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Posted: Dec 21, 2016

Investigation finds gender bias at Vancouver Fire Department

Women firefighters in Vancouver faced greater scrutiny because of their gender and were criticized when they raised concerns about adult magazines left in the workplace and a lack of privacy in the restrooms, according to an investigation obtained by The Columbian. The report highlighted the difficulty the women faced when trying to speak freely about their work environment.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2016 8:29:41 PM - SOURCE: Vancouver Columbian
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Posted: Dec 21, 2016

Spokane Valley firefighters demonstrate Christmas tree hazards

VIDEO: There's nothing more “Christmas” than a tree draped in lights and surrounded by family and friends. When you're not around, though, that unattended Christmas tree could be trouble. On a cold December morning, just days before Christmas, Rick Freier and about a dozen other Spokane Valley Firefighters proved just how devastating the Christmas tradition can be.
- PUB DATE: 12/21/2016 7:46:39 PM - SOURCE: KXLY-TV ABC 4
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Posted: Dec 21, 2016

Custom-Built Fire Apparatus for Greenville (NY)

Property owners in Greenville will not see their taxes increase to pay for the purchase of a new fire engine, fire department officials said Tuesday.
Greenville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Clif Powell said voters approved a proposition from the department to purchase a new $650,000 tanker engine.

The vote was held Dec. 13 at the department's annual commissioner election, Powell said. Of the approximate 1,000 taxpayers in the Greenville Fire District, only 28 voted, Powell said. The meeting had been publicized through a legal notice in the Greenville Pioneer.

"It was an overwhelming vote to approve it, 20 people voted yes and 8 voted against it," Powell said.

The new engine will replace an aging, leaking machine taken out of service two years ago, Powell said.

"It's going to be replacing one tanker than went out of service because the tank was about 40 years old and it had ruptured," Powell said. "The truck was a 1994 model but the tank was from the 1970s." Replacing the ruptured tank would cost approximately $100,000, Powell said, but with a 22-year-old chassis and engine, department leaders opted to move for a new engine.

"The life expectancy for an engine is no more than 20 years," Powell said.

Voters approved the proposal for a new engine, the department's first vehicle purchase since the acquisition of a 2007-model ladder truck a decade ago, Powell said.

But while fire district taxpayers will pay for the new machine, Powell said, the purchase will not cause fire district taxes to increase.

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Posted: Dec 21, 2016

German Skiers Are Safe Thanks to Unimog Rescue Apparatus

Mountain rescue teams need vehicles that are unstoppable in even the most extreme conditions. And there aren't many vehicles that are less stoppable than the Mercedes Unimog. So Mercedes-Benz 's Special Trucks division has loaned a Unimog U 4000 to the mountain rescue team in Baden-Wurttemberg to test on the Feldberg, the highest mountain in the Black Forest, just on the edge of the Alps in southern Germany.
It's a brutal environment, with thick forest on the lower slopes, and craggy rock faces and snow fields towards the 4,898-foot (1,493 meters) summit. Even with the Unimog's high ground-clearance, low center of gravity, and extreme approach and departure angles, rescue work will be a stern test for it.

The Unimog is question is powered by a four-cylinder turbo diesel engine producing 218 horsepower (160 kilowatts), and is fitted with a seven-seater cab big enough to take the whole rescue team. The drop-side load bed can be loaded with "rescue modules" equipped for every eventuality, be it extracting passengers from a stranded cable car or searching for avalanche victims. An off-road trailer can be hitched up too, carrying boats, snowmobiles, and other heavy equipment.

Head of the Baden-Wurttemberg mountain rescue service, Lutz Scherer, said: "Emergency operations in difficult terrain are always particularly challenging for the rescue services and their materials. We are therefore very grateful that Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks is providing us with this Unimog. The vehicle is absolutely perfect for our specific requirements and it will help us to help victims in a much more appropriate way."

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Posted: Dec 21, 2016

Philomath Fire & Rescue (OR) Donates Two Fire Apparatus

Philomath Fire & Rescue's recent upgrades to its emergency vehicle fleet have forced a couple of older models out of the mix. But a brush truck and water tender will stay in the immediate vicinity with the local fire district donating them to the Blodgett-Summit Fire & Emergency Department.
"The board was gracious enough to let us donate those," Philomath Fire & Rescue chief Tom Miller said. "I talked to the board a few months ago and they said, 'let's talk to our mutual aid partners first and see if any of them want to take them before we give them away to another organization or send them away where they don't get used locally.'"

Although the vehicles have seen plenty of miles and emergency calls over the years, they are welcomed with open arms into the Blodgett-Summit department.

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