According to a report from The Advocate-Messenger, the Perryville, Kentucky, City Council will now allow the Perryville Fire Department (PFD) to advertise for bids for a new fire truck, which would be one of the town’s largest expenses in the past 20 years.

PFD Chief Anthony Young said the department’s current (and only) truck is around 21 years old, which will cause issues when it’s out of service for repairs, as was the case last month. Young the city will put a public notice in the Advocate-Messenger advertising for bids for a new fire truck.

Another topic of the March 4 council meeting was the potential relocation of the PFD’s station. Perryville is considering expanding city hall, where the PFD is already conducting much of its training, to incorporate the fire station. At its current location about 10 feet from the river, the existing fire station is facing some structural issues. Young also said that the building is at least 70 years old and is “small and cramped.”

Young said the PFD is also concerned with the station’s location, which is close to the river, making it susceptible to floods.

Adding the fire station to city hall would allow the city to consolidate utility and phone bills and insurance payments, which would save the city money. In addition, the city also wouldn’t need to buy a second property since it already owns City Hall.

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According to a report from Metter Advisor, the Metter (GA) City Council rejected a proposal from Candler County Monday in a unanimous vote on a proposed solution to their ongoing fire truck debate.

The new fire truck in Metter Fire-Rescue’s (MFR’s) fleet has been a sore spot since its purchase, which occurred when the city and county agreed on a new Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) where both parties would pay 50 percent of the MFR’s operational and capital budgets. The city has maintained that, although the truck was ordered before the SDS agreements were signed, the county should continue with the terms of the SDS agreement and pay for 50 percent of the new truck’s price. 

The county retorted that since they had no input in the capital expenditure and that the purchase occurred before the SDS agreement was signed, they should not be obligated to pay for the fire truck.

The county notified the city in June that the fire truck expense would not be included in the County’s Fiscal 2021 budget. The City responded four months later, in October, that the County was obligated to pay or could opt out of the SDS agreement.

In January, the City sent a letter to the County outlining proposed areas of negotiation to resolve the fire truck issue, including the following:

1) The City pays for the fire radios,

2) the City accepts ownership and liability of the industrial park pond,

3) the City grants a water bill reduction on irrigation at the recreation department, and

4) the County pays its share of the purchase cost of the fire truck.

The commissioners added that the proposal was non-negotiable and must be approved by the City by March 17. MFR Chief Jason Douglas said the department needs to purchase another truck, and is working on a schedule of replacing an engine every 10 years.

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Santa Barbara, CA – CMC and Harken Industrial are excited to announce the launch of the new CLUTCH for 12.5 – 13 mm (1/2 in) rope. Developed for intuitive operation and optimal control, this multi-purpose device was designed and engineered in collaboration by two companies with a collective 90-year history in rope management under heavy loads: CMC, a company with roots in rescue and rope access, and Harken Industrial, a manufacturing company with roots in high-performance sailing.

The CLUTCH is the latest evolution in rope hardware. Now available in 13 mm and 11 mm models, the CLUTCH delivers efficiency and ease of use in a multitude of rigging operations including hauling, lowering, descending, ascending, belaying, and TTRS. The CLUTCH offers unmatched versatility for the rope technician through its patented design and components:

• Stainless steel ratcheting and rotating sheave for efficient progress capture.
• Double-latched side plate independent from the attachment point.
• Anti-Panic brake and force limiting features for operational safety.
• Machined aluminum chassis clad with stainless steel wear guards.
• Integrated becket for direct connection of mechanical advantage components.
• Does the work of multiple devices: reducing cost, weight, volume, and training time.
• Both models are certified to NFPA (G) and ANSI. The 11 mm is also CE marked.

Jason Lusk, Director of Product Strategy for CMC says, “We are committed to helping our professional rope rescue and rope access customers do more with less while improving safety in the vertical environment. The CLUTCH is our testament to that objective and is now available in a version that is applicable to 12.5 mm (1/2 in) rope. Together with the 11 mm (7/16 in) version, the CLUTCH is available to the global rope professional. It is robust, efficient, intuitive and its development was inspired by our customers.”

Sean Cogan, Industrial Sales Manager for Harken Industrial adds, “The CLUTCH is a result of a successful collaborative effort between each company’s engineering/design team and end customers. The CLUTCH allows existing techniques to be possible with less equipment, while allowing development of new techniques because of its versatility and performance. Whatever technique or diameter rope your team calls for, the CLUTCH is adept at progressing rescue and access operational efficiency.” 

Both the 13 mm Red CLUTCH and 11 mm Gray CLUTCH are available from CMC (cmcpro.com) and Harken Industrial (harkenindustrial.com). To learn more about the CLUTCH, and to stay up-to-date on the latest product news, visit https://www.cmcpro.com/clutch.

About CMC

Since 1978, CMC has been dedicated to making the most reliable equipment and providing the best training for professionals working in the most demanding, high-risk environments.  As co-founders of the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT), the International Technical Rescue Symposium (ITRS), and the International Technical Rescue Association (ITRA), CMC remains committed to innovating across all work-at-height industries. An employee-owned company, CMC is an ISO-9001 certified manufacturing facility. For more information, visit www.cmcpro.com.

About Harken Industrial

For over 50 years, Harken has built its reputation on quality products developed, tested, and used in the most extreme marine environments. These products have dominated the performance yacht equipment market for decades. Drawing on this experience, Harken Industrial designs and manufactures a broad range of high-end load-handling apparatus including winches, pulleys, li

A fire truck that responded to Brockton’s 1941 Strand Theater tragedy has returned home, reports WCVB 5.

During that incident at the Strand Theater, the structure partially collapsed and killed 13 firefighters inside.

In the years that followed, the fire truck was sold many times over and eventually was in the possession of Billerica firefighter Dave Feyler. Feyler saw a photo and realized the truck had been at the Strand Theater fire. He then started the work of bringing the truck home.

Just feet from where the theater once stood, the Squad A truck joined Wednesday’s ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the tragedy.

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