By Alan M. Petrillo
Navajo Nation (AZ) Fire and Rescue Services (NNFRS) covers an area of 27 square miles (17.5 million acres), roughly the size of the state of West Virginia, encompassing land in three Western States: Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
The Navajo Nation has eight fire districts in its territory including Arizona-based stations in Window Rock, Fort Defiance, Tuba City, Chinle, and Twin Arrows, and New Mexico-based stations in Shiprock, Newcomb, and Ojo Amarillo.
Each Timberwolf wildland urban interface pumper built by Rosenbauer is on a Freightliner M2-106 four-door 4×4 chassis and cab, powered by a 350-hp Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, with a Rosenbauer NH 1,250-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank, and a 30-gallon foam cell.
(Photo courtesy of Navajo Nation Fire and Rescue Services.)
NNFRS Chief Larry Chee said he was faced with delivering fire protection, technical rescue, hazardous materials response, and emergency medical services (EMS) to the Navajo Nation with an aging fleet of hodgepodge vehicles. When the Nation’s Division of Motor Vehicles decided to purchase new fire vehicles, he became immersed in the specifications process with the division.
“Sometimes, it takes 45 minutes to get to an emergency scene,” Chee points out, “because of distance and the fact that about 70 percent of our roads are not paved, graveled, or maintained regularly. Often, our calls are in remote mountain or desert areas, with a lot of structure fire calls way off the highway. We have four seasons in the Nation, and 80 percent of our district is off the grid, so we have to make sure our fire vehicles can handle the terrain, which is why we went with four-wheel drive on all of our new fire trucks.”
Mike Todd, fire apparatus sales engineer for Velocity Fire Equipment, says NNFRS met with Velocity sales staff and were impressed with the Rosenbauer Avenger chassis. “Their eyes lit up when they saw the Avenger,” Todd says. “Although it’s a very modern design, it’s the right fit for the Nation, which had been running very basic commercial chassis and cab pumpers with no frills.”
The Navajo Nation had Rosenbauer build three Avenger four-wheel drive rescue-pumpers and four four-wheel drive Timberwolf pumpers, which are designed to meet the requirements of a Type 1 structural pumper and a Type 3 off-road wildland engine.
Each Avenger rescue-pumper is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Features include a Rosenbauer NH 1,250-gallons per minute (gpm) pump, a 900-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, and a Task Force Tips Monsoon deck gun. The wheelbase on each Avenger is 215 inches; the overall length is 34 feet, 4 inches; and the overall height is 10 feet, 10 inches.
Each Timberwolf wildland urban interface pumper built by Rosenbauer is on a Freightliner M2-106 four-door 4×4 chassis and cab, powered by a 35
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Posted: Mar 24, 2021
According to a report from Carteret County News-Times, a recently completed study of Morehead, North Carolina’s, fire and emergency medical services (EMS) department by N.C. Fire Chief Consulting (NCFCC) showed that Fire Station No. 3, located at 5291 Highway 70, is still needed to serve the west side of the city. The Morehead City Council must now decide whether to keep the station where it is now or find a location—and the money—to build a new one.
NCFCC’s Greg Grayson presented the city council with the results as well as some recommendations for next steps during a special meeting held Thursday, March 18.
Morehead City assumed control of Fire Station No. 3 in 2014 when the now-defunct Wildwood Volunteer Fire Department merged with Morehead City Fire Department. Today, the city leases the station from Carteret County through an agreement that will expire in 2024. This deadline, combined with factors like space needs, the building’s old age, and the fact it suffered significant damage during Hurricane Florence in 2018, prompted officials to accelerate plans for a new station and hire consultants to guide the process.
One of the study’s key findings, based on the vulnerability risk index, was that a fire station on the west end of Morehead City is necessary to maintain adequate service to the area. The study also found the existing Fire Station No. 3 is in a good position; if the city were to look for a new location, they should only have it located within around a half-mile radius of the existing one.
The post Study Shows Need to Keep Fire Station No. 3 in Morehead City (NC) appeared first on Fire Apparatus.
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Posted: Mar 24, 2021
According to a report from Gulf Coast News Today, city officials in Spanish Fort, Alabama, have indicated that federal stimulus funding could help pay for their planned new fire station.
Mayor Mike McMillan told City Council members that the city’s share of the government’s recent $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act should total about $1.7 million, and any funding plans would be approved by the City Council after discussions with Spanish Fort officials.
City Clerk Rebecca Gaines said Spanish Fort has received about $353,000 in reimbursements under the CARES Act for expenses incurred during the coronavirus pandemic. She also stated that some payments are still outstanding such as reimbursements for firefighters’ turnout gear.
The post Federal Stimulus Funding May Cover Cost of Spanish Fort (AL) Fire Station appeared first on Fire Apparatus.
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Posted: Mar 24, 2021
According to a report from WVNews, the Fairmont, West Virginia, City Council agreed to apply for a grant totaling more than $137,000 to help lessen the cost of construction, which includes furniture and fixtures for the new fire station being built on the town’s east side.
The grant application will be submitted to Scott Electric Foundation.
Construction on the fire station began in 2020 and will replace a 100-year-old station.
Fairmont Mayor Tom Mainella called that station “terribly unsafe and inadequate,” and said that the new state-of-the-art facility should be ready within six months.
Fairmont Fire Department Chief Ed Simmons said the new fire station is about halfway complete.
The new station is being constructed on Morgantown Avenue just a few blocks away from the current East Side Fire Station.
Simmons noted that the old station has issues fitting modern fire trucks into the truck bay, lacks backup generators, and has an antiquated alerting system and aging HVAC system.
Simmons explained that the new station is designed to hold ladder truck, an engine, and an ambulance. He said the new station will be designed to last at least 70 years.
The post Fairmont (WV) City Council to Apply for Grant to Aid Construction of Fire Station appeared first on Fire Apparatus.
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Posted: Mar 24, 2021
Emergency Reporting, the global leader in cloud-based reporting and records management software (RMS) for fire, EMS, and other emergency response agencies, has acquired Medusa Medical Technologies. Medusa Medical Technologies provides electronic patient care solutions to emergency response and EMS agencies around the world. The company operates from its headquarters in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, with an additional office in the United Kingdom. Medusa Medical Technologies’ high-performing EMS software solutions, such as Siren Field User and Siren Web Administration, will complement Emergency Reporting’s ecosystem of solutions built to empower first responders around the world with the tools and data they need to keep themselves and their communities safe.
“The acquisition of Medusa Medical Technologies will allow us to further expand our global reach, and positions Emergency Reporting as a leader in first response software worldwide,” said Emergency Reporting CEO, David Nokes. “Medusa Medical Technologies patient care reporting and the ER Records Management ecosystem will unite in a shared vision for reduced complexity, increased flexibility, and a greater degree of data-driven, organizational intelligence for both fire and EMS customers globally.”
Medusa Medical Technologies has over 18 years of ePCR experience working with ambulance services, as well as mobile healthcare clinicians who need to capture patient care information on the go. The Siren Suite of solutions that Medusa Medical Technologies offers includes rapid data entry capabilities, real-time alerting, robust workflow tools, and powerful analytics that help improve processes and optimize organizational performance. Products in the Siren ePCR Suite include Siren Field User, Siren Workflow, Siren Data Analytics, Siren Notification Board, and Siren Field Editor. Their suite serves many customer segments, including British Columbia (Canada) EHS, Alberta (Canada) Health Services, East of England (UK), East Midlands (UK), Ireland’s Health Service, Nova Scotia (Canada) Emergency Health Services, MEMS (USA) and Mecklenburg County (USA), to name a few.
“The global effects of COVID-19 have made it even more apparent how vital it is for our global first responder and emergency service agencies to be digital, with the ability to complete their work from anywhere, whether in the field, at the station, or from their homes. I’m looking forward to working with Emergency Reporting to leverage a strategy for all of the Siren products, and to continue to improve the ways data is used to increase safety and collaboration in this field,” stated Glen V. Dexter, Chairman & CEO of Medusa Medical Technologies. “We are also going to be looking at how Emergency Reporting’s operational support modules, such as skills and asset management software, can enhance our customer experience in the near future.”
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