3LS Inc. Helmet Mount One (HM1) is a helmet mounting system that can mount nearly any small flashlight, bullet camera, or tool to a helmet. Its low profile reduces entanglement potential, and the HM1 is available in three colors: black, red, and silver. The HM1 fits items ranging from ¼ to 1½ inches in diameter. It also allows the user to remove the light from the helmet to use as a hand light. Firefighters can mount the lights above or below the helmet's brim or even to the front or back. The HM1 can be used in conjunction with a Streamlight® PolyTac® 90 to shine light where it is critical to see. Adjust it by rotating it up or down. Front mounting is suitable for extrication applications or starting an IV in low-light conditions. The HM1's two-inch-wide aluminum platform provides a solid contact point with a helmet. www.gutsforlife.com, 860-866-6396

Ziamatic Corp. (Zico) Ladder Access System, Extend Down, Model LAS-XT combines Zico's LAS ladder rack design with a new, patented cable-and-pulley system capable of raising and lowering ladders an additional 12 inches for quick, easy, and safe retrieval from high apparatus shelves. Mounting the LAS-XT to an apparatus high shelf allows for more compartment space in the side body underneath. Mounting to a standard shelf makes ladder retrieval even easier for shorter personnel. Two self-contained hydraulic actuators provide increased strength and reliability and create a more even, parallel operating motion. The rugged, cast aluminum system sustains a maximum load of 300 pounds and can accommodate additional accessories such as hard sleeves, pike poles, and folding ladders. It works with both new and existing apparatus. www.ziamatic.com, 800-711-FIRE

Kochek Company Storz Installation Tool speeds and simplifies hydrant conversion bushings installation when converting existing threaded fire hydrants to quick quarter-turn Storz connections. Requiring only basic tools like a ½-inch drive ratcheting socket, pliers, wrenches, and a drill, hydrant conversions can now be completed with precision in just minutes. The hydrant conversion process, a 10-minute field retrofit, involves replacing standard threaded fire hydrant connections with quarter-turn Storz connections. After conversion, fire departments can quickly and easily attach Storz equipment directly to the hydrant. www.kochek.com, 800-420-4673

Code 3®, Inc. Banshee™ Amplifier System offers a selection of tones, features, and options in one siren amp system: three low-frequency tones, multiple dual tones, and a true sounding electronic air horn. The Banshee can work with virtually any siren system already on the market and can be retrofitted to any emergency vehicle already on the road. When setting up the Banshee, dual tones can be configured in multiple combinations-for example, dual wail, dual yelp, wail, and Command Alert™. The air horn can also be selected to work with each primary tone without turning that tone off. Low-frequency tones can be generated in conjunction with the siren currently on a department's vehicle. Select from one of three settings: primary at ½ frequency, low-frequency

PIERCE MANUFACTURING placed a Pierce® mobile command vehicle into service with the city of Fremont, California. Built on a Pierce Velocity™ custom chassis, the apparatus addresses a wide range of emergency response needs of both the Fremont Fire and Police Departments. It was acquired through funding from an urban area security initiative (UASI) grant. The Pierce Velocity custom chassis features a DD13 450-hp engine, a 274-inch wheelbase, a Command Zone™ advanced electronics system, and an automatic leveling and stabilizing system. The two-door cab offers a 34.5-foot mobile command body with an 85.75-inch interior walkway height and three slide-out modules to increase workspace.

Interior highlights include six workstations, a comprehensive satellite data network, dual wireless modems, a radio dispatch system, and an IP-based telephone network. An A/V system is linked to 27 monitors located throughout the vehicle. The A/V system is managed by a matrix switcher, with five remote keypads that allow individual monitor display control from each keypad. To extend on-scene capabilities, the apparatus is equipped with complete galley and lavatory accommodations.

THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (NFPA) AND THE UNITED KINGDOM'S FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION (FPA) have announced a formalized relationship to use the NFPA's codes and standards in the FPA's property risk management education and certification program. The program will provide insurance risk engineers with technical knowledge needed to assess property risk from fire and natural hazards alongside key principles of loss potential estimation, business loss mitigation, and business continuity. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the two organizations will serve as the framework of cooperation between the FPA and the NFPA through which NFPA codes and standards will be a significant part of the program's curriculum. To help develop the program, the FPA will use the NFPA's Fire Code, and the NFPA will provide select technical review of training materials.

SMEAL FIRE APPARATUS CO. unveiled its new CORE rescue-pumper. The CORE incorporates the new Smeal S450 Chassis and the OMNI pump system. The S450 features a variety of options including a 450-hp Cummins ISL engine, 4,100-square-inch windshield for greater visibility, high mounted air intake to prevent water from entering the turbo, electrical V-Mux and Class 1 ES-Key Multiplex, a heavy-duty 72,000-Btu air conditioner, and raised roof options starting at eight inches that can be increased up to 24 inches in one-inch increments. The S450 also features an air bag system and exceeds NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, requirements for safety.

The OMNI pump system is a multipositional panel that can be placed virtually anywhere on the truck. Weighing less than five pounds, the panel is easy to remove and place in a location on the truck, keeping the pump operator in a safe location and enabling him to fully view the scene. The OMNI can control not only the pumps and valves but also the monitor, scene lights, truck-mounted cameras, generator, and air horn and check on water and foam levels.

HME AHRENS-FOX has announced that its newest sales and service dealership is Emergency Apparatus Design (EAD). The company is based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and will be covering the Southeastern Pennsylvania area. "With EAD having over 10 years of experience selling apparatus within our industry, we are very pleased they joined the HME family as our fourth dealership for the state of Pennsylvania," says Mitch Willoughby, HME sales di

Alan M. Petrillo

Benton County Fire District No. 4, in West Richland, Washington, had to replace two aging vehicles-a 1986 International 3,200-gallon water tender (tanker) and a 1985 Freightliner Type 3 engine-but wanted a single combination vehicle that could serve both functions as well as access hard-to-reach areas that the older vehicles could never navigate.

Paul Carlyle, Benton County captain and lead firefighter on the fire district's specifications committee, says a neighboring fire department at the federal Department of Energy's Fluor Hanford site, in Richland, had been operating a half dozen older Hawk Extreme wildland tankers built by Pierce Manufacturing and that his firefighters had worked with them on mutual aid. "Those were the first-generation units that Pierce made in 2004 and 2005, and we liked the way they performed," Carlyle says. "We liked their quick knockdown capabilities, the amount of water they carried, and the way they were able to get into places other vehicles couldn't."

1 Benton County (WA) Fire District No. 4 turned to Pierce Manufacturing for a 2013 Hawk Extreme wildland tanker to replace two older apparatus: a 1986 International tender (tanker) and a 1985 Freightliner Type 3 engine. (Photos courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.) Click picture to view video.

Carlyle says his committee drew up specs for what they wanted in a similar vehicle, put the specs out for bid, and ultimately awarded the contract for a Hawk Extreme to Pierce Manufacturing.

Reintroduction

Chad Trinkner, director of aerial, pumper, and fire suppression product management for Pierce Manufacturing, says the Benton County Hawk Extreme is the first unit that Pierce delivered after resuming production of the model. "We discontinued it in 2007 because Caterpillar stopped making the Cat C13 engine we used in the truck," Trinkner says. "We didn't have an engine to put in it, so we discontinued the model but brought it back in 2012 with a Cummins ISL9 450-horsepower diesel engine."

Benton County's Hawk Extreme is an all-wheel-drive vehicle that carries a 2,500-gallon water tank, a hydraulically driven Darley HH-500 single-stage 500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 60-gallon foam tank, a Husky 3 foam system, and a Hercules 120-cubic-feet-per-minute (cfm) compressed air foam system (CAFS). The tanker is outfitted with two 95-gpm front turret discharges that can rotate 180 degrees horizontally and 90 degrees above and 60 degrees below horizontal.

2 The Benton County Hawk Extreme built by Pierce is powered by a Cummins ISL9 450-hp diesel engine and an Allison Gen IV EVS 4500 six-speed automatic transmission and can operate in full time all-wheel drive to get the vehicle in nearly inaccessible places.

The Hawk Extreme also has two half-inch ground sweep nozzles, one at each outside corner of the vehicle below the bumper; three 10-inch dump valves, one on each side and one at the rear of the truck; and a Hannay electric hose reel carrying 200 feet of one-inch hose.

By Alan M. Petrillo

As 2014 has progressed, the industry's manufacturers have introduced a number of interesting apparatus and equipment to fire departments around the country.

To list them all would be impossible, but here are several that caught our eye during the first six months of 2014. The products range from fire suppression vehicles to new chassis, personal protective equipment (PPE), self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), nozzles, and electronics.

Equipment

On the equipment side of things, Draeger recently introduced the Comfort Vest, a garment that firefighters wear next to the skin to help absorb excess body heat when working in high-temperature surroundings or performing tasks that are physical enough to cause excessive sweating. The vest's cooling action comes from 20 individual Phase Change Material (PCM) elements integrated into the inner lining.

1 Draeger's Comfort Vest is a next-to-the-skin garment firefighters wear to help absorb excess body heat. (Photo courtesy of Drager.)

Draeger says that at 82°F, the contents of the PCM elements gradually become liquid and absorb the excessive heat, reducing skin temperature by between 37 and 39 degrees. It reports the cooling benefit of the vest can last up to four hours.

Task Force Tips (TFT) is producing the Transformer Piercing Nozzle system that features a twist-grip shutoff valve, a three-port junction block with a striking head, two extension tubes, and the flow tube with a hardened piercing point. It's designed to deliver water or foam solutions to inaccessible areas and has a rated flow of 150 gallons per minute (gpm) at 100 pounds per square inch (psi). TFT also has introduced the Jumbo Low Profile Ball Intake Valve, a 5¼-inch-diameter waterway that maximizes flow with very low friction loss. The 30-degree intake elbow can swivel 360 degrees, has multiple positive detents, and includes a cap lanyard anchor point.

2 Task Force Tips makes the Transformer Piercing Nozzle system designed to deliver water or foam to inaccessible areas. (Photo courtesy of Task Force Tips.)

Elkhart Brass now makes the Flex Attack, a new compressed air foam (CAF) nozzle that can be quickly switched between wet foam, dry foam, and water only through a 15⁄16-inch smooth bore without shutting down. The Flex Attack is rated at 184 gpm at 50 psi in a water setting and has a maximum operating pressure of 200 psi.

3 Elkhart Brass Co. makes the Flex Attack, a compressed air foam nozzle that can quickly switch between wet foam, dry foam, and water. (Photo courtesy of Elkhart Brass Co.)

Darley has developed a new ultra-high-pressure (UHP) high-volume pump, the UHP-HV, through its Odin Foam subsidiary. The system is available in a gasoline version and a diesel-powered model run by a 24½-hp Kubota water-cooled engine. At low pressure, the UHP-HV puts out 100 gpm at 130 psi, 200 gpm at 100 psi, and 300 gpm at 30 psi. At high pressure, the pump delivers eight gpm at 1,200 psi, while at high volume it will pump 237 gpm at 100 psi.

Robert Tutterow

Fire departments have many measures to determine their competency. There are the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Fire Suppression Rating Schedule, the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI), and various National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards. NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program, is the most comprehensive standard.

None of the above provides a pathway to total competency. ISO ratings are only relevant because many communities rely on them to determine insurance rates. Fire departments that have achieved an ISO rating of 1 are rightly proud of their distinction and usually display the rating on the side of their apparatus, their letterheads, their business cards, and various signage. Likewise, for the approximately 200 accredited fire departments, the accreditation logo is prominent on their fleets and published materials. Both of these measurements are "verified" by an outside agency, although accreditation involves a lot of trust by the Accreditation Commission on what the fire department reports.

The third measurement listed is NFPA 1500. No outside agency arrives at a department's front door and "raises the hood" to determine the viability of its health and safety program. There is no lettering, decal, logo or visible signage to showcase if a department is NFPA 1500 compliant. Perhaps if there was, we would see more of a focus on firefighter health and safety. Yet year in and year out, the leading cause of firefighter deaths is medically related. Total compliance with Chapter 10 of the standard, "Medical and Physical Requirements," would likely cut the annual line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) more than any other single measure the fire service could take. Amazingly, a fire department can be accredited, have a Class 1 ISO rating, and still not provide medical examinations as prescribed in NFPA standards. Where is the missing link?

NFPA 1500 Compliance

If every fire department were totally NFPA 1500 compliant, LODDs would be as rare as they are in other countries. The standard provides fire departments with a roadmap for total quality improvement.

In the early 1990s, NFPA 1500 was on the tip of almost every firefighter's tongue because of controversies surrounding the standard. The primary battle was over minimum staffing, and the battle lines were clearly drawn. In the end, minimum staffing did not become a part of the standard. Since then, NFPA 1500 has been a "back-burner" issue. This phenomenon defies logic, at least from a legal perspective. For example, firefighter deaths and injuries are susceptible to litigation against the fire department, its command staff, and the governing body (municipality, county, tax district). Yet a fire department has nothing to fear for failing to be accredited or for having a lesser ISO rating.

Fire departments are not required to be compliant with NFPA 1500 or any other NFPA standard unless the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) adopts the standard. Nonetheless, fire departments have been held accountable for failing to adhere to nationally recognized standards even if the AHJ adopted them. If you are in Texas, you are aware that the Texas Commission on Fire Protection has adopted several NFPA standards, and it performs occasional fire department inspections to check for compliance.

Annex B

Fire departments should do everything possible to meet the requirements of the standard. Admittedly, very few, if any, fire departments are 100 percent NFPA 1500 compliant. Nonetheless, a wise fire department should have a "working&q