Made here in the USA, Groves Gear Guard Covers were designed to protect your department’s PPE gear from UV degradation and particulates from diesel exhaust which increases the threat of cancer. They are made of 8 oz. PVC Laminate UV Shield material that is abrasion-/tear-resistant and fluid-proof, stain-resistant, and can easily be cleaned. Other features of the Gear Guard Covers is they have antimicrobial and self-deodorizing fabric with antistatic properties and are flame-retardant. Departments can order these covers for any of the Groves Red Rack units (they may work for other locker systems if similar to Red Rack Lockers) as well as other Ready Rack products like the Work Table, SOS Racks, and Multi-Purpose Storage Systems.

For more information, visit https://www.readyrack.com/product/gear-guard-rack-covers/.

US Digital Designs, is often asked how automated dispatching works. And, thanks to one of its longtime station alerting customers, you can get a quick answer in this video produced by the Scottsdale (AZ) Fire Department.

In it, watch Scottsdale’s first responders in action—starting with a 911 call and leading up to the saving of victims (even four-legged ones).

Here’s a brief overview of how automated dispatching works:

• A 911 call is dispatched from the Phoenix (AZ) Regional Dispatch Center, and is automatically sent to one or more units within milliseconds.
• Throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area, fire departments have an “automatic aid agreement” so that the closest units are sent to the call.
• Depending on the 911 caller’s need, a combination of units are dispatched.
• Those automated station alerts appear in a variety of areas within each station—using both audio and visual means. At 0:15 in the video, the G2 Message Signs can be configured to display dispatch information, turnout timer, or unit status (with a capable CAD system). Message Signs are usually mounted above doorways, in hallways, kitchens, offices, and apparatus bays.

On average, it takes the Scottsdale Fire Department about 5.5 minutes from the time a unit is dispatched until the apparatus arrives on the scene.

For more information, visit www.stationalerting.com.

The Pullman Fire Department is investigating a fire that damaged a unit at an apartment complex in the town's College Hill neighborhood. Firefighters responded to the scene of the Morton Street Apartments just before 6 p.m. on Thursday. They arrived to find flames coming out of the windows and doorway of the second floor unit.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2018 2:30:09 AM - SOURCE: KXLY-TV ABC 4

A female wildland firefighter has been tapped by the Trump administration to steady the U.S. Forest Service as it reels from allegations of sexual misconduct and struggles to change its male-dominated culture. Vickie Christensen was appointed interim chief of the 35,000-employee agency late Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Great Falls Tribune

Emergency personnel worked through the night to rescue a teenage girl from Robber Baron Cave after she became trapped there during a school field trip Thursday afternoon. The San Antonio Fire Department first received a call that someone was stuck in the cave, located on the city's North Side, around 2:40 p.
- PUB DATE: 3/9/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: MySanantonio.com