• SMEAL has announced that the Charlotte (NC) Fire Department's Ladder 23 achieved the milestone of responding to 40,423 calls in 10 years. The Smeal-built 105-foot rear-mount aerial ladder drove 177,000 miles-enough to travel around the world seven times. During that time, Ladder 23 has been through 1,890 gallons of oil, 158 tires, and 76,542 gallons of diesel fuel but only had 34 aerial-related work orders during the ten-year span.
Captain Buddy Caldwell, of the Charlotte Fire Department, sums up the value of a reliable vehicle this way: "A truck is the firefighters' life for 24 hours when on shift. They trust that truck to be dependable, to get them to every call, and to function the way it's supposed to function when they get there. It's an integral part of their job. And it's all got to work."
The truck is now in reserve status and was replaced by a new 2012 Smeal 105-foot rear-mount aerial.
• GLOBE, DUPONT, and the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC) have teamed up again to provide new gear to volunteer fire departments in need. The application period is now open for eligible departments to apply for up to four sets of gear. Up to 52 sets will be given away in 2013.
To celebrate the company's 125th anniversary and say thank you to firefighters who dedicate themselves to protecting their communities, Globe partnered with DuPont and the NVFC in 2012 to launch a gear donation program. In all, 16 departments in the United States and Canada were awarded a total of 144 sets of gear.
To be eligible to apply for a gear donation, departments must be all-volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be located in the United States or Canada and legally organized under state law, and be a department or individual member of the NVFC. Find full program criteria and apply at www.nvfc.org/globe-gear-donation. Applications are due by June 30, 2013.
• MIAMI-DADE (FL) FIRE RESCUE'S Training Division recently took delivery of a Doron 660 Driver Simulator. This technology will allow firefighters to enhance their driving skills as well as increase their confidence when operating a fire engine.
The Doron 660 can simulate 102 different computer-generated scenarios and will allow the instructor to modify and customize each one via a computer console. The simulator is encased in a life-size fire apparatus shell, which is fully equipped with lights and sirens. Firefighters can respond to situations ranging from driving in the rain at night to a barn fire to responding to a plane crash on a busy highway in the snow. The simulator can also test braking reaction times and evasion maneuvers. The new simulator will allow drivers to operate a fire apparatus in a controlled, safe environment without the fuel consumption and wear and tear that come with training on the road.
• E-ONE announces that members of the Guil-Rand (NC) Fire Department and board of directors recently signed a contract for three new custom eMAX pumpers on Typhoon® chassis. "For years our department has survived by purchasing good, quality used apparatus, and we searched for two years before deciding to purchase new apparatus," says Brian Cox, Guil-Rand's chief. "These will be our first new trucks since 1996." Each new eMAX will feature a 780-gallon water tank, 1,500-gpm pump, 6-kW generator, Cummins® ISL 450-hp engine, enclosed ladder tunnel storage, dual canopy medical ca