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By Don Collins

There are many ways to foul up the design of a fire station. If you do not believe me, just ask the brothers and sisters who use a station on a daily basis what they dislike about its design.

Ask yourself what you would change about the station to which you are assigned. In the language of the design professions, such questioning of "end users" and the conclusions drawn therefrom constitute part of what is called post occupancy evaluation (POE). Fire station POE can and should be used to make informed decisions for your next fire station design project. It is a way to avoid repeating mistakes that others have made in the design of a fire station.

It does not matter if your last station went online 30 years ago or last year. Do a POE. In fact, you should do a POE for as many stations as it takes to gain a clearer understanding of what you want and what you do not want in your new station. You do not have to limit your POE to stations in your district. You can go anywhere to take a look at stations that have the same basic requirements, with respect to apparatus housed, as the one you are about to have designed and built. If you are not comfortable doing a POE as a self-directed study, then contract out the task to a fire station consultant or architect thoroughly familiar with the building type.

POE can provide loads of first-hand knowledge that can be worked into a needs assessment report or similar document where you seek to justify the capital expenditure for a new station or a major renovation of an existing station to your funding authority.

Directing design consequence questions to all ranks and job descriptions is what I have engaged in for many years in POE fire station visits that number into the hundreds. As a professor in architecture at Clemson University, I did fire station POE visits as a method of addressing the academic world's requirement to have a research agenda and several areas of expertise. Second, I have done so out of a shear passion about fire stations-a passion that arose, no doubt, from the family business. I can still hear my father, uncles, cousins, and their fire station families discussing the merits of a station each time the department brought a new one online.

The empirical information gathered via POE visits constituted applied research to inform my design studio teaching inasmuch as I often used a fire station as a perfect teaching vehicle. My students never failed to get excited by the opportunity to design a fire station. What kid wouldn't?

At Clemson University, I have also had the privilege of serving with the University Fire Department. Again, serving was both passion, in continuing the family business, and a method for fulfilling Clemson's Land Grant University requirement to engage in teaching, research, and public service. Training for fire suppression and answering alarms was accepted as meeting my public service requirement. I was one lucky professor.

Serving with the career firefighters did not just happen automatically with my appointment as a faculty member. My fire service career began following an invitation from the University Fire Department's chief to serve on a jury (review) for a group of fire station projects designed by my students. Post jury, the chief asked how I knew all the jarg

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By Alan M. Petrillo

Personal protective equipment (PPE) makers are going to great lengths to ensure their structural firefighting turnout gear fits firefighters as closely as possible without limiting movement yet still provides the required protection.

It's almost as if PPE manufacturers are making custom-tailored turnout coats and bunker pants that are made-to-order for the end users. In fact, that's precisely what a number of manufacturers are doing.

Athletic Influences

Karen Lehtonen, vice president of innovation and product management for Lion, says Lion has always tried to offer better fitting gear for firefighters and that its premier line, the V-Force, takes the best technology from combat and professional sports clothing and applies it to turnout gear. "The result is an optimum balance of comfort, mobility, and protection," Lehtonen says.

Lehtonen notes that Lion has traditionally done custom sizing in addition to numeric sizing, with inseam lengths and sleeves cut to order. "Our turnouts have a more athletic cut that allows for better mobility, where the gear fits more like regular clothing so it doesn't inhibit a firefighter's movement and contribute to stress while performing tasks," she points out. "Most people fit into standard categories, but we customize turnout coats and pants for that guy or gal to be sure we get them into the right size gear."

Lion uses unique pattern shaping and installs darts and pleats in specific places on its turnouts. "We use a football shape where there is less material on the inside of the elbow and more on the outside, so the elbow bends easily," Lehtonen says. "We use a similar pattern and style for the knee, so the fabric bends more like the human body bends. To prevent hem rise, we put bellows under the sleeves that help reduce hem rise in the back of the garment."

Abby Lehman Buzon, assistant marketing communications manager for Fire-Dex, says her company's custom-fit turnout gear is the FX-R series, which uses an active posture design. "Our structural gear design team added a rock climbing gear designer and an extreme sports gear designer and came up with the FX-R, where the turnout gear is in the ready position," Buzon says. "In the turnout coat, that means it's an arms-forward design where the arms are prepositioned slightly forward and bent at the elbow. For the turnout pants, it means the pant legs are curved at the knees."

On the FX-R's turnout coat, Fire-Dex incorporates what it calls an Omni Dex shoulder, where the shoulder seam is moved up and inward to the natural shoulder bend point. "This is about function, where the garment doesn't pull up when you raise your arm," Buzon points out. "And, there's less stress, strain, and energy exertion instead of having your coat pull up against your self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) straps."

Fire-Dex also minimizes the amount of fabric in the turnout coat to minimize strain and make the coat less likely to snag on something. "We don't want excess fabric in our garments where the firefighter is moving around inside the turnout gear," Buzon says. "The gear should move with him."

Ergonomic Fit

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By Alan M. Petrillo

Although smaller rescues may not be able to carry the same amount of equipment found on traditional heavy rescues, the smaller units are being designed to reflect the particular needs of a fire department and are built to carry the equipment necessary to get the job done.

Smaller Vehicle Interest

Donley Frederickson, Rosenbauer's national sales manager, points out that many fire departments are moving toward smaller rescue chassis because they make the vehicles more affordable as well as maneuverable. "The smaller rescues are quicker and faster than the heavies," Frederickson says, "and they are much easier to maneuver into tight spaces. Also, some departments choose to have either all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive on these smaller rescues."

Ed Smith, director of the emergency vehicles group for VT Hackney, notes that in the past 12 months, Hackney has quoted on more light-duty rescue trucks than it typically has in a five-year period. "The interest level in smaller rescues has dramatically increased," Smith observes. "Reasons vary by department, but many find that it costs too much to operate heavy rescue trucks, their budgets might be pinched so they can only afford a smaller truck, and they don't need to haul all that equipment around on every call."

Smith points out that Hackney has been building small rescues on Ford F-550, Dodge D5500, and International TerraStar chassis. "If what a fire department wants to carry is the kind of equipment used for auto extrication and first-response emergency medical service (EMS) rescues, then those three chassis do a favorable job. The most popular chassis is the Ford, followed by the Dodge."

Bob Sorensen, vice president of SVI Trucks, says SVI has been building smaller rescues for some time. "These typically include a four-person cab with bucket seats and a center console in the front and two firefighters, or sometimes three, in the back," he says.

Kevin Arnold, rescue and specialty vehicle products manager for Ferrara Fire Apparatus, says he's found that the biggest rescue trend now at Ferrara is movement toward its multivocational pumper (MVP). "Many departments are finding they are running their trucks and pumpers into the ground on EMS and rescue calls, so they are moving either to an MVP or medium- or light-duty rescue trucks," Arnold notes. "In terms of the light-duty vehicles, we're building them on chassis like the Ford F-550, the Dodge Ram, and the International TerraStar-all of which are less than 20,000-pound gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWRs). But, we do more medium-duty rescues, with up to 48,000-pound GVWRs, on commercial chassis like the Freightliner M2, International 4400, and Kenworth T300 or T370."

Shane Krueger, national sales manager for Marion Body Works Inc., points out that smaller rescues typically have either two- or four-person cabs, no pump or water tank, as much compartmentation as can be fit on the body

1 The QSA is a roof step that will make a vertical ventilation operation a faster and, more importantly, safer procedure. It is adjustable to all pitched roofs and can be carried hands-free up any ladder. (Photo courtesy of the author.)

By Robert S. Duffy

Even though he survived the fall, he was hospitalized with numerable life-threating injuries. Ever since that accident, the fall and how it affected the life of that firefighter would always be in the back of my mind every time I had to operate from a rooftop.

A number of years and many fires later, I had advanced up through the ranks and was promoted to captain of training for the Springfield (MA) Fire Department. In this position, I spent a lot of time training firefighters on vertical ventilation and rooftop operations. I observed that the one thing most were concerned about was falling off or through roofs because of the unavailability of equipment that truly gave them a safe and sturdy footing. The enlightenment I gained from training these firefighters caused me to think that there has to be a faster, safer, and overall better way to perform vertical ventilation operations on a pitched roof.

One night, the idea came to me, so I got up and started sketching out the design concept. The following day I made a very crude prototype to experiment with, and it worked. The last three years of my life have been dedicated to providing a tool that will allow firefighters to more safely perform these dangerous procedures on a pitched roof. I met with engineers, machinists, lawyers, and firefighters-all of whom contributed valuable information and experience in their areas of expertise.

The result of all the time and effort is the invention of the Quick Step Anchor (QSA):

• Quick: The device deploys in seconds and gets a firefighter on and then off the roof as fast as possible, reducing the likelihood of injury because of roof collapse.
• Step: The step instantly adjusts to the pitch of the roof to provide a firefighter with a stable, level surface to stand on-a platform capable of supporting more than 1,000 pounds.
• Anchor: If a firefighter slips from the step, its anchor and a short tether line will arrest the fall at once.

The QSA is a device designed to safely speed up vertical ventilation operations by providing firefighters with a sturdy platform that will take the place of the pickhead ax, trash hook, or halligan tool, which today's truck personnel currently use as footholds. These procedures require a dedicated firefighter simply to hold the ax, trash hook, or halligan to stabilize the footing and ensure that the tool doesn't come out of the roof. With today's reality of reduced staffing, that person may not even be there. The QSA also eliminates the need to stop and reposition the roof ladder to complete the roof cut, an awkward, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous procedure. Performing vertical ventilation operations in this manner is very dangerous and does not provide a solid and confident foothold for the firefighter performing the procedure.

The QSA also incorporates an anchor point that allows a firefighter to anchor himself with a lanyard. In the event that he slips and falls, his fall is arrested by the attached lanyard, which is anchored to the QSA, which is anchored

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By Alan M. Petrillo

But, apparatus manufacturers heard from firefighters about ergonomics and the need to easily reach hoselines without having to stretch above their heads or step up on a running board to stretch the line. Thus, handlines now can be found almost anywhere on a pumper. Where they are located is usually determined by close communication between the manufacturer and the fire department. Scott Oyen, vice president of sales at Rosenbauer, says departments "are giving a lot more thought to having boots on the ground when it comes to preconnected hoselines. They don't want their firefighters to have to step onto the bumper or a running board to get the hose."

Crosslays

Ryan Slane, pumper-tanker product manager for KME, says that although KME has done some unusual handline locations, it typically focuses on the ergonomics facet of reaching for and pulling hoselines. "We lowered our crosslay to 66 inches off the ground, which puts the hose load at shoulder level for most firefighters, so they should be able to reach it from the ground," Slane says. "It's 42 inches above the running board, which has become our standard and is the majority of what we sell."

However, some departments want even lower handline lays, he notes, as with a pumper KME built for the Vancouver (WA) Fire Department. "They wanted to improve the ergonomics and had us build crosslays that were 32 inches above the running board, which put them 54 inches above the ground," Slane says. "We also built a pumper for Citizens Fire Company, in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where the crosslays are 42 inches above the running board, making them 66 inches off the ground."

Chad Trinkner, director of fleet management for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says Pierce has been proactive in getting crosslays lowered on apparatus. "The big issue is firefighter safety," Trinkner says. "Departments don't want any cut hands or sprained ankles, and they want all firefighters on the ground pulling hose and not having to take a step up to do it."

Trinkner says Pierce has lowered its standard crosslay by nine inches and can go lower based on a department's needs and what equipment and discharges it wants on the apparatus. He notes that Pierce's Pierce Ultimate Configuration (PUC) product has crosslays at shoulder height. "About 50 percent of our pumpers have crosslays, 30 percent speedlays, and the rest at the rear or elsewhere," he points out.

Summit Fire Trucks president Joe Messmer says that although the locations of handlines on pumpers he's been building have not changed much, how they are carried on the vehicle has changed. "The biggest thing we've been doing is enclosing the pump panel with the crosslays in there too," Messmer says. "It's a grand idea because we are using vehicles for a lot more than fighting fires now, and 70 percent of the time when a pumper leaves the station, it doesn't even get put into pump gear. Having the hoselines enclosed behind roll-up doors makes the vehicle easier to clean, and the hoses and nozzle