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Posted: Jul 16, 2025

Water Rescue Bin Blows Off the Top of Pumper; FD Wants It Back

The West Manchester Township (PA) Fire Department is asking for the public’s help in locating equipment that was lost during recent storms, fox43.com reported

The department said a yellow and black tote containing water rescue equipment was blown off its pumper. The bin included two black and yellow Mustang personal floatation devices (PFDs) and a yellow throw bag with an orange floating rope. 

“A very critical water rescue bin has blown off the top of our engine,” the department said in a Facebook post. “If anyone has found this tote please notify the WMT office at (717) 792-3505 and ask for Chief Laughman.”

The post Water Rescue Bin Blows Off the Top of Pumper; FD Wants It Back appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Jul 15, 2025

Bradley International Airport Adds New Oshkosh Striker ARFF Vehicles

Three new Oshkosh Airport Products Striker® ARFF vehicles provide strong emergency response, outstanding operational uptime, and support the airport’s future growth.

APPLETON, Wisconsin (July 15th, 2025) – Oshkosh Airport Products, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) business, is proud to announce the delivery of three state-of-the-art Striker® Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicles to Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The new additions to BDL’s fleet represent a major investment in safety, service reliability, and operational agility.

The delivery, managed in partnership with Oshkosh Airport Products’ regional dealer Firematic Supply Co. Inc., includes one Striker 6×6 with a Snozzle® High Reach Extendable Turret (HRET), one Striker 4×4 with a Snozzle HRET, and one Striker 4×4 with a roof turret. Each unit is engineered with next-generation technology to meet the growing demands of a high-traffic, safety-first airport.

“This addition reflects our commitment to delivering a seamless experience to passengers and airline partners,” said Raymond Muller, Vice President, Service & Technology at Firematic Supply Co. Inc. “The new rescue vehicles will enable high in-service rates, exceptional maintenance efficiency, and support the airport’s growing traffic needs.”

All three units are powered by a Scania DC16/V8 670 HP Tier 4 Final engine and feature TAK- 4® Independent Suspension for enhanced stability and off-road performance. Advanced operator awareness and control capabilities are built into each vehicle, including 360-degree camera systems, digital video recorders, exterior water/foam level lights, and an engine fast- start button on the side of each cab.

Additionally, the three vehicles feature slightly different specifications:

Striker 6×6 with Snozzle HRET:

  • 3,000-gallon water capacity
  • 440-gallon foam capacity
  • 550 pounds of dry chemical capacity
  • Snozzle HRET
  • Low attack bumper turret
  • In-cab EMS storage

Striker 4×4 with Snozzle HRET:

  • 1,500-gallon water capacity
  • 220-gallon foam capacity
  • 550 pounds of dry chemical capacity
  • Snozzle HRET and bumper turret
  • In-cab EMS storage

Striker 4×4 with Roof Turret:

  • 1,500-gallon water capacity
  • 220-gallon foam capacity
  • 550 pounds of dry chemical capacity
  • Roof and bumper turrets
  • Digital monitoring and recording systems

BDL is the largest airport in Connecticut and the second largest in New England, serving more than 6.7 million passengers annually. The production and delivery process for the airport’s new Striker ARFF vehicles was managed through a collaborative partnership between Firematic Supply Co., the engineering and technical support teams at Oshkosh Airport Products, and Bradley International Airport’s internal stakeholders.

“From initial consultation to final delivery, the sales and technical support teams played a critical role in ensuring the success of the project,” added Muller. “The seamless coordination ensured the process remained on time and within budget.”

For more information about Oshkosh Airport Products and the new Striker ARFF vehicles at Bradley International Airport, visit www.oshkoshairport.com.

About Oshkosh Airport Products

Oshkosh Airport Products, a division of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.

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Posted: Jul 15, 2025

Bradley International Airport Adds New Oshkosh Striker ARFF Vehicles

Three new Oshkosh Airport Products Striker® ARFF vehicles provide strong emergency response, outstanding operational uptime, and support the airport’s future growth.

APPLETON, Wisconsin (July 15th, 2025) – Oshkosh Airport Products, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE: OSK) business, is proud to announce the delivery of three state-of-the-art Striker® Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) vehicles to Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The new additions to BDL’s fleet represent a major investment in safety, service reliability, and operational agility.

The delivery, managed in partnership with Oshkosh Airport Products’ regional dealer Firematic Supply Co. Inc., includes one Striker 6×6 with a Snozzle® High Reach Extendable Turret (HRET), one Striker 4×4 with a Snozzle HRET, and one Striker 4×4 with a roof turret. Each unit is engineered with next-generation technology to meet the growing demands of a high-traffic, safety-first airport.

“This addition reflects our commitment to delivering a seamless experience to passengers and airline partners,” said Raymond Muller, Vice President, Service & Technology at Firematic Supply Co. Inc. “The new rescue vehicles will enable high in-service rates, exceptional maintenance efficiency, and support the airport’s growing traffic needs.”

All three units are powered by a Scania DC16/V8 670 HP Tier 4 Final engine and feature TAK- 4® Independent Suspension for enhanced stability and off-road performance. Advanced operator awareness and control capabilities are built into each vehicle, including 360-degree camera systems, digital video recorders, exterior water/foam level lights, and an engine fast- start button on the side of each cab.

Additionally, the three vehicles feature slightly different specifications:

Striker 6×6 with Snozzle HRET:

  • 3,000-gallon water capacity
  • 440-gallon foam capacity
  • 550 pounds of dry chemical capacity
  • Snozzle HRET
  • Low attack bumper turret
  • In-cab EMS storage

Striker 4×4 with Snozzle HRET:

  • 1,500-gallon water capacity
  • 220-gallon foam capacity
  • 550 pounds of dry chemical capacity
  • Snozzle HRET and bumper turret
  • In-cab EMS storage

Striker 4×4 with Roof Turret:

  • 1,500-gallon water capacity
  • 220-gallon foam capacity
  • 550 pounds of dry chemical capacity
  • Roof and bumper turrets
  • Digital monitoring and recording systems

BDL is the largest airport in Connecticut and the second largest in New England, serving more than 6.7 million passengers annually. The production and delivery process for the airport’s new Striker ARFF vehicles was managed through a collaborative partnership between Firematic Supply Co., the engineering and technical support teams at Oshkosh Airport Products, and Bradley International Airport’s internal stakeholders.

“From initial consultation to final delivery, the sales and technical support teams played a critical role in ensuring the success of the project,” added Muller. “The seamless coordination ensured the process remained on time and within budget.”

For more information about Oshkosh Airport Products and the new Striker ARFF vehicles at Bradley International Airport, visit www.oshkoshairport.com.

About Oshkosh Airport Products

Oshkosh Airport Products, a division of Pierce Manufacturing Inc., a subsidiary of Oshkosh Corp

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Posted: Jul 15, 2025

FL Leads the Way With a High-Tech 911 System That Improves Emergency Response

By FREIDA FRISARO Associated Press834 words

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) — When an emergency happens in Collier County, Florida, the 911 calls go to one of the most high-tech communications centers in the U.S., where callers can send text and video from the scene to dispatchers.

Moving to what’s known as an NG911 — or Next Generation 911 — system is a journey Sheriff Kevin Rambosk and Bob Finney, the county’s director of communication, have been on for much of the past decade.

It’s a long way from Feb. 16, 1968, when Alabama’s then-House Speaker Rankin Fite made the nation’s very first 911 call in Haleyville, Alabama, on a bright red, rotary-style landline telephone. That ceremonial call came just 35 days after AT&T announced plans to use 911 as a nationwide emergency number.

Today, most calls to 911 originate with cellphones, with dispatchers in upgraded centers using geo tracking to get accurate geographic locations from callers.

But the response time in an emergency depends on the type of technology being used at any of the 6,000 emergency communications centers in the U.S. that receive 911 calls. There is no uniform emergency system in the U.S., so individual cities, counties, states or geographic regions are responsible for operating their own 911 call centers.

While some states have fully updated to NG911 systems, others are still using legacy 911 systems that rely on antiquated equipment.

“We’re just reminded in these last two weeks, with the flooding in Texas, just how important the work of 911 is,” said Michael Martin, CEO of RapidSOS, which provides infrastructure that passes critical data to emergency centers across the United States.

The future is now for 911

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office covers 911 calls from an area of about 2,030 square miles (5,258 square kilometers) that stretches from sandy beaches at the southernmost tip of the Gulf Coast on Florida’s peninsula inland to the Everglades.

It’s a region that has been ravaged by hurricanes this century, including Hurricane Irma in 2017 and Hurricanes Ian and Milton most recently.

That’s why Sheriff Rambosk wanted a high-tech emergency operations center.

“We just believe that when we can reduce the response time using technology, it will improve safety and survivability of those calling in,” said Rambosk, who has been sheriff since 2009. “And that’s really what we’re all about, keeping people safe and rescuing them when they need it.”

Today 61 full-time employees and three part-timers staff two emergency operations centers around the clock.

They rely on data that RapidSOS collects from connected buildings, devices, vehicles and even smart watches to send first responders to emergency scenes. The baseline data is provide free of charge to all 911 centers, Martin said.

Mixing technology with emergency response

As Hurricane Helene was tracking toward north Florida last September, forecasters were predicting it could hit Tallahassee as a major Category 3 storm. Officials in Leon County, which serves the state’s Capitol and nearby counties on legacy 911 equipment, reached out to Collier County, some 430 miles (692 kilometers) to the southeast, to see if they could take over emergency calls if the storm knocked their center out.

Helene m

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Posted: Jul 15, 2025

Utility Terrain Vehicles Fill Dual Role in Wildland and Rescue

Fire departments are turning to the use of utility terrain vehicles (UTV) and all-terrain vehicles (ATV) that are outfitted for wildland firefighting for a number of reasons, including to quickly douse a small fire before it can grow into a larger problem, to get access to a wildland fire in difficult terrain, and to function in a dual role as both a wildland firefighting vehicle and a rescue vehicle.

And, many departments also like the lower cost factor of a wildland UTV unit when compared with that of a small wildland pumper like a Type 6 with a skid unit pump.

Kimball Johnson, president of Kimtek Corp., says Kimtek has seen a big uptick in sales of its wildland fire skid units that can be used on UTVs. Johnson says Kimtek’s most popular UTV skid unit is its FIRELITE® Transport Deluxe, a dual-role unit with a Darley-Davey® two-stage high-pressure pump powered by a 6.5-horsepower (hp) motor that flows 65 gallons per minute (gpm) at 48 pounds per square inch (psi) and 20 gpm at 120 psi. The unit also has a removable tray for a rescue litter, an F4000 series Hannay manual-crank hose reel with 50 feet of Mercedes 1-inch or ¾-inch hose, and either an integrated 55-gallon or 70-gallon polypropylene water tank.

Kimtek also makes the FIRELITE compact wildfire skid unit that mirrors the transport deluxe unit but with either 50 feet of 1-inch or 100 feet of ¾-inch Boostlite booster hose and without the transport tray. Johnson points out that Kimtek’s FIRELITE units can be had with an optional Scotty foam induction system and a 5-gallon foam cell and also with an electric Hannay reel. “We’ve been putting our skids on Polaris Ranger, Can-Am Defender, Kawasake Mule, and John Der Gator™ UTVs,” Johnson observes.

Jason Black, president of MTECH/ QTAC Fire and Rescue Apparatus, says QTAC makes a wildland fire skid that fits in the bed of a Polaris XD UTV that can be fitted with either a WATERAX VERSAX 6 or VERSAX 9 pump with an 85-gallon polypropylene water tank and either an electric or a manual Hannay hose reel.

QTAC also makes a fire skid that goes on the Polaris XD1500 UTV with either a VERSAX 6 or VERSAX 9 pump, a Hannay reel, and a 125-gallon water tank, Black points out. He adds that both QTAC fire skids are available in a 50/50 version, half fire suppression and half rescue with a patient transport platform.

courtesy of Kimtek Corp

1 Kimtek Corp. makes the FIRELITE wildland fire skid with a Darley-Davey high-pressure pump and a Hannay hose reel, shown here on a Can-Am UTV. (Photo 1 courtesy of Kimtek Corp.)

courtesy of QTAC

2 QTAC makes a wildland fire skid that goes on a Polaris XD1500 that’s available with either a WATERAX VERSAX 6 or VERSAX 9 pump, a Hannay hose reel, and a 125-gallon water tank. (Photo 2 courtesy of QTAC.)

courtesy of Polaris

3 Polaris makes the XP1000 model UTV, shown here with a QTAC wildland fire skid that is half fire suppression and half rescue with a patient transport platform. (Photo 3 courtesy of Polaris.)

Gerrittsen Beach

4 The Gerrittsen Beach (NY) Volunteer Fire Department uses a Polaris 6×6 fire/rescue UTV and a Can-Am Defender 6×6 UTV to battle brush/wildland fires in Brooklyn, New York. [Photo 4 courtesy of the Gerr

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