earn this certification to demonstrate that they have obtained the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to properly discharge duties like positioning blocking vehicles, setting up a traffic incident management area, deploying and removing temporary traffic control devices, and conducting manual traffic control. The grant will reduce the certification cost from $95 to $15 for the first 100 applicants.

FDSOA administers the certification and the qualifying test. ERSI supports the certification with the training and preparatory tools necessary to pass the certification test. Training, including the required National TIM Training Certificate, is available at RSLN.org/TIMCertificate. A Test Prep Exam Workbook & Study Guide is available at ResponderSafety.com/CertifiedTIMTechnician. Completing the training and test preparation before taking the exam is the best way to ensure you are ready to sit for the test and have the best chance of success.

“The Certified Traffic Incident Management Technician professional credential is a natural outgrowth of our partnership with the Emergency Responder Safety Institute because we are both committed to eliminating struck-by incidents on the roadway,” said Chief Rich Marinucci, executive director of FDSOA. “Local fire departments in the United States respond to over 4 million incidents every year on roadway properties. Traffic control provides us a key measure of safety when we are working these calls by alerting and diverting the public. Our personnel must be trained in how to set up, maintain, and break down that traffic control if we are going to get to our goal of zero struck-by incidents. Earning this professional certification is an important way to demonstrate you know how to do that.”

To earn the Certified TIM Technician credential, applicants must first earn the National TIM Training Certificate and then must complete nine skill sheets and pass a certification exam that tests to the NFPA 1091 standard. The National TIM Training Certificate can be earned online from the Responder Safety Learning Network, online from the Federal Highway Administration, or at an in-person federal- or state-recognized National TIM Training class. Once an applicant has earned the National TIM Training Certificate, they must apply for the TIM Technician certification using the form on the FDSOA web site and provide proof of holding the National TIM Certificate and completing the skill sheets. The applicant will then be scheduled to take the exam. If the applicant passes the test, they will be notified that they have earned the certification and provided with proof of certification.

This certification is third-party accredited by The National Board of Fire Service Professional Qualifications (“The Pro Board”). That accreditation is your assurance that the certification exam tests to the NFPA 1091&nbs

According to a report from The Altoona Mirror, the Claysburg (PA) Volunteer Fire Company (CVFC) has raised about $260,000 from 125 donations in its efforts to purchase a new fire truck more than three months after its previous truck, a pumper, broke down.

The CVFC’s initial plan was to borrow $200,000 from the state, which would have resulted in a 25-year loan, but the enthusiastic response from the community resulted in the department not needing that much money after all.

Rich Allison, head of the CVFC’s Fire Truck Fund Committee, said that the money raised leaves the CVFC about $100,000 short of its goal of the $360,000 needed for the replacement truck, but the Claysburg community has far surpassed expectations throughout the fundraising efforts.

Since early January, the CVFC has been responding with a borrowed truck. Allison said it will take eight to nine months to receive the new vehicle.

The CVFC has gotten an incredible response from the the community during the fundraising effort, as businesses and residents have come together in support of the fire company.

Multiple businesses that did not wish to be named, donated amounts in the five-figures range, as much as $20,000, Allison said. The company even received a $50 donation from 10-year-old Isaiah Snyder, who collected cans to raise the money himself.

The post Community Comes Together to Help Claysburg (PA) Department Replace Broken Down Pumper appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

PHOTOS: Miraculously only two people suffered minor injuries during a crash that cut a vehicle into two pieces in Kent Thursday evening. Firefighters and medics were called to the scene at 112th Ave SE and SE 240th Place around 9:45 p.m., according to Pat Pawlak with Puget Sound Fire. There they found a vehicle whose back third had been seared off during the impact.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2021 6:55:34 AM - SOURCE: KOMO-TV ABC 4 and Radio 1000

Each of the past three years, Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has asked state lawmakers to proactively fund wildfire response and projects to make forests less susceptible to wildfires in the first place. While the two previous proposals she pitched looked to pay for the large financial ask with a fee on insurance policies, Franz says this go-around she chose a different tactic.
- PUB DATE: 4/2/2021 1:02:53 AM - SOURCE: The Inlander