KME recently delivered airfield fire apparatus to the United States Air Force (USAF) that include ultra-high-pressure (UHP) firefighting pumping systems.

The USAF contract's models include 144 rapid intervention vehicles (RIVs), five 4x4 Class 4 aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) apparatus, and 21 6x6 Class 5 ARFF apparatus with rear-steer capability.

The RIVs, mounted on Ford Super Duty chassis, include 400 gallons of water, 15 gallons of Class A foam, and 56 gallons of Class B foam. The UHP system operates at 90 gpm at 1,200 psi using a 60-gpm bumper turret and two 15-gpm UHP handlines.

The ARFF vehicles include aluminum cabs and bodies, 1,500 or 3,000 gallons of water, 200 or 400 gallons of foam, and 500 pounds of dry chemical. They operate with a 300-gpm UHP bumper turret, UHP handline, two 2½-inch low-pressure handlines, and a dry-chem handline. The dual pump system operates at 320 gpm at 1,350 psi in UHP mode and 250 gpm at 150 psi in the stationary low-pressure pumping mode.

E-ONE's onsite retail store, the Fire Locker, reopened with more than double the square footage of retail space and a broader selection of apparel, electronic gadgets, and company-branded merchandise. Located in the Welcome Center of E-ONE in Ocala, Florida, the store has products from vendors such as Nike®, Columbia®, and Titleist®. To further enhance the Fire Locker experience, E-ONE hired a new marketing and communications coordinator, Melissa Kahan, to operate the store while also assisting with E-ONE's social media. In addition to doubling in size and hiring an employee to manage the store, the Fire Locker launched a redesigned ecommerce site, www.firelocker.com, which offers an equivalent product offering on the Web site as the onsite store.

HALE PRODUCTS, INC. was named a runner-up for the Manufacturers Association of Florida's annual Manufacturers of the Year award. With more than 325,000 people employed in Florida's manufacturing industry, the judges narrowed the competition to 21 finalists in five categories based on number of employees. Each company was judged on leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, and process management.

SPARTAN MOTORS, INC. announced that John Sztykiel will retire as president and chief executive officer (CEO), effective February 19, 2015. He will serve as a member of Spartan's Board of Directors until his term expires in May 2015 and as a consultant to the company until August 31, 2016. Daryl Adams, Spartan chief operating officer, will succeed Sztykiel as president and CEO upon his retirement. Sztykiel, 57, joined Spartan in 1985 and assumed roles of increasing responsibility, including president and CEO. During his tenure with the company, revenues increased from $9.9 million to a projected $500 million-plus in 2014, representing a 14 percent compound annual growth rate, and Spartan's market capitalization grew from $10 million to more than $170 million, in addition to a 21-year history of paying dividends.

Daniel Slater has joined the company as president of its Emergency Response business, effective January 5, 2015. He reports to Daryl Adams.

Braun Industries recently expanded its service department. The company has made significant investments in the service team in recent months, including purchasing a new facility, strategic additions to the service department staff, and introducing new offerings like its ambulance remount and refurbishment service. The company purchased Life Star Rescue's 49,500-square-foot facility to serve as its service department when

delivery of the month
Ferrara-Harristown (IL) Fire Protection District, pumper. Cinder cab and chassis; Cummins ISL 450-hp engine; Hale Qflo Plus 1,250-gpm pump; UPF Poly 1,000-gallon tank; FRC Spectra scene lights. $414,000. Dealer: Mark Nixon, AEC Fire Safety & Security Inc., Springfield, IL.

Pierce-Carbondale (IL) Fire Department, Encore rescue. Freightliner/Pierce cab and chassis; Cummins ISB 360-hp engine; 16-foot walk-around rescue body; Onan 25-kW generator; Hannay electric cord reels in front bumper; Amkus EX2S-XL power unit. $286,000. Dealer: Rob McAtee, Global Emergency Products, Whitestown, IN.

E-ONE-National Park Volunteer Fire Department, Gloucester County, NJ, pumper. Typhoon cab and chassis; Cummins ISL 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm pump; UPF Poly 780-gallon tank; Will-Burt Night Scan light tower; Harrison 8-kW generator; Akron Apollo Hi-Riser deck gun. $492,000. Dealer: Bill Dukes, 1st Choice Fire Apparatus, Hanover Township, PA. (Photo by Dennis C. Sharpe.)

Rosenbauer-Glendale Volunteer Fire Department, Coalport, PA, pumper. International 7400 4x4 cab and chassis; MaxxForce9 330-hp engine; Hale RSD 1,500-gpm pump; UPF Poly 500-gallon tank; 30-gallon foam cell; Hale FoamLogix 2.1A Class A foam system. $301,000. Dealer: Rick Smith, Kaza Fire Equipment Co., Ebensburg, PA.

Spartan ERV-Millburn (NJ) Fire Department, pumper. Spartan Gladiator cab and chassis; Cummins ISX15 550-hp engine; Hale Qtwo 1,500-gpm pump; UPF Poly 500-gallon tank; 30- and 40-gallon foam cells; Hale FoamLogix 5.0 dual-agent foam system; Will-Burt Chief NS 1.8 3,000-watt light tower; Smart Power 10-kW generator. $577,866. Dealer: Robert Paleczny, Campbell Supply Co., South Brunswick, NJ. (Photo by John M. Malecky.)

HME-Lockheed Martin, Marietta, GA, two SilverFox pumpers; 1871-SFO cabs and chassis; Cummins ISL9 330-hp engines; Hale Qflo Plus 1,250-gpm pumps; 1,000-gallon polypropylene tanks; 30-gallon foam cells; Hale FoamLogix 2.1A Class A foam systems; FoxTrax tool boards. $500,858. each. Dealer: Steven Bowles, HME Inc., Johns Creek, GA.

KME-Bradley Beach (NJ) Fire Department, mini pumper. Ford F-550 crew cab and chassis; Power Stroke 6.7-liter diesel engine; Hale DSD 1,250-gpm pump; 250-gallon polypropylene tank; booster reel inside rear compartment; Honda 5-kW portable gas generator; four crew seats with SCBA; FRC Spectra 12V telescoping scene lights. $225,000. Dealer: Jim Phillips, First Priority Emergency Vehicles, Manchester, NJ. (Photo by Adam Alberti.)

Midwest Fire-Jamestown (ND) Rural Fire Department, pumper-tanker. Freightliner M2 cab and chassis; Cummins ISL 350-hp engine; Darley LSP 1,000-gpm pump; APR polypropylene 3,000-gallon tank; three Newton 10-inch s

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Alan M. Petrillo

Since Tualatin Valley's technical rescue truck responds to numerous calls throughout the district, the department wanted a vehicle that could haul all the technical rescue equipment needed but not compromise its maneuverability.

"Our previous heavy rescue had served us well, but we needed a heavier suspension capacity to be able to carry more equipment, and we also wanted to have fire suppression capability on the new vehicle, says Chief Mike Duyck. "We were replacing a 1998 Pierce heavy rescue on a single rear axle, and the new rescue would continue to be first due for calls districtwide for structure fires, technical rescues, and motor vehicle accidents."

Chad Liggett, Tualatin Valley's fleet operations manager, says the department's primary goal "was to build a vehicle with the physical size required to haul all the equipment we need but still retain the maneuverability to get around on our roadways." In addition, he says, "We also wanted to see if we could do more than one thing with a single vehicle."

Liggett says that the truck committee developed the specs for the heavy rescue and published them. The department chose to build the truck on a Pierce Manufacturing Quantum chassis with seating for six firefighters.

Many Functions in One

Nick Hendricks, sales representative for Hughes Fire Equipment Inc., which sold the vehicle to Tualatin Valley, says the resulting vehicle "is geared to do it all for the department. It's a gear hauler for the entire district, which covers a sizeable area, from heavily populated to very rural, with some high tech and light industrial in the mix."

One of the elements that Tualatin Valley spec'd on its truck was basic fire suppression capability, Hendricks says. "They wanted the ability to deal with a car fire if they pulled up to an automobile accident scene instead of having to handle it with a portable extinguisher," he points out. "We put a Darley 250-gallon-per-minute power take-off (PTO) pump on the vehicle, along with a 300-gallon water tank. The pump controls are located on the driver's side front bumper under a lift-up cover, with 100 feet of 1¾-inch hose in a compartment in the center of the bumper."

Single vs. Tandem Axle

Pierce built the vehicle on a tandem-rear-axle chassis to carry all the equipment that the department needed to get on the rig, says Shane Braun, sales and marketing manager for rescue products at Pierce Manufacturing. "We built the truck with 11 compartments, all full height and depth, which gives them a lot of space for equipment storage," Braun says. "Most of the compartments have trays-either slide-outs or drop-downs-or slide-out tool boards designed with

Robert Tutterow

In June 2014, the Fire Industry Equipment Research Organization (F.I.E.R.O.) held its inaugural Fire PPE Workshop, dedicated to PPE care and maintenance and NFPA 1851, Standard on Selection, Care and Maintenance of Protective Ensembles for Structural Firefighting and Proximity Firefighting. It provided a clear indication of the intricacies of a total care program for PPE. On the surface, it all seems so simple. After all, what is there to cleaning something? As it turns out, firefighting PPE is a very complex assemblage of components that requires specialized approaches for care.

Certified to Inspect and Clean

Addison (TX) Fire Department Engineer/Paramedic Tim Tomlinson-also vice president of Gear Cleaning Solutions and chair of the NFPA's task group on PPE cleaning-provided an overview of how personnel should inspect and clean PPE. He showed how to inspect and test moisture barriers for leakage and showed how a simple light test can determine if the thermal barrier has breaches that are not visible in ordinary light conditions. Of particular interest was his emphasis on understanding how to use washer extractors, drying systems, and cleaning agents. Many fire departments have purchased washer extractors from a local dealer who, while well-intentioned, has no idea how to program the machines for firefighting PPE cleaning or the appropriate cleaning agents to use.

Pam Kavalesky, senior project engineer with Intertek Testing Services, explained certification, verification, and verified independent service providers (ISPs). NFPA 1851 defines an ISP as, "An independent service provider verified by a third-party certification organization to conduct any one or a combination of advanced inspection, advanced cleaning, basic repair, or advanced repair service." She explained the responsibilities of who can do what. For example, the user (firefighter) can only perform routine inspection and routine cleaning. The manufacturer-verified ISP, verified organization, and organization (fire department) can perform advanced inspection, complete liner inspection, advanced cleaning and decontamination, and basic repair. However, for advanced repair, only the manufacturer, verified ISP, and verified organization can perform this service. Fire departments are not provided this leeway unless the department is verified. As of this writing, the Fort Worth (TX) Fire Department is the only verified fire department in the United States. Last, but not least, only the manufacturer or a verified ISP can provide PPE care and maintenance training to a fire department. The process of becoming a third-party certifying agency or a verifying agency involves in-depth quality control measures.

Modifying PPE

Of particular interest to the Texas audience was a presentation by Bob Manley, Region 4 Compliance Officer for the Texas Commission on Fire Protection, which enforces NFPA 1851 compliance. The Commission primarily looks for cleanliness, damage, and modifications. One of the issues often overlooked in PPE care and maintenance is modification, or add-ons, to PPE. Any modifications to any element of PPE must have the manufacturer's