OCALA, FL—Anticipation filled the air as Captain Roseanne Moreland, Ocala Fire Rescue (OFR), officially accepted the keys to a vehicle for use by the Department’s accelerant detection team.

After obtaining a K-9 through State Farm’s Arson Dog Program, the insurance company made sure OFR representatives learned of opportunities to obtain a vehicle, for their accelerant detection team, through nonprofit organizations. It was by way of research and guidance that the Recycled Rides program was discovered. 

Recycled Rides, a program of the National Auto Body Council, located a 2008 Honda Pitot which would serve the needs of OFR’s accelerant detection team. This vehicle, found in South Florida and in need of repairs, was transported to Ocala by Dave’s Towing Company, free of charge. The Honda was left at Jenkins Collision Center where the refurbishing repair process would unfold.

“The acquisition of the Honda Pilot, presented to Ocala Fire Rescue today could not have been possible without the aid from State Farm, Recycled Rides, Dave’s Towing Company, and Jenkins Collision Center”, said Fire Chief Bradd Clark, “because of their generosity and commitment, Ocala Fire Rescue will be able to better serve the community preventing and identifying arson crimes."

The Bell 412EPI seats 14 passengers, making it ideal for larger crew requirements needed for fire rescue missions and can lift up to 4,800 pounds, useful for heavy lifts and crew loads. It improves the Bell 412 platform with the Bell BasiX Pro™ fully integrated glass flight deck, providing critical flight information at-a-glance for greater situational awareness and safety. The Bell BasiX Pro™ system is specifically designed to meet the requirements of twin-engine helicopters and is optimized for IFR, Category A and JAR OPS3 compliant operations. The avionics suite also includes high resolution digital maps, electronic charts and approach plates, ADS-B transponder and optional HTAWS and XM satellite links. The Bell 412EPI also incorporates the power of Pratt and Whitney's PT6T-9 Twin Pac® engines, providing 15 percent more horsepower than the standard Bell 412. The Bell 412EPI features the BLR Strake and FastFin® system, which modifies the tailboom to optimize airflow and improve handling, safety and lift.

Unlike other helicopters that struggle to operate at great distances and in harsh fire conditions, the Bell 412EPI can travel back-and-forth five times to a fire 35 miles away without refueling in less than three hours and will deliver more than 1,600 gallons of water.

For more information, visit www.bellhelicopter.com.

The Hermitage Club's appeal of a decision by the Wilmington Development Review Board has been settled in Environmental Court, according to Hermitage officials. 

In a decision issued on September 2, the Wilmington Development Review Board granted Hermtiage Club's request for a conditional use permit to build a 93-unit condominium hotel and two duplex villas at their Haystack ski area. Of the nearly 40 conditions of the permit, one required the Hermitage to reach an agreement with the town "regarding development plans and location for a garage to house the ladder fire truck to be acquired. Funding to cover construction of a town garage to house the fire truck shall be provided by the applicant. The fire truck shall be acquired and construction of the fire truck parking garage shall be completed prior to the opening of the hotel."

The purchase of a ladder truck that can provide fire and safety protection at the multi-story hotel is also the subject of an existing agreement between the town and the Hermitage Club, which has agreed to provide $300,000 toward the cost of purchasing the apparatus. 

In an unusual move, the Hermitage Club asked the DRB to reconsider that and two other conditions. In regard to the condition to provide funding for a garage for the ladder truck, Hermitage Club officials argued that the waiver for the height of the hotel building under which the condition was opposed was not necessary under the zoning regulation. Although the board granted part of the request, they found the height waiver to be required under zoning, and declined to alter the condition to provide funding for a ladder truck garage. Hermitage officials appealed the decision to the Environmental Court. 

Under the settlement announced last week, the Hermitage Club will house the ladder truck at their new Haystack maintenance facility. Hermitage Club President Jim Barnes called the settlement a "logical and workable compromise" and "the best solution." 

But Wilmington Fire Chief Ken March isn't as enthusiastic about the solution. "I'm in no way happy with this decision," he said. "My concern is with life safety, and not just the people at the Hermitage."

March says locating the ladder truck on its own, near the edge of town, in a privately owned facility is less than ideal. Not only will it add significantly to response times, March says the agreement will cripple efforts to relocate his department outside the flood zone. In fact, at this week's selectboard meeting, members of the board's police and fire facility relocation committee said as much, that the agreement has taken the pressure off the town to build a new facility in the immediate future. 

Wilmington Town Manager Scott Murphy says the settlement gives the town flexibility. "When we build a new firehouse, we can move the ladder truck there," he said. "But the settlement allows the Hermitage Club to move forward with their plans. Ideally, we'd like (the ladder truck) in the village, but we just don't have the place to put it."

Many in the community have questioned the decision to purchase a ladder truck. Some have complained that, with the town facing costs of as much as $500,000 for their share of a new ladder truck, and another $5 million for a new facility, the Hermitage wasn't paying enough of the cost. But March says the decision to purchase a ladder truck wasn't based on the Hermitage Club's plans alone - and the decision wasn't made in a vacuum. 

The current ladder truck funding agreement isn't the same one negotiated with the previous Haystack developer. At his urging, the agreement was renegotiated. "At the time nobody knew what they were going to build, so nailing down a specific apparatus was difficult. So we hired an outside consulting firm to look at all the components, including what is happenin

Two people were injured Monday when a fire truck collided with a car in East Harlem.

Firefighters were responding to an unrelated call when the crash happened at 111th Street and Madison Avenue just before 3 p.m., officials told CBS2.

Two people were rushed to East Harlem Hospital Center with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Video from the scene showed a fire truck with damage to one side, as well as a white Honda that was demolished in the crash.

For more information, view cbsnewyork.com

Stevens Point's Fire Department was given authorization to apply for a large equipment grant. The Finance Committee and then the city council approved going forward with an application for a grant from the Assistance to Firefighters Grants program, which is through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Mayor Mike Wiza says a grant of that size would be welcomed, and would help retire a vehicle that is expensive to maintain. "It's a 90-10 grant for a new fire truck. Those things run over $600,000 dollars. If we can get some of our tax money that's already gone on to the state and the federal government, and bring that back to Stevens Point, and we get 90% and we've got to pay 10%."

If the grant is awarded, the grant dollars would pay for most of a $600,000 fire engine and most of a $375,000 dollar fire simulation training trailer. Winning the grant would put Stevens Point taxpayers on the hook for $97,500 dollars. Wiza says that won't be a problem, since they've been budgeting to replace the old fire truck already.  "We have more than that down in our capital improvements budget for the next couple of years, I think it's 2017, maybe 2018. We've got about $350,000 dollars budgeted for a new fire truck, so we'd actually free up some more money if we're able to get that 90% grant."

For more information, view wsau.com

It's the season of lights, which for some, means a battle to have the best Christmas display on the block.

"Basically the weekend after Halloween we start decorating and planning out what we want to do," explained Garry Aranda.

He doesn't put lights on his house though. He is the "Clark Griswold" of firetrucks.

"There is about 60 hours of work between my wife and I," Aranda said.

Garry Aranda is a retired firefighter with South Adams County Fire and Rescue. He is now the station's fleet manager. He owns four of his own firetrucks and has been lighting them up each December for almost 30 years.

"Every year we change or add something to the truck. This year we changed the color scheme on it. We put more blue on it this year," he said.

There are about 6,500 lights on the 2015 display. They flash to the beat of holiday music that plays on the engine's speakers. Aranda drives it around the metro area spreading holiday cheer.

"If we take Santa Clause, there are times when you can't even see the road because the flashes are going off on cameras. Cars are pulling up next to us. We've even had celebrities pull up next to us," Aranda said.

"We go out through trailer parks or places we know people need stuff and start passing things out," he said.

He hands out toys, candy and other donations to low income families and children. None of them know he is coming. It is a total surprise. Aranda says the smiles on their faces make all the hours spent decorating his truck worth it.

For more information, view kdvr.com

CCTV shared this video of a firefighter jumping from a window at a commercial structure fire with his PPE on fire. Watch as the firefighter calmly but urgently tries to rig something to help him descend from the window safely before his turnout gear caught fire, making it necessary to jump.

The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) announced the addition of “The Safety Officer’s Role in Active Shooter/Hostile Events” to the annual Safety Forum to be held January 20-22, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The program will be presented by Brent Siegel, EMS coordinator, Northville Township (MI) Fire Department. A certified Incident Safety Officer and a Health & Safety Officer, Siegel is also a tactical paramedic on the Western Wayne County Special Operations Team. His 90-minute program is scheduled for Thursday, January 21.

“I study this topic constantly and have a good understanding of what is appropriate for the fire service,” said Siegel. “It’s such a large spectrum, people have a hard time identifying what their role is, from going in with guns to not going in at all. I think I can help safety officers identify what their roles and responsibilities are.”

Siegel’s program will focus on the role of safety officers in a hostile incident. “When you look at the key roles and responsibilities we are teaching in Incident Safety Officers’, they are monitoring incident conditions, evaluating the hazards, developing measures that promote safe incidents, intervening when an immediate threat exists, monitoring communications and all those roles are present in one of these events. I’m going to tie everything I talk about to those responsibilities,” he said.

Among the goals for his presentation, Siegel said, “I want to introduce the Rescue Task Force (RTF) concept. It’s currently the ‘best practice’ on violent incidents. I say introduce because a lot of people still aren’t aware of it and some agencies are already doing it. I want to introduce the concept to Safety Forum attendees.”

In addition, Siegel will stress the importance that agencies integrate fire, law enforcement and EMS into their training. “Because this whole concept does not work if everybody is not on the same page. It’s all about communication,” he said.

Understanding the role of the fire department safety officer is critical in an all-agency hostile event. According to Siegel, an active shooter or hostile event is a more chaotic event to manage because the safety officer will not be able to walk around or have free access. 

“The whole Rescue Task Force evolves around operating in a warm zone,” Siegel stated. “The most important role of the safety officer is maintaining the clarity of what the warm zone is and keeping everybody responding to the incident informed.”

Siegel will offer action steps for attendees to take back to their departments to be better prepared in the event of an active shooter or hostile incident. 

“I don’t think there are many people who disagree there is a need for this and I don’t think it’s as much of a challenge as it was five years ago, but we must recognize the need to sit down with brother and sister agencies, develop the policies, and train together.”

For more information, visit www.fdsoa.org.

Globe, DuPont Protection Technologies, and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) are wrapping up the 2015 Globe Gear Giveaway Program by providing two more departments with turnout gear. The Cairo Volunteer Fire Department, Booneville, Mississippi, and the Mountain View (OK) Volunteer Fire Department will each receive four sets of new Globe turnout gear.

In 2015, 13 departments in need have been awarded a total of 52 sets of state-of-the-art Globe turnout gear to help protect their firefighters. All Globe gear is made with DuPont™ Nomex® and Kevlar® fibers, providing proven protection and top performance. The recipients were selected through a competitive nationwide application process and demonstrated a great need for the gear that they were unable to fulfill on their own.

“We thank Globe and DuPont for recognizing the critical need and taking action to help volunteer departments as they struggle to find funding to obtain gear and equipment for their firefighters,” says NVFC Chairman Kevin D. Quinn. “Four sets of new, compliant gear will go a long way in helping these departments enhance the safety, efficiency, and morale of their personnel.”

The Cairo Volunteer Fire Department serves 1,200 residents in a 25-square-mile area. It also runs mutual aid calls with four other departments. The department’s very small annual operating budget is barely enough to pay for basic utilities and fuel, let alone new gear. In fact, it currently does not have enough turnout gear for all its active members. The gear donation will help get it closer to having a full set of compliant turnout gear for all of active members, as well as free up funds for upgrades in other vital areas

“Our new Globe gear will keep our volunteers much safer on the fire scene and allow us to be more productive in saving lives and property within our community and surrounding communities,” says Chief Jerad Sims. “This award is greatly appreciated by our department and the whole community.”

The Mountain View Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. (MVVFD) provides fire protection and first responder services to the rural community of Muskogee, OK. Its service area includes 2,500 residents as well as a variety of buildings and businesses, a section of a river, and several highways. MVVFD also offers a community center for residents, which includes an underground tornado shelter, and maintains a helipad for Life Flight helicopters. Its 16 volunteer firefighters work to protect life and property by providing response services, assisting residents with obtaining and installing smoke alarms, and educating the community about fire prevention. Of the department’s 17 sets of gear, 12 sets are more than 15 years old. With the four sets of new Globe turnout gear, the department will be able to outfit more than half of their volunteers with new, up-to-standard gear. 

“Proper equipment will give our volunteers the ability to help our community in a safe and effective manner when they need us most,” says MVVFD Board Chairman Bobby Allen. “We are grateful for the new Globe turnout gear, which gives our volunteers the proper protection that every firefighter should have when they are called to duty.”

For more information, visit www.globeturnoutgear.com.

this retired 1978 Mack CF is decorated for the season.

Fire Station 6 in Lynchburg will close Dec. 21 for building renovations.

Station 6 on Fort Avenue will temporarily close until next year.

Crews and equipment will be moved to two other stations, Station 1 on Clay Street and Station 2 on Grace Street.

The station is expected to reopen when upgrades are finished. The improvements include new floors, living quarters and a training room.

For more information, view wsls.com

Twenty-seven Cary firefighters and two fire trucks have moved into the town's newest fire station -- a facility anticipated to reduce emergency response times in and around downtown.

Operations began at the new 13,395-square-foot, two-story facility, known as Fire Station 2, on Dec. 14. Located at 601 East Chatham St., the new station serves downtown and central Cary.

It replaces an outdated 41-year-old facility at 875 Southeast Maynard Road, which was not closed but reassigned as Fire Station 9, Assistant Fire Chief Loren Cone said.

When the original Fire Station 2 was built on Maynard Road in 1974, it was designed to accommodate one fire truck and four firefighters, but has since had to accommodate two trucks and 27 firefighters because of population increases in its service area. The station's service area now has a population of more than 14,000 people with nearly 4,000 commercial and multifamily properties, which is more than any other service area in Cary.

The town seeks to have the first fire truck arrive at the scene of an emergency within five minutes at 90 percent of the time, officials said. But prior to the completion of the new station, emergency units from the Maynard Road location struggled to meet this objective in the northern and southern parts of the service area.

"This building will help us get to that goal," said Mayor Harold Weinbrecht at a Fire Station 2 dedication ceremony Friday.

The new location will help firefighters respond more quickly to emergencies in the northern portion of the service area, Cary Fire Chief Allan Cain said, but there will still be some gaps in coverage with faster response times in the southern parts, particularly areas to the south of U.S. 1 on Walnut Street.

"We are still providing an effective service there, but we continue to fall behind in meeting our response rate target," he said.

The new facility will house a fire pumper, which is the engine that carries a hose, pumps and water, and a rescue company, which responds to rescue incidents and well as fires. The station also includes several features designed to reduce emergency response times, including two fire poles and bi-parting doors that open more quickly than traditional overhead doors, according to town staff.

Opening the Chatham Street fire station was also important since the former facility had reached a state of disrepair, according to town staff.

Cain said underground erosion caused by stormwater pipe breaching resulted in the building's foundation to settle.

"That causes walls to separate, the footing to separate and the floor and the front ramp is deteriorating," he said. "That was really the first catalyst for us to talk about replacing the fire station and then the further we looked at simply replacing the fire station, we knew that we had some service-level gaps both in town and further down Walnut Street."

Town officials are working to add another station in the Walnut Street and U.S. 1 area in order to meet current and future service demands, particularly with projected redevelopment in the Crossroads area.

The project cost the town an estimated $8.1 million, including design and construction. Voters approved $6.45 million in funding for construction in the 2012 community investment bonds referendum.

For more information, view www.newsobserver.com

Lower Merion fire officials said a fire in a Gladwyne fire truck last weekend that sent five fire fighters to the hospital was "accidental due to a mechanical issue."

Lower Merion Chief Fire Officer Charles McGarvey said in an email the determination was made earlier this week after his office investigated. A phone call to McGarvey for additional details was not immediately returned. An email sent to McGarvey also asking for additional details had an automatic response indicating he would be away until next week.

According to officials, the fire started in the engine of the truck Saturday evening on the 600 block of Spring Mill Road in Bryn Mawr while the truck was returning to the station. All five firefighters were evaluated and released from the hospital the night of the fire.

According to Deputy Chief Andy Block, the company still has a reserve fire engine at Gladwyne and, if needed, crews from any other of the other Lower Merion or Narberth companies could also respond.

"The community is well covered," Block said when asked about the company's ability to cover the community despite having a damaged truck.

Fire company officials also thanked those who helped them on their website.

"Special thanks to Bryn Mawr Fire Company for extinguishing the fire and helping us unload the truck at the scene, Ardmore Fire Company for bringing up their utility to shuttle the equipment back to our fire house, Janeway towing, Lower Merion Police, Narberth Ambulance for taking great care of our members and especially our Gladwyne Firefighters who all responded and helped do whatever was asked of them," the company posted on its website.

For more information, view www.mainlinemedianews.com

Four people were injured, two seriously, in a crash involving a fire truck and another vehicle Sunday afternoon, according to FDNY.

The accident happened at 12:35 p.m. at New York Avenue and Snyder Avenue.

Four people, including a firefighter, were taken to the hospital. Two have serious injuries and two have minor injuries.

For more information, view pix11.com

YARDLEY, PA—Ziamatic Corp. (Zico) introduces the Hard Sleeve Gantry System, a safer, easier, and more efficient way to store a 10-foot hard sleeve on a fire apparatus’s high side shelf. When the hard sleeve is needed, simply unlatch the handle, slide the tray off the rear of the apparatus, and tilt it down to more reasonable retrieval height—no dangerous climbing involved. The Hard Sleeve Gantry is so easy to use it can be operated by a single firefighter.

The rugged, powder-coated aluminum system accommodates one 10-foot hard sleeve on either the driver (Model HSG-1-D-10) or officer (Model HSG-1-O-10) side of the fire truck. Time-tested Ziamatic QUIC-STRAPs and a new, patented Hose Catch keep the hard sleeve in place during transport.

For more information, visit www.ziamatic.com.

By Richard Marinucci

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to attend countless conferences, seminars, workshops, symposiums, forums, and whatever other term may be used. These have been national, international, regional, and on a state level. These have always proven to be beneficial to my home organization and to me personally. Like so much of what is done, those who participate are most likely to gain maximum benefit. These should never be considered a waste of time or resources.

That is why I am tired of hearing from folks who consider any event that requires travel to be a junket or boondoggle. They obviously don’t know what occurs at these events when the attendees elect to be active participants and pay attention to the various messages being delivered. In fact, I have found that in almost all cases I have picked up on something that has saved my organization money—either through some direct purchase, information that lead to a smart purchase or a decision to not make a purchase, or through some knowledge gained that contributed to a good decision being made.

Attendance at various conferences helps with professional development and in keeping current in one’s profession. Conferences allow great networking opportunities with others in the profession and with those who support the profession. These create great resources that prove to be beneficial in many ways. I have also noted that those who attend and get involved have great influence within the profession. This leads to better service and better options. There are so many benefits that it riles me up when someone questions the value.

For those who cannot support participation, I say they should reevaluate their reasons. I understand that often this is a political decision with no logic behind it. Those making choices solely based on politics are really missing a great opportunity to improve their organizations. Their personnel will not have all the advantages needed to perform at a high level. If they really think that allowing personnel to travel is a junket, they either are not adequately supervising their personnel or they flat out don’t trust the people to behave and participate.

I am also tired of dilettantes. If you do not know what a dilettante is, the dictionary defines it as “a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.” To me this is the never-ending line of “experts” with minimal exposure to the fire and emergency service to extinguish a fire, respond to an emergency, handle an EMS call, be involved in fire prevention, or determine the origin and cause of a fire.

I don’t mind discussion and learning and even debating various aspects of this service. I think it is quite healthy. However, there are too many politicians and others who have never been on an emergency, crawled down a hallway, had someone die in their hands, get up and go on a call at three in the morning when it is 20 below zero, and so on. They often think they know because they saw “Backdraft” or some other movie. Or, they may have a third cousin, twice removed on their spouse’s side, who once served for six months as a firefighter. Or, it may the retired firefighter who has been out of the business for more than 30 years and can’t believe anything has changed in that time. There

This Pierce 100-foot platform is shown decorated for the "Fantasy of Lights Parade," which is held in Howell, Michigan.

Code 3(r), Inc. introduces the 500 Series Compartment Lights -- a thin, versatile interior lights perfect for an ambulance, commander's vehicle, or as extra interior lighting for an apparatus.

The 500 Series Compartment Lights are a 1/2" thick, rectangular flat panel interior light with side rocker switch.

The lights feature an aluminum and plastic frame with a frosted lens for a consistent light spread.

The 500 Series Compartment lights come in 42, 108, and 138 LED models. Mounting screws are included.

Sizes include 7" x 3.5", 7" x 5.75", 18.25" x 3.5", and 14.75" x 5.75". They are 10-30VDC and are CE and RoHS certified. There is a 3-year warranty. 

For more information, visit www.code3esg.com.

The first argus® Mi-TIC S thermal imaging cameras are now being shipped to customers.

Avon Protection acquired argus and their world-leading thermal imaging products in October this year and are now shipping products to first responder and fire customers worldwide.

The Mi-TIC S the safest, lightest and easiest-to-use thermal imaging camera on the market. As the world’s smallest thermal imager to feature a large-format, high-resolution display, it is also the most advanced thermal imager for firefighters ever developed.

The camera provides a crystal clear image with a superb dynamic range: you can clearly view extremely high temperatures up to 1100ºC (2000ºF) and at the same time see very low temperature objects, which is ideal for casualty searches.

With a thumb-operated green on/off button and superb start up time of 5 seconds, the Mi-TIC S is simple to use.

Every Mi-TIC S is supplied with a unique dual use desktop/in-truck charger station which securely retains and charges both the thermal imager and a spare battery. The charger stations can be daisy-chained together, up to a maximum of 6 units.

Designed for everyday use, the Mi-TIC S is lightweight, simple to use, very robust and with the new additional features as standard offers exceptional value for money.

ABOUT AVON PROTECTION

Avon Protection is a world leader in CBRN PPE and respiratory protection, providing complete solutions for air, land and sea based personnel in military, law enforcement, first responder, firefighting, and industrial sectors worldwide.

New additions to our product range include world-leading thermal imaging cameras for first responders and firefighters.

Their customised services include consultancy in specialist risk management and disaster recovery together with a range of tailored training packages through Avon Training and Consultancy, allowing them to deliver truly end-to-end procurement solutions to a global market.

They have been supplying respirators to the UK Ministry of Defence and other NATO allies since the 1920s, and they are the primary supplier of CBRN personal respiratory equipment to the United States Department of Defense, providing respiratory equipment to the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Special Operations Forces. Additionally, they are the market leader among LE and SWAT users in the U.S.

More at www.avon-protection.com and www.argusdirect.com.

Geneva (IL) Fire Department, pumper. Enforcer cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 400-hp engine; Waterous CMU 1,500-gpm two-stage pump.