Alan M. Petrillo

When the Mount Vernon (ME) Fire Department needed a new pumper to replace a 1986 pumper-tanker, it turned to W.S. Darley & Co. for another rig with a compressed-air foam system (CAFS), just like the department’s two previous Darley pumpers.

1 W.S. Darley & Co. built this CAFS pumper for the Mount Vernon (ME) Fire Department on a Freightliner M2 106 two-door chassis and cab with a PolyBilt copolymer body. (Photo courtesy of W.S. Darley & Co.)

“This is our third Darley pumper and our fourth Darley-built truck,” says Joe Lemieux, Mount Vernon’s captain. “We’ve been running CAFS for 18 years, and all of our pumpers have it, so we wanted our new pumper to have CAFS as well. Using CAFS on structure fires gives us the ability to get a quick knockdown so we can get to the source of the fire, and we also use less water and cause less water damage to the home.”

Lemieux points out that because of fire station physical restrictions, the department’s new pumper had to be built within certain parameters for its height, length, and wheelbase. The resulting 2016 Darley CAFS pumper came in at 30 feet 8 inches long overall, 9 feet 6 inches high overall, and has a 227-inch wheelbase. The rig is built on a Freightliner M2 106 two-door chassis with a PolyBilt copolymer body on a 16,000-pound front axle and a 24,020-pound rear axle. It’s powered by a Cummins ISL9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.

2 The Mount Vernon Darley pumper has a Darley/Champion LDMBC 1,250- gpm single-stage pump, a 1,000-gallon PolyBilt copolymer water tank with a 25-gallon integral foam tank, a Darley AutoCAFS II, a FoamPro 2001 foam injection system, and a Tamrotor 220-cfm compressor. [Photo courtesy of the Mount Vernon (ME) Fire Department.]

Suppression Abilities

Troy Carothers, Darley’s AutoCAFS manager, who sold the pumper to Mount Vernon, says Darley previously had built a CAFS pumper for Mount Vernon on a GMC T8500 chassis in 1998 and a little over 10 years later built the department a quick-attack CAFS pumper on a GMC K5500 chassis. “The pumper-tanker they were replacing was a top-mount setup,” Carothers notes, “so they wanted another top mount for their new rig. They like the visibility the pump operator gets by being up and above the scene, especially when they are deploying and using a portable water tank.”

The new pumper Darley built for Mount Vernon has a Darley/Champion LDMBC 1,250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) single-stage pump, a PolyBilt body wi

I recently had a conversation with a fire chief about how his department defines using a thermal imaging camera (TIC). This chief is very fortunate that his department owns a TIC for every firefighter.

To ensure that his firefighters would never be without a TIC on a fire call, he added the use of a TIC to his department’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). The SOP requires that his firefighters grab their TIC when they exit the apparatus. This conversation made me think about the importance of including the use of a TIC in your department’s SOPs. The TIC is an often-overlooked tool when documenting procedures for firefighters to follow.

Not many fire departments are fortunate enough to have a TIC assigned to every firefighter. This is certainly not the norm in the fire service, although it’s a dream many fire departments strive to achieve. Let’s look at the most common deployment models currently in use in the fire service for thermal imaging.

• Your fire department doesn’t own a TIC. If this is your department, then I’m sure the reason you don’t own a TIC is budgetary. I recommend you work with your town or city council to raise funds to purchase a TIC. Or, another option to consider is purchasing a refurbished TIC, which is less expensive but a viable solution.
• Your fire department owns only one TIC. Having one TIC is better than not having a TIC at all. If this is you, you are most likely a small volunteer department with budget constraints and are probably using the TIC for overhaul and for emergency search and rescue calls.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per station. This means that most likely a TIC is present on all fire calls. Having a TIC per station is certainly better than the previous two models; however, there may be times when the first apparatus to arrive is not the one equipped with the TIC. This can delay search and rescue efforts or lose the benefits the TIC offers when looking for victims trapped in the fire.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per apparatus. This is a powerful use of thermal imaging technology. These departments have made a serious commitment to using thermal imaging technology and value its benefits. This model ensures that the TIC is always on the first apparatus to arrive on the fire scene. In this deployment model, the TIC is intended to be used during primary search and all other fire operations. There is a significant investment in this model.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per firefighter (riding position). This is where we all want to be - every firefighter clipping on a TIC to turnout gear for every call, just like every firefighter strapping on SCBA for every call. Not many departments have adopted this deployment model because it is just too costly. What if, however, this deployment model became the norm for fire departments across the nation? This means that not only would we have the technology for search and rescue at our fingertips, but we would also be combating the issue of firefighter disorientation.

1 Owning one or more TICs means knowing who is responsible for the TIC when responding to a call. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

Whichever model you have will certainly influence how your firefighter

I recently had a conversation with a fire chief about how his department defines using a thermal imaging camera (TIC). This chief is very fortunate that his department owns a TIC for every firefighter.

To ensure that his firefighters would never be without a TIC on a fire call, he added the use of a TIC to his department’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). The SOP requires that his firefighters grab their TIC when they exit the apparatus. This conversation made me think about the importance of including the use of a TIC in your department’s SOPs. The TIC is an often-overlooked tool when documenting procedures for firefighters to follow.

Not many fire departments are fortunate enough to have a TIC assigned to every firefighter. This is certainly not the norm in the fire service, although it’s a dream many fire departments strive to achieve. Let’s look at the most common deployment models currently in use in the fire service for thermal imaging.

• Your fire department doesn’t own a TIC. If this is your department, then I’m sure the reason you don’t own a TIC is budgetary. I recommend you work with your town or city council to raise funds to purchase a TIC. Or, another option to consider is purchasing a refurbished TIC, which is less expensive but a viable solution.
• Your fire department owns only one TIC. Having one TIC is better than not having a TIC at all. If this is you, you are most likely a small volunteer department with budget constraints and are probably using the TIC for overhaul and for emergency search and rescue calls.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per station. This means that most likely a TIC is present on all fire calls. Having a TIC per station is certainly better than the previous two models; however, there may be times when the first apparatus to arrive is not the one equipped with the TIC. This can delay search and rescue efforts or lose the benefits the TIC offers when looking for victims trapped in the fire.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per apparatus. This is a powerful use of thermal imaging technology. These departments have made a serious commitment to using thermal imaging technology and value its benefits. This model ensures that the TIC is always on the first apparatus to arrive on the fire scene. In this deployment model, the TIC is intended to be used during primary search and all other fire operations. There is a significant investment in this model.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per firefighter (riding position). This is where we all want to be - every firefighter clipping on a TIC to turnout gear for every call, just like every firefighter strapping on SCBA for every call. Not many departments have adopted this deployment model because it is just too costly. What if, however, this deployment model became the norm for fire departments across the nation? This means that not only would we have the technology for search and rescue at our fingertips, but we would also be combating the issue of firefighter disorientation.

1 Owning one or more TICs means knowing who is responsible for the TIC when responding to a call. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

Whichever model you have will certainly influence how your firefighter

I recently had a conversation with a fire chief about how his department defines using a thermal imaging camera (TIC). This chief is very fortunate that his department owns a TIC for every firefighter.

To ensure that his firefighters would never be without a TIC on a fire call, he added the use of a TIC to his department’s standard operating procedures (SOPs). The SOP requires that his firefighters grab their TIC when they exit the apparatus. This conversation made me think about the importance of including the use of a TIC in your department’s SOPs. The TIC is an often-overlooked tool when documenting procedures for firefighters to follow.

Not many fire departments are fortunate enough to have a TIC assigned to every firefighter. This is certainly not the norm in the fire service, although it’s a dream many fire departments strive to achieve. Let’s look at the most common deployment models currently in use in the fire service for thermal imaging.

• Your fire department doesn’t own a TIC. If this is your department, then I’m sure the reason you don’t own a TIC is budgetary. I recommend you work with your town or city council to raise funds to purchase a TIC. Or, another option to consider is purchasing a refurbished TIC, which is less expensive but a viable solution.
• Your fire department owns only one TIC. Having one TIC is better than not having a TIC at all. If this is you, you are most likely a small volunteer department with budget constraints and are probably using the TIC for overhaul and for emergency search and rescue calls.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per station. This means that most likely a TIC is present on all fire calls. Having a TIC per station is certainly better than the previous two models; however, there may be times when the first apparatus to arrive is not the one equipped with the TIC. This can delay search and rescue efforts or lose the benefits the TIC offers when looking for victims trapped in the fire.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per apparatus. This is a powerful use of thermal imaging technology. These departments have made a serious commitment to using thermal imaging technology and value its benefits. This model ensures that the TIC is always on the first apparatus to arrive on the fire scene. In this deployment model, the TIC is intended to be used during primary search and all other fire operations. There is a significant investment in this model.
• Your fire department owns one TIC per firefighter (riding position). This is where we all want to be - every firefighter clipping on a TIC to turnout gear for every call, just like every firefighter strapping on SCBA for every call. Not many departments have adopted this deployment model because it is just too costly. What if, however, this deployment model became the norm for fire departments across the nation? This means that not only would we have the technology for search and rescue at our fingertips, but we would also be combating the issue of firefighter disorientation.

1 Owning one or more TICs means knowing who is responsible for the TIC when responding to a call. (Photo courtesy of Bullard.)

Whichever model you have will certainly influence how your firefighter

By Chris Mc Loone

Today, there are few things as ubiquitous as the fire apparatus you’ll find in a fire station than Kussmaul’s Auto Eject.

Start the rig, and the shoreline pops out. Back the rig in, shut it down, complete the report, and plug the shoreline back into the Auto Eject. For fire apparatus operators, this is all routine. For those coming into the fire service now or who have entered during the past 25 years, it’s hard to remember a time when their pumpers, aerials, rescues, and so on did not feature this product, but it’s only been around since 1986. This patented device was crafted by Ernest (Ernie) A. Kussmaul and Thomas H. Nugent when the company was just reaching its 20-year milestone. Thirty-one years later, Kussmaul Electronics Company is celebrating 50 years in business.

Garage Shop Origin

What is known today as Kussmaul Electronics Company started out as Kussmaul Engineering Company and was founded in September 1967 by Ernie Kussmaul. It began in the back of a garage in a 10- × 20-foot area as an engineering consulting service, then manufacturing other people’s products, and eventually manufacturing Kussmaul’s own line of products specifically for a niche in the emergency vehicle market. Eventually, Kussmaul outgrew the garage area and rented a barn that provided him with about 100 square feet and stayed there from 1969 until 1980.

Back then, most of the products Kussmaul developed were to help people looking for solutions to problems, and the company’s initial product was a station-mounted battery charger, which ultimately transformed into onboard chargers.

1 This aerial view is of the Kussmaul Electronics Company 34,050-square-foot facility in West Sayville, New York. (Photos courtesy of Kussmaul Electronics Company.)

Nugent joined the company in 1982 as a draftsman and quickly rose to the position of vice president. Kussmaul and Nugent together developed the Auto Eject, and both are on the patents they hold for the product. It was developed in 1986 and disconnects shorelines, and today Air Ejects eject the air line from a vehicle when it starts. The Auto Eject is a registered trademark of Kussmaul Electronics.

Having outgrown the barn structure, Kussmaul built a new building in 1980 at its current location in West Sayville, New York. In the 5,600-square-foot building, business continued - partially manufacturing Kussmaul products and also manufacturing products for others as the business continued to grow. Kussmaul expanded this building in 1995 to 8,450 square feet, and in 2003 it expanded again, this time breaking ground for a 20,000-square-foot addition that brought the building to a total of 34,050 square feet. In 2011, Kussmaul sold the company, and Nugent became president of Kussmaul Electronics Company.

Company Culture

These days, one term that comes up when talking about companies or even the fire service is “culture.” Kussmaul’s culture has its roots in how it began: providing solutions to problems. “The culture or mantra has always been to help the customer when problems surface,” says Colin Chambless, vice president of sales and marketing at Kussmaul. “We solve problems and provide a high-quality product that has been and will continue to be depended on.” He adds, “Ernie and Tom have provided quality products, excellent service, product durabil