LEXINGTON, KY – September 13, 2021 – Bullard, the 123-year-old company known for its invention of the hard hat, introduced today its new UST-LW™ fire helmet. The UST-LW helmet features an advanced fiberglass composite material which reduces helmet weight by up to 10oz, depending on specific configuration. This reduction in weight has been achieved while maintaining the high standards of safety, toughness, and protection on which Bullard customers rely.

In addition to its reduced weight, Bullard’s UST-LW fire helmet includes a cotton ratchet cover, which has been developed with both durability and cleanability in mind. A traditional leather ratchet is also available, and the helmet is being offered in a range of stunning, super matte colors.

“Firefighters are some of the toughest people out there, and they need equipment just as tough as they are, to keep them safe while they’re in the line of duty,” said Wells Bullard, President and CEO of Bullard. “We are focused on protecting firefighters and helping them to go home safely at the end of their shift. Bullard’s new Lightweight UST fire helmet offers firefighters a greater level of on-the-job comfort – while still giving them the high level of protection they need, and the traditional style they want.”

All Bullard UST/USTM Series fire helmets are resistant to chemical attack, remain stable at extreme temperatures, and feature a dual-purpose CFC-free urethane foam impact liner which provides heat insulation and superior impact and penetration protection. Bullard UST/USTM fire helmets are equipped with the U-Fit system, offering 36 custom comfort settings, and meet and exceed the NFPA 1971, Standard on Protective Ensemble for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Firefighting.

Additional information about Bullard’s UST-LW fire helmet, described as being so light, firefighters may forget they’re wearing it, is available here.

About Bullard

Founded in 1898, Bullard is a leading manufacturer of high-quality personal protective equipment and systems that are marketed worldwide. The company is a fifth-generation family-owned enterprise, highly respected for its invention of the hard hat in 1919. Today, Bullard’s product lines include hard hats, thermal imagers, firefighter and rescue helmets, supplied air respirators, powered air-purifying respirators, and air quality equipment.

More information about Bullard is available here.

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The Brentwood (TN) Fire and Rescue Department recently broke ground on its $9 million station, reports williamsonherald.com.

City and fire officials were on hand to celebrate the city’s fifth fire station, scheduled for completion in 2022, at 9551 Split Log Rd.

The 10,000-square-foot, two-bay building will be two stories and house a single company. It will house one front-line engine and one reserve apparatus.

Brentwood-based TMPartners is the architectural design firm who worked with officials to create the building programming, design, and facility analysis, the report says. American Constructors, Inc., also Brentwood-based, was hired to serve as the construction manager.

More information about the new station can be found on the city of Brentwood’s website.

Timeline:

2018 — Station 5 Community Meeting

October 2018 – City approves property purchase

Summer/Fall 2020 – Design team, TMP Partners selected to begin preliminary design work

Dec. 10, 2020 – Preliminary designs presented to City Commission    VIDEO

April 8, 2021 – Neighborhood Meeting on Station 5 design VIDEO

September 10, 2021 – Groundbreaking event 

Fall 2021 — tentative construction begins

Fall 2022 — Station completed/anticipated opening

On September 11, the members of the Spanish Fort (AL) Fire Rescue held a ceremony dedicating its new 2021 pumper, according to a report published by NBC 15 News.

Replacing a 1999 model, the new apparatus was paid for with city funds and through fire department fundraiser activities, according to the television station.

Fire department officials say the new engine will save money in the long run with it comes to maintenance, the station reported, adding that September 11 was selected as the day for the dedication because of its historic significance to firefighters.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Cottleville (MO) Fire Protection District covers a sprawling 40-square-mile suburb 30 miles northwest of St. Louis with 57 paid full-time firefighters operating out of four stations, running 4,000 calls annually. The district switched over in 2002 from running a dedicated rescue truck to three rescue-pumpers and a rescue-aerial to service its 100,000-daytime population. Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the district began looking to replace four rescue-pumpers and one aerial.

“We had our truck committee established prior to COVID and looked at other fleets in the St. Louis region,” says Craig Tihen, Cottleville’s assistant chief. “Our rigs are set up to handle rescue situations, carrying struts, air bags, hydraulic rescue tools, Stokes baskets, and high-angle rescue equipment, essentially everything that we could have done with a rescue truck.”

“We talked with departments that had E-ONE, Pierce, and Rosenbauer fleets, getting information about their apparatus and the maintenance of them,” he says. “Ultimately, we went to H-GAC (the Houston-Galveston Area Council cooperative purchasing program) and bought four Pierce PUC pumpers and one Pierce Ascendant 110-foot aerial platform.”

Tihen notes that his district has a lot of subdivisions with narrow, tight streets, so the department wanted a pumper with a shorter wheelbase than their existing rigs, and got that shorter wheelbase with PUC pumpers without sacrificing storage space. “We also were concerned about the hose bed height for our large diameter hose (LDH) and wanted water tank capacity of at least 650 gallons. Pierce was able to keep the hose bed low and give us a 700-gallon water tank.”

Andy Klein, Missouri sales manager for MacQueen Emergency, who sold the rigs to Cottleville, says the four rescue-pumpers are built on a Pierce Velocity chassis, powered by a 525-horsepower (hp) Detroit Diesel DD13 engine, and an Allison 4500 EVS automatic transmission, with TAK-4™ independent front suspension, and side roll and frontal impact protection, carrying a PUC™ 1,500-gallons-per-minute (gpm) single-stage pump, and a 700-ga