KIMTEK Targets Improved Fire, EMS, and Police Rescues with New Facility

KIMTEK Corporation, a Vermont-based maker of MEDLITE® and FIRELITE® transport skid units, celebrated the opening of its second production facility in September 2015. Attended by company employees, vendors, community members, and special guests representing the fire and rescue manufacturing industry, the event marked an expanded focus on fire, emergency medical service (EMS), and police rescue markets by the company founded in 1984 by Kimball Johnson. Johnson holds numerous U.S. patents and founded the Westmore (VT) Fire Department, for which he also served as chief.

According to Johnson, the new facility triples the space now available for company operations. The original facility will continue to house office and warehouse space as well as provide additional room to expand the company’s new product design and engineering pursuits. KIMTEK office headquarters have been relocated to the Orleans facility.

Special guest and speaker, Paul Darley, president and CEO of W.S. Darley & Co., delivered remarks at the ceremony, applauding the 10-year relationship between the two companies, and specifically noted that KIMTEK Corporation has grown significantly in a market that has not grown much in the past 10 years. “We’re very pleased to be a small part of your success and growth,” said Darley. “I’m a big believer that culture is what sets aside a company from all the others. You need a culture with a leader, such as Kimball, who gets it, who understands people, understands his customers, understands his employees, and understands where the market is going. And with the innovative, high-quality products produced here, he has actually created new markets.”

Johnson said the strong relationship with the Darley team has helped KIMTEK become the company it is today. He also spoke of his appreciation of company employees, some of whom are relatives but all of whom he thinks of as family.

Johnson purchased the Orleans facility to expand production of the company’s full line of MEDLITE and FIRELITE transport skid units. According to Johnson, among the advantages of the new and bigger facility is a streamlined, spacious production area, improving workstation assembly and packaging efficiency.

After 31 years in business and expansion into a large, new manufacturing facility, KIMTEK is poised for even greater growth. “Our new space means we can indeed better explore new products serving new markets,” Johnson said. “New units custom-designed for military and law enforcement applications are in the works right now.” The company expects to conduct field tests on these and other prototypes in development in 2016.

HONEYWELL AND DUPONT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGIES announced that Honeywell First Responders and DuPont™ Kevlar® have teamed up to award 20 firefighters, EMS, and hazmat responders with an expenses-paid scholarship to attend the FDIC International 2016.

This scholarship will provide financial support for 20 firefighters to attend classroom training, seminars, and the trade show, beginning Tuesday evening and ending Saturday after the show. Candidates may register for the scholarship program at: http://app.snapapp.com/fdic-2016-scholarship-program.

“Restrained budgets often force fire departments to reduce the number of attendees to the FDIC show, which may impact their ability to learn about the technologies and techniques that can expand their fire department’s abil

Foam, foam, more foam, and the ability to project it from an elevated position were some of the concerns that the Malaga (NM) Volunteer Fire Department and the Eddy County, New Mexico, fire service director had in mind when spec’ing a new pumper for the fire district that protects many crude oil and natural gas production areas.

Eddy County encompasses 10,000 square miles of mostly rural area with a population of more than 50,000, says Robert Brader, the county’s fire service director and fire marshal. The county has 11 fire districts, 21 stations, and 211 volunteer firefighters and purchases the apparatus staffed by each district’s volunteers. Two municipalities with paid fire departments-Carlsbad and Artesia-as well as two village volunteer fire departments-Loving and Hope-lie within Eddy County boundaries.

Oil Facility Protection

Pecos Davis, chief of the Malaga Volunteer Fire Department, says his district covers crude oil production areas that include “tank batteries” on the grounds-typically four crude oil tanks and two water tanks, each about 15 feet high and 20 feet in diameter, holding approximately 21,000 gallons each. “We get a lot of lightning strikes on the tank batteries,” Davis says. “Lightning normally strikes the fiberglass water tanks first and blows the tops off of them, causing an immediate explosion because there’s a small amount of crude oil on the top of the water tanks, and natural gas is trapped in there. That explosion can ignite the other tanks in the battery.”

1 The Malaga (NM) Volunteer Fire Department in Eddy County, New Mexico, went to Pierce Manufacturing for its new pumper, a Pierce Arrow XT with a 50-foot Snozzle High-Reach Extendable Turret (HRET). (Photo courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing.)

Davis points out that sometimes the tanks burn to the ground before the fire department can get to the scene, spreading water and oil on the ground and causing oil leaks that catch the crude oil tanks on fire. “The crude oil tanks can get so hot that they self-ignite,” he adds. “There’s also the risk of fire at the wells themselves and with other equipment that handles flammable gas at the wells.”

The Rig

Faced with a big response area and sometimes a 40-mile round trip for shuttling water, Eddy County and the Malaga Volunteer Fire Department wanted a pumper that could carry a lot of foam, have a large pump and water tank, and have an elevated master stream appliance. They chose to have Pierce Manufacturing Inc. build a pumper on a Pierce Arrow XT chassis and four-door cab with seating for four firefighters, a Waterous CSU 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,250-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 200-gallon Class B foam cell, a Husky 12 single-agent foam system, and a 50-foot Snozzle High-Reach Extendable Turret (HRET).

Read more 632 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Jan 8, 2016 Eddy County (NM) Department Gets Pierce Snozzle Pumper to Fight Tank Fires Foam, foam, more foam, and the ability to project it from an elevated position were some of the concerns that the Malaga (NM) Volunteer Fire Department and the Eddy County, New Mexico, fire service director had in mind when spec’ing a new pumper for the fire district that protects many crude oil and natural gas production areas. Eddy County encompasses 10,000 square miles of mostly rural area with a population of more than 50,000, says Robert Brader, the county’s fire service director and fire marshal. The county has 11 fire districts, 21 stations, and 211 volunteer firefighters and purchases the apparatus staffed by each district’s volunteers. Two municipalities with paid fire departments-Carlsbad and Artesia-as well as two village volunteer fire departments-Loving and Hope-lie within Eddy County boundaries. Oil Facility Protection Pecos Davis, chief of the Malaga Volunteer Fire Department, says his district covers crude oil production areas that include “tank batteries” on the grounds-typically four crude oil tanks and two water tanks, each about 15 feet high and 20 feet in diameter, holding approximately 21,000 gallons each. “We get a lot of lightning strikes on the tank batteries,” Davis says. “Lightning normally strikes the fiberglass water tanks first and blows the tops off of them, causing an immediate explosion because there’s a small amount of crude oil on the top of the water tanks, and natural gas is trapped in there. That explosion can ignite the other tanks in the battery.” 1 The Malaga (NM) Volunteer Fire Department in Eddy County, New Mexico, went to Pierce Manufacturing for its new pumper, a Pierce Arrow XT with a 50-foot Snozzle High-Reach Extendable Turret (HRET). (Photo courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing.) Davis points out that sometimes the tanks burn to the ground before the fire department can get to the scene, spreading water and oil on the ground and causing oil leaks that catch the crude oil tanks on fire. “The crude oil tanks can get so hot that they self-ignite,” he adds. “There’s also the risk of fire at the wells themselves and with other equipment that handles flammable gas at the wells.” The Rig Faced with a big response area and sometimes a 40-mile round trip for shuttling water, Eddy County and the Malaga Volunteer Fire Department wanted a pumper that could carry a lot of foam, have a large pump and water tank, and have an elevated master stream appliance. They chose to have Pierce Manufacturing Inc. build a pumper on a Pierce Arrow XT chassis and four-door cab with seating for four firefighters, a Waterous CSU 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,250-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 200-gallon Class B foam cell, a Husky 12 single-agent foam system, and a 50-foot Snozzle High-Reach Extendable Turret (HRET). Read more 625 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Jan 8, 2016 Eddy County (NM) Department Gets Pierce Snozzle Pumper to Fight Tank Fires Foam, foam, more foam, and the ability to project it from an elevated position were some of the concerns that the Malaga (NM) Volunteer Fire Department and the Eddy County, New Mexico, fire service director had in mind when spec’ing a new pumper for the fire district that protects many crude oil and natural gas production areas. Eddy County encompasses 10,000 square miles of mostly rural area with a population of more than 50,000, says Robert Brader, the county’s fire service director and fire marshal. The county has 11 fire districts, 21 stations, and 211 volunteer firefighters and purchases the apparatus staffed by each district’s volunteers. Two municipalities with paid fire departments-Carlsbad and Artesia-as well as two village volunteer fire departments-Loving and Hope-lie within Eddy County boundaries. Oil Facility Protection Pecos Davis, chief of the Malaga Volunteer Fire Department, says his district covers crude oil production areas that include “tank batteries” on the grounds-typically four crude oil tanks and two water tanks, each about 15 feet high and 20 feet in diameter, holding approximately 21,000 gallons each. “We get a lot of lightning strikes on the tank batteries,” Davis says. “Lightning normally strikes the fiberglass water tanks first and blows the tops off of them, causing an immediate explosion because there’s a small amount of crude oil on the top of the water tanks, and natural gas is trapped in there. That explosion can ignite the other tanks in the battery.” 1 The Malaga (NM) Volunteer Fire Department in Eddy County, New Mexico, went to Pierce Manufacturing for its new pumper, a Pierce Arrow XT with a 50-foot Snozzle High-Reach Extendable Turret (HRET). (Photo courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing.) Davis points out that sometimes the tanks burn to the ground before the fire department can get to the scene, spreading water and oil on the ground and causing oil leaks that catch the crude oil tanks on fire. “The crude oil tanks can get so hot that they self-ignite,” he adds. “There’s also the risk of fire at the wells themselves and with other equipment that handles flammable gas at the wells.” The Rig Faced with a big response area and sometimes a 40-mile round trip for shuttling water, Eddy County and the Malaga Volunteer Fire Department wanted a pumper that could carry a lot of foam, have a large pump and water tank, and have an elevated master stream appliance. They chose to have Pierce Manufacturing Inc. build a pumper on a Pierce Arrow XT chassis and four-door cab with seating for four firefighters, a Waterous CSU 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,250-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 200-gallon Class B foam cell, a Husky 12 single-agent foam system, and a 50-foot Snozzle High-Reach Extendable Turret (HRET). Read more 513 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Jan 8, 2016 Leather Boots Gain Market Share in Fire Service By Alan M. Petrillo At one time not long ago, rubber boots were the norm to complement a turnout coat, bunker pants, helmet, and gloves. Not anymore. Manufacturers are turning out a wide array of firefighting boots in leather models that are functional, are ergonomically designed, provide safe footing and protection, and are more comfortable compared with their rubber ancestors. Stats Rob Mills, president of Black Diamond Group, notes that one data source he reviewed shows that through the first half of 2015, approximately 65 percent of the structural firefighting boots sold in the United States were leather models. Steve Allison, director of sales and marketing for Fire-Dex, thinks the percentage of leather boot usage in the United States is closer to 70 percent, which he believes will continue to grow. Karen Lehtonen, vice president of innovation and product management for Lion, agrees that many fire departments either have made the switch from rubber to leather boots or are contemplating doing so when budgets permit. Sandy Longarzo, marketing administration manager for Haix North America Inc., says information gleaned at the Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Services Association (FEMSA) annual meeting shows that the proportion of leather structural firefighting boots has grown in the overall market nationally to about double the number of units compared with rubber structural boots. Mark Mordecai, director of business development for Globe Manufacturing Co., Mark Winters, senior technical project manager for Honeywell First Responder Products, and Jeff Burns, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Thorogood Shoes, each estimate that leather structural firefighting boots make up between 60 and 65 percent of the national market. Lion Josh Frank, Lion’s product manager for footwear, says that with leather structural firefighting boots like Lion’s Marshall 14-inch-high model, “the first thing the wearer notices is the comfort, which you can’t get in rubber boots.” In addition, he says, Lion’s leather boots are more flexible and form-fitting. “We use a Lock-Fit Ankle Support system that clicks the foot into place inside the boot,” Frank points out. “The boot is designed to be comfortable to prevent excess fatigue and to fit well so that slips and falls are uncommon.” 1 Lion makes the 14-inch-high Marshall structural firefighting boot that has a Lock-Fit Ankle Support system built in. (Photo courtesy of Lion.) Lion boots have a slip-resistant Vibram Fire & Ice sole, breathable and absorbent Cambrelle lining, polyfelt and aluminized felt insulation for protection from radiant heat, Pierce-Protect Arch Protection System, a molded thermoplastic heel counter, and a tempered steel safety toe. Besides the Marshall model, Lion also makes the 12-inch-high Commander lace-up leather boot with a side zipper for easy entry and the Battalion boot for structural firefighting, proximity firefighting, and liquid splash protection, Frank says. 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