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Posted: Sep 10, 2015

Product News

Tempest Technology SHADOW™ brand smoke machines-the SHADOW Dusk, Nightfall, and Blackout-boast updated designs and numerous new features. The SHADOW Dusk replaces Tempest's previous Shadow smoke machine and is built for high smoke output while still being the most economical in the lineup.

The Nightfall, which replaces its predecessor, the Shadow 1, is designed to provide a balance of high performance, cost, and additional features. The Blackout is an all new addition and delivers the highest smoke output of the three, suitable for large-scale training and simulation needs. Both the Nightfall and Blackout come equipped with Tempest's exclusive air-input connection to allow rapid cleaning via bottled air after every use.

www.tempest.us.com, 800-346-2143

Scott Safety EPIC 3 Radio Interface (RI) Voice Communication System is the latest addition to the EPIC 3 communications platform. The EPIC 3 RI system enables clear and effective communications between on-scene firefighters and incident commanders, remote dispatchers, and other radio users to improve first responder safety and situational intelligence.

The complete solution includes Bluetooth® equipped voice amplifiers, lapel speaker microphones, specialized accessories, and programming utilities to meet the demanding needs and conditions on the fireground. The EPIC 3 Lapel Speaker Microphones support a broad range of field radio makes and models, allowing customers to add the operational and safety benefits of the EPIC 3 RI communication system to their existing radio equipment. When used in conjunction with the EPIC 3 RI Bluetooth amplifier, a firefighter can communicate through the radio via a push-to-talk (PTT) interface, providing a tremendous improvement to in-mask communication clarity. When the SCBA is not in use, the lapel speaker microphone functions as a standard lapel mic.

www.scottsafety.com, 800-247-7257

Code 3®, Inc. Dash Emitter traffic signaling unit is fully compatible with all noncoded traffic preemption systems to provide right-of-way at noncoded signalized intersections. The Dash Emitter provides safe traffic management for emergency vehicles traveling through an intersection.

The Dash Emitter features high- and low-priority signals in a single unit. The compact size of the Dash Emitter allows it to fit above or behind the rearview mirror. A flashback shield and windshield bracket is also included with the emitter. The Dash Emitter measures six by 6.2 by 1.75 inches. The Dash Emitter features a low 1.35-amp current drain and comes with a two-year warranty.

www.code3esg.com, 314-426-2700

The Kussmaul Dash Mount is a product made for the company's new dash-mountable switch accessories. Normally, a dashboard switch must be placed into a slot in the dashboard by making a cutout for singular switches or using a gang mount, which requires modifying the dashboard.

This box will hold up to five Kussmaul switch accessories and can be mounted easily above the dashboard, underneath the dashboard, or f

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Posted: Sep 10, 2015

In the News

ROSENBAUER AMERICA recently received an order for six Panther ARFF units to help equip the Los Angeles (CA) International Airport (LAX). The six Panther 6x6 ARFF vehicles will be equipped with 54-foot HRETs and were purchased using the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) at a contract value of $5.7 million. The vehicles will be equipped with foam, dry chemical, and halotron and will have the ability to discharge these agents through the STINGER™ HRET.

Rosenbauer America also recently announced significant expansions over the course of the previous 12 months with plans to expand further still in the near future. The first expansion was completed at the Rosenbauer South Dakota Division during the fourth quarter of 2014. This was a $2.5 million production project that added an additional 22,000 square feet of assembly space as well as a new, top-of-the-line laser. Another expansion that took place simultaneously occurred at the Rosenbauer Aerial Division. This $2 million project was completed in the first quarter of 2015 and added more than 30,000 square feet of production space, an additional paint booth, and an expanded parking lot for truck testing. A third expansion is planned for the near future at the Rosenbauer Motors Division. This project is slated for late 2015 and will add approximately 30,000 square feet of chassis production space.

MIDWEST FIRE has hired Tyler LeBrun as a new manufacturing engineer. LeBrun is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a bachelor's degree in manufacturing engineering technologies. He also has five years of experience in lean manufacturing with Bobcat Company, in Gwinner, North Dakota.

In addition to a manufacturing background, LeBrun has served on the Gwinner (ND) Volunteer Fire Department since 2010. According to Sarah Atchison, president and CEO of Midwest Fire, "LeBrun will assist in production by leading continuous improvement efforts with our manufacturing procedures and processes as well as assisting with design and innovation. We are confident with his experience he will be a great asset to the company."

GLOBE, DUPONT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGIES (DUPONT), and the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC) have partnered to provide new turnout gear to fire departments in need. This year's first three recipients are the South Amboy (NJ) Fire Department, Koosharem (UT) Fire Rescue, and L'Orignal Fire Department (Ontario, Canada). The South Amboy (NJ) Fire Department comprises 150 volunteer firefighters who respond to an average of 320 calls per year. Koosharem Fire Rescue, an all-volunteer department in Utah, provides fire suppression and emergency service to an area of more than 350 square miles. The department operates on an extremely small budget, and the Globe gear donation will allow it to increase the safety and security of its firefighters. The L'Orignal Fire Department in Champlain, Ontario, Canada, is an all-volunteer organization with 26 active firefighters protecting 8,500 citizens in an 80-square-mile area. The donated gear will help protect its firefighters while allowing room in its budget for other funding priorities.

HME recently announced that the City of Cheviot, Ohio, has taken delivery of an HME 78-foot aerial. Built on a custom HME Spectr chassis with a 500-hp Cummins engine and Allison 4000 EVS transmission, the 4x2 "smart" aerial combines a Hale "Q-Max" 2,000-gpm pump with HME Hydra Technology™.

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Posted: Sep 10, 2015

New Distillery Apparatus Meets Unique Suppression Needs

ALAN M. PETRILLO

One might think that the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, is an out-of-the-ordinary place to find a fire department, but when you consider the hazards on the premises of its three locations-lots of wood and wooden buildings, thousands of barrels of alcohol, and plenty of heat-it's actually not so unusual.

When the distillery recently completed a risk assessment of its complex, the consensus was that it needed a big industrial pumper that could pump water, foam, and dry chemical in prodigious quantities.

Fred Elliott, fire and security specialist for Jack Daniel's Fire Brigade, says that because of the company's growth, the need for a large pumper became plain. "When the project was approved in February of 2014, a project engineer and I took a look at our facilities and came up with a plan on how to best protect them," Elliott says. "For instance, the biggest area is our maturation warehouse where the product sits in barrels before being pulled out, processed, and bottled. All of our warehouses have sprinkler and standpipe systems, and we are constantly building new warehouses, so we had to come up with protection for them beyond what we had."

1 The Jack Daniel Distillery, in Lynchburg, Tennessee, had Pierce Manufacturing build this foam pumper that has a Darley 3,000-gpm ZSM-3000 midship pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 2,000-gallon foam cell, and 2,000 pounds of dry chemical extinguishing agent. (Photos courtesy of Emergency Vehicle Specialists.)
1 The Jack Daniel Distillery, in Lynchburg, Tennessee, had Pierce Manufacturing build this foam pumper that has a Darley 3,000-gpm ZSM-3000 midship pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 2,000-gallon foam cell, and 2,000 pounds of dry chemical extinguishing agent. (Photos courtesy of Emergency Vehicle Specialists.)

The fire brigade's fleet includes a 2001 E-ONE 90-foot aerial ladder with a 3,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 100-gallon foam tank, and 500 pounds of dry chemical; a 1994 E-ONE pumper with a 1,500-gpm pump, 1,000-gallon water tank, 100-gallon foam tank, and 500 pounds of dry chemical; a Ford-F-350 200-gpm compressed air foam system (CAFS) unit; along with a number of support units.

Expanding Needs

Elliott says that in some warehouses, barrels are stored on pallets seven tiers high. "We wanted to be able to get into an area like that and assist the sprinklers," he points out. "We had a need to be able to inject foam or dry chemical in sustained operations. And, we needed a standalone vehicle that was capable of supporting our standpipe and sprinkler systems."

The fire brigade, which has 34 employees as volunteer firefighters, put out competitive bids and received three offers to build the kind of industrial pumper it wanted. "Pierce Manufacturing was the bidder that came back with the ability to meet our capacities fully," Elliott says.

2 The foam pumper is built on a Pierce Velocity chassis with seating for six firefighters, has a 78,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), and is powered by a Cummins 600-horsepower ISX-15 diesel engine and an Allison 4000 EVS six-speed automatic transmission. 3 The industrial foam pumper has a Williams Fire & Hazard Control 6,000-gpm dual-agent deck gun, two Ta </div> <a class=Read more
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Posted: Sep 10, 2015

New Distillery Apparatus Meets Unique Suppression Needs

ALAN M. PETRILLO

One might think that the Jack Daniel Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee, is an out-of-the-ordinary place to find a fire department, but when you consider the hazards on the premises of its three locations-lots of wood and wooden buildings, thousands of barrels of alcohol, and plenty of heat-it's actually not so unusual.

When the distillery recently completed a risk assessment of its complex, the consensus was that it needed a big industrial pumper that could pump water, foam, and dry chemical in prodigious quantities.

Fred Elliott, fire and security specialist for Jack Daniel's Fire Brigade, says that because of the company's growth, the need for a large pumper became plain. "When the project was approved in February of 2014, a project engineer and I took a look at our facilities and came up with a plan on how to best protect them," Elliott says. "For instance, the biggest area is our maturation warehouse where the product sits in barrels before being pulled out, processed, and bottled. All of our warehouses have sprinkler and standpipe systems, and we are constantly building new warehouses, so we had to come up with protection for them beyond what we had."

1 The Jack Daniel Distillery, in Lynchburg, Tennessee, had Pierce Manufacturing build this foam pumper that has a Darley 3,000-gpm ZSM-3000 midship pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 2,000-gallon foam cell, and 2,000 pounds of dry chemical extinguishing agent. (Photos courtesy of Emergency Vehicle Specialists.)
1 The Jack Daniel Distillery, in Lynchburg, Tennessee, had Pierce Manufacturing build this foam pumper that has a Darley 3,000-gpm ZSM-3000 midship pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 2,000-gallon foam cell, and 2,000 pounds of dry chemical extinguishing agent. (Photos courtesy of Emergency Vehicle Specialists.)

The fire brigade's fleet includes a 2001 E-ONE 90-foot aerial ladder with a 3,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 100-gallon foam tank, and 500 pounds of dry chemical; a 1994 E-ONE pumper with a 1,500-gpm pump, 1,000-gallon water tank, 100-gallon foam tank, and 500 pounds of dry chemical; a Ford-F-350 200-gpm compressed air foam system (CAFS) unit; along with a number of support units.

Expanding Needs

Elliott says that in some warehouses, barrels are stored on pallets seven tiers high. "We wanted to be able to get into an area like that and assist the sprinklers," he points out. "We had a need to be able to inject foam or dry chemical in sustained operations. And, we needed a standalone vehicle that was capable of supporting our standpipe and sprinkler systems."

The fire brigade, which has 34 employees as volunteer firefighters, put out competitive bids and received three offers to build the kind of industrial pumper it wanted. "Pierce Manufacturing was the bidder that came back with the ability to meet our capacities fully," Elliott says.

2 The foam pumper is built on a Pierce Velocity chassis with seating for six firefighters, has a 78,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), and is powered by a Cummins 600-horsepower ISX-15 diesel engine and an Allison 4000 EVS six-speed automatic transmission. 3 The industrial foam pumper has a Williams Fire & Hazard Control 6,000-gpm dual-agent deck gun, two Ta </div> <a class=Read more
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Posted: Sep 10, 2015

Sweating It Out

ROBERT TUTTEROW

A couple of weeks before this year's FDIC International, I received a link to a YouTube video about the Collingwood (Canada) Fire Department, which had installed an infrared sauna in its fire station.

The sauna is for firefighters to detoxify their bodies after being exposed to the products of combustion or other hazardous materials. The video captured my attention, and I started researching the concept. During my research, I learned that the sauna manufacturer was going to be an exhibitor at FDIC International. On the first day of exhibits, I made it a priority to see the sauna in operation in the Lucas Oil Stadium. My curiosity was piqued even more by the experience.

Crazy Idea

Okay, at first blush, the idea of a sauna in a fire station might seem a bit absurd and far beyond where our customers would want their tax or donated dollars allocated. Fortunately, the manufacturer, SaunaRay, has created a well-advised marketing strategy and has tagged its infrared saunas as "detox units." Many studies confirm that sweating is the most effective way to rid the body of toxins. It is a well-established fact that firefighters are exposed to toxins on a routine basis when fighting fires and handling contaminated personal protective equipment (PPE) and firefighting equipment. The detox process is for firefighters to ride a stationary bike inside the sauna at a low to moderate work load for 30 to 45 minutes following a fire. Afterward, the firefighters take a shower. Firefighters at the Collingwood Fire Department attest that this system works well for ridding the body of toxins.

There are some skeptics about sweating as a means of detoxifying the body, but the overwhelming body of science indicates it works. There are several ways of ridding the body of toxins, including urine, feces, and tears. However, sweating is by far the most effective, especially in ridding the body of heavy metals like chromium and lead.

Why the Concern?

Some fire service personnel may still wonder what all the fuss is about. A few years back, a chief of a metro fire department told me that cancer in firefighters was no more a concern than in the general public. What? The Firefighter Cancer Support Network has data to back up its claim that "cancer is the most dangerous and under-recognized threat to the health and safety of our nation's firefighters." It cites information from the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) that reveals the following about the rising rate of cancer among firefighters. For the 10-year period of 1993 to 2003, there were 31 firefighter cancer deaths among its members before age 60. For the 10-year period of 2003 to 2013, there were 298 cancer deaths among firefighters before age 60! Compare that to cardiac deaths among its members before age 60. For the period of 1993 to 2003, there were 40 deaths. For the period of 2003 to 2013, there were 167 deaths. To underscore the rising problem, for the year 2014 (all ages) there were a total of 117 IAFF deaths. Of them, 62 percent were from cancer; 19 percent were cardiac-related. Other causes also totaled 19 percent. And for IAFF members under the age of 60, 17 percent of deaths were cardiac-related while 62 percent were cancer-related. By the way, that same metro chief will not advocate for his firefighters to get annual medical exams. Yes, there is considerable work to be done on awareness and prevention of cancer in firefighters.

As mentioned earlier, the saunas used for detoxification use infrared heaters. Specifically, the sauna uses "far" infrared rays. This is important because the spectrum of rays helps accelerate sweat (while gently riding a

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