By Alan M. Petrillo

Goodfellow Air Force Base, located inside the city limits of San Angelo, Texas, serves as the home for basic and advanced firefighting training for each branch of the United States military services through its Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy.

The Fire Academy plays host to 15 advanced fire protection courses and an extremely intensive fire protection apprentice course and instructs individuals from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and civil service employees from the Department of Defense. Courses include the Fire Protection Apprentice Course, Rescue Technician I and II, Hazmat Technician T-t-T, WMD Technician, Instructor III, Inspector, fire officer courses, Fire Marshal, and the P-23 distance learning course.

Equipment

Air Force Tech Sergeant Kevin Coughlin has been an instructor at the Fire Academy for nearly four years and teaches Block 4 structural fireground operations. He points out that the Fire Academy has 17 structural firefighting pieces of apparatus, mostly made by Pierce Manufacturing Inc. and KME. "The pumpers range from 2012 to late 1980s models," he says. "Typically the pumpers have 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm)pumps and a mix of 750- and 500-gallon water tanks. All the vehicles carry foam because we train and use foam predominantly at the fire academy, and some of the vehicles are set up as Class III wildland rigs."

Students from the 312th Training Squadron at Goodfellow AFB put out a fire in the Helo Trainer at the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force by Senior Airman Michael Smith.)

Coughlin points out the newest pumper, built by Pierce, has a CAFS system, two 1¾-inch hose crosslays, and a hosebed filled with five-inch large-diameter hose (LDH). The wildland Type III vehicles, which have heavy-duty all-terrain tires and are lifted seven inches, are all KME-manufactured, he notes, and serve as wildland urban interface type structural rigs.

"We keep the students busy in the structural fireground operations block," Coughlin says. "Block 4 lasts 15 days, which includes three lecture days and 12 days spent working outside. The students have 43 hands-on objectives where they are evaluated and face nine different live fires in six days." Every student practices every position in firefighting, working in teams of two or four, he adds, practicing evolutions and honing their skills before they are evaluated at each position.

"We have ten burn trainers, including two structural firefighting trainers, each with three stories and three live burn rooms," Coughlin says. "They all are propane-fired and allow us to give both high and low rollover of flames."

Other burn trainers include those for vehicle, dumpster, and above-ground propane storage tank simulators. For wildland fire simulations, Coughlin says that academy instructors burn hay in a concrete area surrounded by a sprinkler system. "The students get to do defensive fire protection work using control lines," he notes.

Besides its live-burn training structures, the fire academy has a structural training building it uses in the apprentice and advanced fire protection courses. The lightweight structural trainer was required to train students to breach, search, and shore up light frame structures involved in natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes. The trainer has walls that are bowed to simu

By Raul A. Angulo

Two of my most memorable calls are not as spectacular as you would think.

When I was a young firefighter working a shift at Engine 16 in the Greenlake District of Seattle, Washington, my wife came in to make the crew her excellent chicken-big shell pasta dish with broccoli covered in a creamy Alfredo mushroom sauce-one of my favorite dishes to date. Just as we sat down for dinner, the bell hit for a full response and we never got a chance to eat it-maybe that is why it's memorable. The Masonic Temple was just two blocks away from the station, and I knew we would be first in. When we pulled up, flames were blowing out a second-story window in the alley.

The driver hooked up to the hydrant, the officer did a radio size-up, and I pulled the attack line. I knew the building was dark, so I also grabbed a pickhead ax. I was all by myself. Back in 1985, we didn't have any real training in forcible entry. You just forced entry the best way you could and used whatever it took. We had pry bars, but the halligan and the K-tools didn't show up in Seattle until about 1996. The A-tool or officer's tool showed up two years ago.

The front door to the Masonic Temple was an old, arch-shaped, ornate wooden door. It looked like it came from an ancient gothic church. Not knowing any better at the time, I knew I had to "chop" my way through this door and I was going right through the middle. After about five heavy duty whacks, the door flung open. I remember thinking, "Wow! That was cool-just like in the movies." In reality, the lock probably just gave way because I had no idea what I was doing. I needlessly destroyed a beautiful piece of wood. But I advanced the line up the stairs and put out the kitchen fire in the auditorium before anyone else backed me up. I've put out a lot of fires over the years, but damaging that door unnecessarily still bothers me to this day.

Another memorable door breach was when I working on Engine 13 in the Beacon Hill District. We were dispatched to a suicide. As I led my crew up the stairs to the front porch, we could see the patient through the window. The adrenalin kicked in, and since I was leading the charge, I decided to be John Wayne and kick the front door in without missing a step. Whatever locking mechanism they had in place ricocheted me off the door and almost off the front porch! I told my three gargantuans to break the door down and they knocked in the entire door frame. We forced entry but we were too late.

Both of these stories have stayed with me because there are better, more professional techniques to force entry with minimal damage. We just hadn't been taught. Today, it's different. The halligan and the flathead ax, traditionally known as "the irons," are married together and carried on every fire apparatus. Training on forcible entry techniques is taken more seriously in our department and included as a component of our annual performance evaluations. The incident priority acronym-RECEO/VS: Rescue, Exposures, Confinement, Extinguishment, Overhaul/Ventilation, and Salvage-can't even begin until you gain access to the occupancy.

Once you size the W-Tool to the horizontal width of the door, move it up to the strongest part of the door in close proximity of the lock. Pump the handle until you have the W-Tool tightly wedged against the door jambs. (Photos courtesy of the Weddle Tool Company.)

The W-Tool

One of the coolest tools I've seen at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) is the W-Tool by the Weddle Tool Company of Bunker Hill, West Virginia. The founder, inventor, and CEO is Dave Weddle, who

By Chris Mc Loone

Since 2010, the fire industry has been impacted by changes in emissions control regulations.

Traditionally, anything having to do with meeting emissions control guidelines fell to engine manufacturers to figure out. And, many of the 2010 changes impacted engines, with the most signigficant example being the need to run "regens" when prompted by the vehicles.

For 2014, there is a new round of emissions control changes promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). One aspect of these changes involves tires, and there have been a number of questions revolving around what these changes will mean for the fire service.

2014 Program

According to Wes Chestnut, lead compliance with Spartan Motors, Inc. and co-chair for the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association (FAMA) chassis committee, the program that began in January 2014 is a joint agency effort between the NHTSA and the EPA. He refers to it as the Heavy Duty National Program. "The EPA standpoint is the greenhouse gas (GHG) aspect-the output of the engine and the carbon footprint of the vehicle," he says. "The NHTSA piece of it was for fuel efficiency."

Chestnut explains the program is a two-stage rule. "The 2014 model year was the first round of the GHG reductions," he says. "The 2016 model year brings the first round of fuel efficiency for the vocational vehicles. 2017 is the final phase of the GHG reduction as part of the original Heavy Duty National Program. And, 2018 is the final phase of the fuel efficiency piece."

Applying this to the fire service, Chestnut explains that both agencies have recognized that there is a national heavy-duty fleet, but it's the first time they segmented this fleet into vocational vehicles. "They took into consideration how segmented that vocational vehicle segment really is," he adds.

Rolling resistance has been around in some form since the invention of the wheel. Mobility, at that time, was limited by the road surface, or deformation, which created motion resistance. The wagon wheel had relatively low rolling resistance. It was not very durable and had very little or no ride comfort. With the introduction of the bias-ply pneumatic tires came an improvement of durability and comfort, and they had significantly increased rolling resistance. (Photo courtesy of Michelin.)

Tire Rolling Resistance

One method the EPA uses to calculate GHG levels is calculating tire rolling resistance. "The unit of measurement is not a miles-per-gallon measurement," says Chestnut. "We put the rolling resistance value in the GHG emissions model, say what the fuel consumption is based on the formulas in the rule, and then what the GHG output looks like. Neither the EPA nor the NHTSA has mandated any rolling resistance on the tire manufacturers. But, what it does say is that they have a unified test procedure to determine the rolling resistance. They are obligated under the rule to give the vehicle manufacturers that information so that we can see what the output is."

What is rolling resistance specifically? According to Porter Jones, OEM product engineer with Michelin, it is the force required to maintain the forward movement of a tire. He explains that tire rolling resistance is caused by the natural visco-elastic properties of rubber along with the tires' internal components constantly bending, stretching, and recovering as the

By Robert Tutterow

In August 2013, the Firefighter Cancer Support Network (FCSN) issued a white paper titled Taking Action Against Cancer in the Fire Service. The white paper was an output of a workshop conducted in April 2013 with more than 30 participants and reviewers representing a cross-section of the fire service and subject matter experts.

The 13-page report lists numerous statistics that illustrate the complexity of cancer in firefighters. These include several reports that firefighters are more prone to develop cancer than the general population, despite the fact that firefighters are in better physical shape than the general public. One of the participants, Dr. Grace LeMasters from the University of Cincinnati, said, "Pinpointing the cause of cancer is extremely difficult because firefighters are not exposed to just one agent. They are exposed to multiple cancer-causing agents. Because of the multiple exposures and the multiple routes of exposure-they inhale carcinogens and carcinogens are absorbed through the skin-it is also highly unlikely for firefighters to get only one type of cancer." The report clearly states that the two routes of greatest concern for carcinogens to enter the body are through the lungs [failure to wear self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) during overhaul] and skin absorption.

Apparatus and Equipment Connection

Now, what about apparatus and equipment as they relate to cancer? The report credits manufacturers for the many products that help minimize firefighter cancer risks. These include turnout gear cleaning equipment, diesel exhaust extraction systems, SCBA, and decontamination equipment and supplies. However, the white paper is quick to point out that manufacturers should refrain from advertisements that show firefighters wearing soiled, contaminated (i.e., carcinogen-laden) personal protective equipment (PPE), including helmets.

Consider the following scenario that occurs on a daily basis in many fire departments in the United States. The department responds to a working fire. Following the working fire, the members board the apparatus, still wearing their contaminated gear, and return to the station. A bit later in the day, they get a nonfire call, such as an EMS call. They board the apparatus and immediately sit on the cross-contaminated apparatus seats. On arrival at the scene, they administer patient care while wearing contaminated clothes. Is it time to think about a cover for the apparatus seat while wearing PPE? Think toilet seat cover.

At first this idea might seem a bit absurd, but further contemplation will reveal some validity to the concept. Although that might not be the solution, it is an example of how the fire service needs to focus on ways to minimize the risks of cancer. Another approach is issuing nonstructural response PPE for the bulk of the emergency responses. This could keep contaminated structural PPE out of the apparatus cabs and isolated in a dedicated compartment. The white paper also calls on manufacturers to support funding to develop curricula for training materials to address firefighter cancer awareness and prevention.

Fire Stations

The white paper calls on architects to understand and address design for cancer concerns in new and renovated fire stations. This includes floor plans with a "workflow" that has a decontamination area adjacent to the apparatus floor, overall station air exchange, dedicated storage areas for PPE, and overall design and features that address the firefighter who has just returned from a fire as contaminated.

The report goes on to identify further research needs and calls on all fire service organizations to work together in "taking action against cancer in the fire service." The report concludes with 11 immediate actions firefighters can take to protect against carcinogens. These are as follows: Read more

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