Thanks to Globe and DuPont Protection Solutions (DuPont), two more fire departments are each receiving four new sets of state-of-the-art turnout gear. Since 2012, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has annually partnered with Globe and DuPont to provide fire departments in need with gear to better protect our nation’s responders. The latest recipients are the Tanglewood (TX) Volunteer Fire Department and the Tuscumbia (MO) Fire Protection District.
The Tanglewood Volunteer Fire Department is located in Lexington, TX. Its 16 firefighters serve a population of 1,500 residents over 48 square miles and also provide mutual aid to three neighboring departments for structural fires, grass fires, and vehicle accidents. The department is predominantly self-funded and relies heavily on grants and donations for their equipment, repairs, upgrades, and daily operations, which leaves no funding for new or updated gear. One-third of their personnel have only wildland personal protective equipment (PPE), and the rest of the firefighters are outfitted with structural PPE that is over 10 years old and not compliant with current recommended safety standards.
“Our goal as a volunteer fire department is to continue to grow, train, and improve our capabilities for our community,” said First Assistant Chief Guy Hall. “Our department will greatly benefit from the gear provided by Globe by giving a few of our firefighters up-to-date gear to grant better protection on fires, thus allowing them to be safer and more effective when protecting our community.”
The Tuscumbia Fire Protection District (TFPD) is located in the middle of Miller County, MO, and protects 55 square miles with a population of 1,100 permanent residents. In addition to providing mutual aid to surrounding departments, the TFPD sees an influx of over 1,000 transient residents who come into the district to work at the area nursing home, court house, and school. They also have three daycare centers, five major churches, and the county health center in their service area, along with a service station that has 7,000 gallons worth of fuel storage. Two major state highways run through the district, which makes it a major thoroughfare for Fort Leonard Wood Army Post and Whiteman Air Force Base.
The TFPD successfully applied for an Assistance to Firefighters Grant to obtain 10 new sets of PPE. However, that was over 10 years ago and now their gear is outdated and considered obsolete according to recommended safety standards. “Receiving this gear will greatly benefit us as well as the citizens we serve and the several other fire departments for which we provide mutual aid,” said TFPD Training Officer Jeremy Phillips.
Additional awards through the Globe Gear Giveaway will be made throughout 2017. A total of 52 sets of gear will be distributed to 13 departments in need. Globe also provided NVFC memberships to the first 500 applicants. Stay tuned to the NVFC web site, Dispatch newsletter, and Facebook page, as well as the Globe Facebook page, for additional information and announcements regarding the Globe Gear Giveaway.
About Globe
Firefighters need to be prepared to perform at their peak, on every call. That’s why Globe delivers the most advanced, best-fitting, and longest lasting protection by listening to our customers, creating breakthrough designs, and applying the engineering skills of the nation’s most trusted turnout gear manufacturer. Globe turnout gear is designed to protect you, move with you, and improve your performance. It’s athletic gear for firefighters. Learn more at Read more
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Posted: Nov 7, 2017
Valparaiso, IN—Task Force Tips (TFT) has introduced the DECON/pak, a self-contained agent-proportioning and rinse-application system developed specifically for gross decontamination of firefighting personnel donned with gear and their equipment. Throughout 2017, TFT field-tested the DECON/pak at fire stations and training academies across the nation. The feedback received helped to refine the final version into an easy to deploy system to perform gross decon operations at the fire scene.
The DECON/pak uses a simple three-step process:
- Add Cleaning Agent
- Connect to Hoseline
- Wash/Scrub/Rinse.
Studies show that field decon using soap, water, and brush can reduce cancer-causing contamination on turnout gear by 85%*. The system includes a 2.5 gallon container for detergent, 12-foot hose with fan spray nozzle, and a simple built-in eductor that allows water from the truck to be used in a mix or rinse application.
According to Phil Gerace, TFT’s VP of Marketing, “The new DECON/pak is an additional tool in a multifaceted effort to reduce firefighters’ exposures to cancer-causing contaminants. Our goals were to make it easy-to-deploy, simple-to-use, and effective in getting contaminants off the firefighter before they get into the apparatus or their POV.”
For more information, visit http://newforce.tft.com/decon.cfm
*Source: Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, DOI: 10.1080/15459624.2017.1334904
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Posted: Nov 7, 2017
By Bill Adams
Morning coffee with the Raisin Squad occasionally regresses to conversation topics we’ve previously beaten to death. Some white hairs have short memories. One recent dialog started with the Squad criticizing the warning lights on a local fire chief’s car. It was the usual: “Why the hell does he need so many lights?” “They’re too bright.” “They’re gonna blind someone and cause an accident.” One geezer added “The other night I couldn’t tell if that responding pumper was coming or going. I didn’t know what to do.” Naturally I brought up NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, and mentioned articles others and myself have written about warning lights. I was immediately shot down. “We ain’t talking ‘bout codes and standards.” “We’re talking common sense here.” “This is about stuff that happens in the real world—not in a magazine.” Ouch—that hurt.
Their consensus was warning lights are too bright and too fast—whatever “too fast” means. Sometimes they confuse motorists when approaching a parked rig with its warning lights on. When a rig is responding, its difficult to tell how far away it is, and sometimes you can’t even tell which direction it’s headed or how fast its traveling. According to the squad, “That just ain’t right,” and those perceptions are not exclusive to just old people.
The next morning we continued the debate. I said rigs automatically shut down forward facing white lights when the transmission is placed in park. And, maybe the system could be set up to turn off all red/blue/clear warning lights and just have large NFPA-compliant slow-flashing amber lights on all four sides. It was blasphemy. The Raisins didn’t care if the NFPA, the fire chief, or God says you can use all amber lights in a blocking mode. “It just ain’t a fire truck unless there’re red lights.” I countered that emergency vehicles with red lights get rammed all the time on the highway, but you seldom hear about a DOT vehicle with flashing amber lights getting hit. I said most motorists know alternating flashing amber lights mean there’s something big in the way that you probably don’t want to run into. They didn’t buy that. “We’re not the DOT—we’re the fire department.” One reasonable Raisin suggested that when parked to just use alternating red flashers like on a school bus or at a railroad crossing. “We ain’t the school district and damn sure we’re not Amtrak either. Another mentioned night roadwork on expressways where you often see light towers shining straight down illuminating the vehicle and the work area. He asked why couldn’t something like that be used. “What do you use in the day time” shot that suggestion down.
Then they started in on warning lights being too bright. “Can’t they put a dimmer switch on them?” One geezer asked who determines when to use a dimmer. The resident restroom lawyer piped in that a dimmer might not be NFPA-compliant. “Well, what about automatic lights—ya know like a daytime/nighttime sensor?” The unofficial legal expert countered that the fire department still could get sued. He asked who determines when an emergency response is less or more hazardou
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