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Posted: Dec 6, 2016
By Chris Daly
On September 19, 2016, the West Chester (PA) Fire Department, in conjunction with the Chester County (PA) Crash Reconstruction Team, hosted a unique training opportunity for firefighters and police officers in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, region.
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| 1 Union Fire Company, Oxford, Pennsylvania, Engine 21-2 being weighed using portable scales. (Photos by author.) |
Members from both sides of the aisle participated in a major skid test demonstration that provided invaluable information for the firefighters and police officers in attendance.
In May 2016, I was contacted by the captain of the Good Will Fire Company, West Chester, Pennsylvania, who explained that the department was expecting delivery of a new water tender. Recognizing the significant safety issues related to operating a water tender, the leadership of the Good Will Fire Company wanted to ensure that their drivers were properly trained when the truck arrived. Fire company officers initially reached out to schedule my “Drive to Survive” training seminar for the members. The seminar was held on a regularly scheduled drill night and was attended by nearly every active member in the company.
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| 2 Members of the Uwchlan Township (PA) Police Department Truck Enforcement Team weigh Engine 21-2. Sergeant Dale McClure is a past chief of the West Chester (PA) Fire Department. |
Following the classroom session, the fire company officers wished to experience the classroom theories in real life. After some discussion, it was decided that we would attempt to schedule what is believed to be the first combined fire department/crash reconstruction training event of its kind. After agreeing on a date and time, I reached out to police departments in the area to request local crash reconstruction and truck enforcement team assistance. The response was overwhelming.
Once we realized there would be more than enough police officers in attendance, we invited every fire department in the county to attend. Four fire departments wished to participate and gladly sent apparatus and members to assist. There were two major goals for the training session:
- To allow the local police departments and crash teams the unique opportunity to examine fire apparatus under controlled conditions. Each apparatus was equipped with data recording equipment, which allowed the crash reconstruction teams to gather data related to braking efficiency, acceleration rates, and siren effectiveness. These data will prove invaluable for future crash reconstructions involving emergency apparatus.
- To allow firefighters in attendance to learn about proper brake adjustment and the importance of weight limitations, to observe and operate fire apparatus under real-life skid conditions, and to understand the limits of effective siren ranges.
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- Article rating: No rating
Posted: Dec 6, 2016
By Chris Daly
On September 19, 2016, the West Chester (PA) Fire Department, in conjunction with the Chester County (PA) Crash Reconstruction Team, hosted a unique training opportunity for firefighters and police officers in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, region.
|
| 1 Union Fire Company, Oxford, Pennsylvania, Engine 21-2 being weighed using portable scales. (Photos by author.) |
Members from both sides of the aisle participated in a major skid test demonstration that provided invaluable information for the firefighters and police officers in attendance.
In May 2016, I was contacted by the captain of the Good Will Fire Company, West Chester, Pennsylvania, who explained that the department was expecting delivery of a new water tender. Recognizing the significant safety issues related to operating a water tender, the leadership of the Good Will Fire Company wanted to ensure that their drivers were properly trained when the truck arrived. Fire company officers initially reached out to schedule my “Drive to Survive” training seminar for the members. The seminar was held on a regularly scheduled drill night and was attended by nearly every active member in the company.
|
| 2 Members of the Uwchlan Township (PA) Police Department Truck Enforcement Team weigh Engine 21-2. Sergeant Dale McClure is a past chief of the West Chester (PA) Fire Department. |
Following the classroom session, the fire company officers wished to experience the classroom theories in real life. After some discussion, it was decided that we would attempt to schedule what is believed to be the first combined fire department/crash reconstruction training event of its kind. After agreeing on a date and time, I reached out to police departments in the area to request local crash reconstruction and truck enforcement team assistance. The response was overwhelming.
Once we realized there would be more than enough police officers in attendance, we invited every fire department in the county to attend. Four fire departments wished to participate and gladly sent apparatus and members to assist. There were two major goals for the training session:
- To allow the local police departments and crash teams the unique opportunity to examine fire apparatus under controlled conditions. Each apparatus was equipped with data recording equipment, which allowed the crash reconstruction teams to gather data related to braking efficiency, acceleration rates, and siren effectiveness. These data will prove invaluable for future crash reconstructions involving emergency apparatus.
- To allow firefighters in attendance to learn about proper brake adjustment and the importance of weight limitations, to observe and operate fire apparatus under real-life skid conditions, and to understand the limits of effective siren ranges.
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Posted: Dec 6, 2016
What would you think if I told you that, since 1997, there has been proven chemical technology within the international fire service that provides for exceptional and timely fire extinguishment on virtually all types of fires?
Would you also think me crazy if I told you that this same technology extinguishes fire in three ways? It rapidly reduces or removes the heat (remove the heat, remove the fire, right?); it encapsulates fuels, rendering them nonflammable; and it interrupts the free radical chain reaction, thereby dramatically and quickly reducing cancer-causing smoke and soot toxins. Did I mention that it also can drastically reduce the time that interior firefighters are exposed to the physical stressors of heat?
I can personally attest to this technology, known as encapsulator technology, as I have been using it since the late 1990s. Why, you ask, if this technology is internationally proven and obviously tested, do we not have it here in the United States? Answer: We have had it here in the United States-where I have purchased and used it. Unfortunately and simply stated, encapsulator agents fell through the cracks with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). It’s not a foam, and it’s not what we know as traditional wetting agent; it’s closest place for a home is NFPA 18A, Standard on Water Additives for Fire Control and Vapor Mitigation. Let’s take a look at some of today’s challenging fire situations where encapsulator agents really shine.
Electrical Fires
Transformer, lithium-ion battery, and solar panel fires are occurring more and more frequently. In the United States today, the average age of an electrical transformer is 40 years old. As these transformers fail, statistics show that one in five of these failures results in fire. Lithium-ion batteries are a relatively new technology that presents new firefighting challenges in everything from cell phone batteries exploding to kids’ hoverboards bursting into flames to electric vehicles and passenger airplanes with lithium-ion battery fires that resemble small erupting volcanoes. With the quest for energy self sufficiency and prices for systems having dropped some 60 percent since 2011, solar panels are more practical and attractive than ever.
These energy mediums present fire challenges for industry as well as firefighters. When transformers, lithium-ion batteries, and solar panels catch fire, the traditional response is to use water. We are finding that water is mostly ineffective because it doesn’t penetrate and remove the heat generated by these fires. In the case of transformers, water can’t extinguish the extremely hot mineral oils within the transformer. This is to say nothing of the electrical shock hazard that exists with spraying water on an energized transformer. The next choice of firefighting agents in our existing arsenals would be foam, but foam is not recommended for three-dimensional fires, and foam blankets, when applied properly, retain heat. Additionally, foam is highly conductive, which places firefighters at great risk. Many of us also have powdered chemicals at our disposal, but powders do not remove heat and cannot penetrate, thereby resulting in reignition.
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1 Because true encapsulator agents travel on and over the water mo
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