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Posted: Oct 1, 2018

Uses for Your TIC at Various Incident Types

Thermal Imaging | Carl Nix

Carl Nix

Writing this column has been a privilege. Each month, I get to share my knowledge and love of firefighting training with you to help keep you safe. Many of you have reached out to me during the past couple of years to share your experiences fighting fires using thermal imaging technology. Thank you for sharing.

With my increasing responsibilities in the fire service, this will be my last column. My thanks to Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment and all the folks at the magazine for letting me share my thermal imaging camera (TIC) training insights with you. My final column is a compilation of thermal imaging camera safety tips that I have shared over the years. Stay safe and train every day, and always look out for one another.

Three-pass scans, preflashover situations, fire attack, overhaul, search and rescue, hazmat calls, motor vehicle incidents, and heat pattern identification are all areas where TICs are useful at incidents. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

1 Three-pass scans, preflashover situations, fire attack, overhaul, search and rescue, hazmat calls, motor vehicle incidents, and heat pattern identification are all areas where TICs are useful at incidents. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

THREE-PASS SCAN TECHNIQUE

Using your TIC to scan a room when entering a smoke-filled structure is critical to staying safe. Once you enter the structure, scan the room with your TIC using a three-pass technique. The first pass is across the ceiling looking for heat accumulation, potential vent points, and structural integrity. The second pass is across the middle of the room looking at the physical layout and its contents as well as the location of any secondary egress points. The third pass is across the floor looking for collapsed victims and any special hazards. All three scans take less than 10 seconds but are important to maintaining proper orientation with your TIC.

FLASHOVERS

In a flashover situation, fire conditions progress rapidly from what was a hot fire to what becomes an inescapable fire. As an instructor, I have heard firefighters say that a TIC can help you during a flashover. This is not true. A TIC is a tool to help detect a flashover, but it can’t help you if you’re caught in a flashover. You have to move quickly. You don’t have time to look at your TIC. A preflashover situation is where your TIC can help. Your TIC can give you a visual indication of warning signs that you would otherwise not see. Without the use of a TIC, the thick smoke acts as a visual barrier to what is actually going on above you. Convective velocity, thermal layering, and even rollovers are often hidden inside the smoke and are difficult or impossible to detect. The TIC can hel

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Posted: Oct 1, 2018

Uses for Your TIC at Various Incident Types

Thermal Imaging | Carl Nix

Carl Nix

Writing this column has been a privilege. Each month, I get to share my knowledge and love of firefighting training with you to help keep you safe. Many of you have reached out to me during the past couple of years to share your experiences fighting fires using thermal imaging technology. Thank you for sharing.

With my increasing responsibilities in the fire service, this will be my last column. My thanks to Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment and all the folks at the magazine for letting me share my thermal imaging camera (TIC) training insights with you. My final column is a compilation of thermal imaging camera safety tips that I have shared over the years. Stay safe and train every day, and always look out for one another.

Three-pass scans, preflashover situations, fire attack, overhaul, search and rescue, hazmat calls, motor vehicle incidents, and heat pattern identification are all areas where TICs are useful at incidents. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

1 Three-pass scans, preflashover situations, fire attack, overhaul, search and rescue, hazmat calls, motor vehicle incidents, and heat pattern identification are all areas where TICs are useful at incidents. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

THREE-PASS SCAN TECHNIQUE

Using your TIC to scan a room when entering a smoke-filled structure is critical to staying safe. Once you enter the structure, scan the room with your TIC using a three-pass technique. The first pass is across the ceiling looking for heat accumulation, potential vent points, and structural integrity. The second pass is across the middle of the room looking at the physical layout and its contents as well as the location of any secondary egress points. The third pass is across the floor looking for collapsed victims and any special hazards. All three scans take less than 10 seconds but are important to maintaining proper orientation with your TIC.

FLASHOVERS

In a flashover situation, fire conditions progress rapidly from what was a hot fire to what becomes an inescapable fire. As an instructor, I have heard firefighters say that a TIC can help you during a flashover. This is not true. A TIC is a tool to help detect a flashover, but it can’t help you if you’re caught in a flashover. You have to move quickly. You don’t have time to look at your TIC. A preflashover situation is where your TIC can help. Your TIC can give you a visual indication of warning signs that you would otherwise not see. Without the use of a TIC, the thick smoke acts as a visual barrier to what is actually going on above you. Convective velocity, thermal layering, and even rollovers are often hidden inside the smoke and are difficult or impossible to detect. The TIC can hel

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Posted: Oct 1, 2018

Darley Builds Three Top-mount CAFS Pumpers for Northwest Rogers (OK) Fire Protection District

Alan M. Petrillo


Alan M. Petrillo

The Northwest Rogers County (OK) Fire Protection District had considered replacing its three front-line engines for a couple of years, and when it finally got the board of trustees’ go-ahead for the finances to purchase them, the district turned to W.S. Darley & Co. to build three identical top-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumpers to be housed in the district’s three stations.

Neal Brooks, national sales manager for Darley’s apparatus division, says the fire district “wanted an engine that minimum staffing would feel comfortable working in and that also could work with a minimum amount of water. That’s when we did a presentation to them and showed them the advantages of CAFS.”

Northwest Rogers County Fire Protection District is the largest in Oklahoma in terms of area, Brooks points out, and has experienced a lot of residential development because of oil and gas businesses expanding in the area. The fire district also has Lake Oologah, the state’s third largest lake, in its coverage area.


W.S. Darley & Co. built three identical top-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumpers for the Northwest Rogers County (OK) Fire Protection District. (Photos 1-5 courtesy of W.S. Darley & Co.)

1 W.S. Darley & Co. built three identical top-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumpers for the Northwest Rogers County (OK) Fire Protection District.
(Photos 1-5 courtesy of W.S. Darley & Co.)

TRIPLETS

The three CAFS pumpers are identical units, each having a wheelbase of 210 inches, an overall length of 33 feet 4 inches, an overall height of 10 feet 6 inches, a 20,000-pound front axle, and a 27,000-pound rear axle. Each pumper is powered by a 380-horsepower (hp) Cummins ISL9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission and has a Darley LDMBC 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) top-mount pump, a 1,005-gallon water tank, a 25-gallon foam tank, a FoamPro S106-2002 foam system, a Tamrotor Enduro 12TS compressor, and a Honda EM5000 SX generator.

Eric Motter, firefighter and mechanic for the fire district, says each of the CAFS pumpers has six foam-capable discharges: two 1¾-inch crosslays with 200 feet of hose, one 2½-inch crosslay with 200 feet of hose, a front bumper 1¾-inch preconnect with 150 feet of hose, a 2½-inch discharge, and a deck gun. Each rig also has a four-inch large-diameter hose water-only discharge on the curb side that will flow the capacity of the pump.

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Posted: Oct 1, 2018

Darley Builds Three Top-mount CAFS Pumpers for Northwest Rogers (OK) Fire Protection District

Alan M. Petrillo


Alan M. Petrillo

The Northwest Rogers County (OK) Fire Protection District had considered replacing its three front-line engines for a couple of years, and when it finally got the board of trustees’ go-ahead for the finances to purchase them, the district turned to W.S. Darley & Co. to build three identical top-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumpers to be housed in the district’s three stations.

Neal Brooks, national sales manager for Darley’s apparatus division, says the fire district “wanted an engine that minimum staffing would feel comfortable working in and that also could work with a minimum amount of water. That’s when we did a presentation to them and showed them the advantages of CAFS.”

Northwest Rogers County Fire Protection District is the largest in Oklahoma in terms of area, Brooks points out, and has experienced a lot of residential development because of oil and gas businesses expanding in the area. The fire district also has Lake Oologah, the state’s third largest lake, in its coverage area.


W.S. Darley & Co. built three identical top-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumpers for the Northwest Rogers County (OK) Fire Protection District. (Photos 1-5 courtesy of W.S. Darley & Co.)

1 W.S. Darley & Co. built three identical top-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumpers for the Northwest Rogers County (OK) Fire Protection District.
(Photos 1-5 courtesy of W.S. Darley & Co.)

TRIPLETS

The three CAFS pumpers are identical units, each having a wheelbase of 210 inches, an overall length of 33 feet 4 inches, an overall height of 10 feet 6 inches, a 20,000-pound front axle, and a 27,000-pound rear axle. Each pumper is powered by a 380-horsepower (hp) Cummins ISL9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission and has a Darley LDMBC 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) top-mount pump, a 1,005-gallon water tank, a 25-gallon foam tank, a FoamPro S106-2002 foam system, a Tamrotor Enduro 12TS compressor, and a Honda EM5000 SX generator.

Eric Motter, firefighter and mechanic for the fire district, says each of the CAFS pumpers has six foam-capable discharges: two 1¾-inch crosslays with 200 feet of hose, one 2½-inch crosslay with 200 feet of hose, a front bumper 1¾-inch preconnect with 150 feet of hose, a 2½-inch discharge, and a deck gun. Each rig also has a four-inch large-diameter hose water-only discharge on the curb side that will flow the capacity of the pump.

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Posted: Oct 1, 2018

Fire Station Flooring Considerations

BY KENDALL YOUNGWORTH



Few municipal facilities require as many different types of flooring as fire stations. From administrative offices and community outreach rooms to apparatus bays, equipment bunkers, sleeping areas, kitchens, and bathrooms, the demands vary greatly.

There are a few things all flooring systems throughout the different spaces within fire stations have in common: They are all high-traffic areas; safety and traction are prime issues; and durability, longevity, and easy maintenance are critical features.

1 There are a few things all flooring systems throughout the different spaces within fire stations have in common: They are all high-traffic areas; safety and traction are prime issues; and durability, longevity, and easy maintenance are critical features.

However, there are a few things all flooring systems throughout the different spaces within fire stations have in common:

  • They are all high-traffic areas, whether pedestrian or vehicular.
  • Because of the demand for quick responsiveness when duty calls, safety and traction are prime issues.
  • Durability, longevity, and easy maintenance are critical features, especially since local citizens’ tax dollars are involved. Apart from budgetary considerations, a fire station is vital to the safety and survival of the community it serves; it cannot afford the financial burden or downtime of frequent repairs.

HOW EPOXIES AND URETHANES MEET DEMANDS

There is a wide array of epoxy and urethane floor coating products made to address specific firehouse concerns. Different finishes are also available depending on the facility’s needs, such as high-gloss and satin. By choosing from a diverse selection of epoxies and urethanes, you can create a flooring system that is ideal for meeting the range of demands in your specific fire station.

  • Abrasion resistance and impact resistance are so important in apparatus bays and equipment bunkers, where floors may be subjected not only to everyday wear and tear and a high level of foot traffic but also the dropping of tools or heavy equipment.
  • A virtually seamless floor minimizes the potential for cracks and helps eliminate crevices where microbes can potentially grow. Plus, by avoiding the multiple grout lines and seams found in many other flooring systems, the virtually seamless nature of fluid-applied flooring epoxy/urethane flooring helps mitigate the risk of slip and trip hazards, creating a potentially safer surface to walk—or run—on.
  • By eliminating tight corners and 90-degree floor-to-wall joints, installing integral resinous flooring cove bases can further enhance the simplicity of proper cleaning and pathogen control efforts.
  • The flooring is easy to maintain, with no frequent waxing, buffing, or polishing required. A wet mop between emergencies can help keep the floor clean and attractive.
  • Ma
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