Finishing touches are being applied to the Brighton Area Fire Authority’s newly-constructed Fire Station 33, the department announced on Facebook last month. A formal grand opening will happen soon.

A fire official said they started moving in apparatus about two weeks ago and there are some remaining miscellaneous punch-list items but the building is 100% open and it’s working out well for staff, whmi.com reported. The new building totals just over 11,000-square-feet with three drive-thru bays. It also features crew quarters, a small training room, offices, restrooms and locker rooms, and a kitchen.

The new station is located off Weber Street behind the bowling alley, kitty-corner to Grand River and Old US-23. It’s a big change from the very small old building that the fire official said many people probably passed while driving and never noticed it was there – although by the numbers it’s usually their second or third busiest of their stations, the report said.

The budget was roughly $4.5 million and, according to the fire official, the project will come in under budget.

13 departments will each receive four new sets of turnouts and four helmets

The ability, or lack thereof, to purchase adequate personal protective equipment is a well-known struggle for many volunteer fire departments across the U.S. To help combat this problem and keep first responders safe while they protect our communities, MSA Safety, DuPont Personal Protection, and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) have partnered for the 12^th year to award volunteer fire departments in need with state-of-the-art turnout gear and helmets through MSA and DuPont’s 2023 Globe Gear Giveaway.

“Year after year, I’ve seen this program change lives,” said NVFC chair Steve Hirsch. “At the end of the day, volunteer firefighters want, and deserve, to have the adequate protection to keep them safe and healthy. We are honored to partner with MSA and DuPont for over a decade to provide this critical equipment to our nation’s first responders.”

“Partnerships such as these are important because our mission is to help keep people safe at work,” said Bob Apel, chief operating officer of Globe Manufacturing Company. “This program allows us to support our valuable volunteer firefighters so they can help keep their communities safe and be there when their neighbors are in need.”

Applications are now being accepted. To be eligible to apply, departments must be over 50% volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be located in the U.S. or Canada, demonstrate a need for new gear, and the person applying or the department chief must be a member of the NVFC. MSA will provide complimentary NVFC memberships to the first 500 applicants to help departments meet the membership requirement.

Learn more and apply by June 1 at www.nvfc.org/gear. Winners will be announced monthly between July and December. Stay tuned to the NVFC web site, Dispatch newsletter, and Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as the Globe Facebook page, for details.

About Globe Manufacturing Company and MSA Safety

Globe Manufacturing Company, a leader in fire service protective clothing, is a subsidiary of MSA Safety Incorporated. Established in 1914, MSA Safety Incorporated is the global leader in the development, manufacture and supply of safety products that protect people and facility infrastructures. Many MSA products integrate a combination of electronics, mechanical systems and advanced materials to protect users against hazardous or life-threatening situations. The company’s c

The New York City Fire Department is taking 200,605 square feet of industrial space in Queens for a new garage and repair facility, according to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, commercialobserver.com reported.

FDNY signed a 20-year lease for the space at 58-80 Borden Avenue in Maspeth, Queens, where it will occupy a two-story building and a large outdoor yard area, a DCAS spokesperson confirmed, the report said. The property, which abuts the elevated Long Island Expressway, includes a 31,600-square-foot warehouse and 170,000 square feet of parking, the report said. 

The deal will begin once the landlord has finished renovating the property. The agency will pay an annual rent of $3.4 million ($17 a square foot) for the first five years; $3.9 million ($19 a square foot) for years six through 10; $4.5 million ($22 a square foot) for years 11 through 15, and finally $5.2  million ($26 a square foot) for the last five years, according to The City Record. 

By Alan M. Petrillo

The ability to have a fire suppression system at the scene of a rescue, extrication, or motor vehicle accident is increasing the popularity of wet rescues or, more descriptively, rescue trucks carrying a pump, water tank, or compressed air foam system (CAFS).

Apparatus manufacturers are offering a wide array of wet rescues styles and a variety of fire suppression systems on them.

Mark Brenneman, assistant sales manager for 4 Guys Fire Trucks, says 4 Guys built a wet rescue for the West Bradford (PA) Fire Company on a Spartan Gladiator chassis with a 15-foot walk-around body carrying a Hale CBP 250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump and a 300-gallon UPF Poly® water tank. “The West Bradford wet rescue has two crosslays above the pump panel in the R1 compartment, a FRC InControl pressure governor, a Trident air primer, and four Akron Electric valve controllers,” Brenneman says.

• Wet Rescues Being Built on Smaller, Medium Chassis for Faster, More Efficient Response
• Rescue Truck Designs Revolve Around Equipment Storage
• Wet Rescue Archives

 

Bill Proft, business unit director of rescue products for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says Pierce built a wet rescue for the Waldorf (MD) Fire Department on an Enforcer chassis with a two-door cab and a walk-in body that has seating for five firefighters. It’s equipped with a Hale 250-gpm PTO-driven pump set between the frame rails, with a 250-gallon water tank and a single discharge in the front bumper. At the other end of the scale, Pierce built a walk-around wet rescue for the Lakeside (NY) Fire Department on a Velocity chassis with an 84-inch-long cab, carrying a PUC 1,500-gpm pump, 500 gallons of water, 20 gallons of foam, and a Husky 3 foam proportioning system.

Proft notes that Pierce built an unusual wet rescue for the New Jersey Transit Fire Department on an Enforcer chassis with a Hale 500-gpm pump, a 300-gallon water tank, a 20-gallon foam tank, and a Husky 3 foam system. “The unusual part of the truck is that it has two sets of rail wheels on it so it can travel on railroad tracks,” Proft says. “The rail wheels at the front of the rescue swing down and raise the front of the truck up so the front tires are off the tracks, and the second set behind the rear axle go straight up and down and also side to side, while the rescue’s inner rear wheels propel the truck down the tracks.”

Brad Turk, regional sales manager for Rescue 1, points out, “When a customer asks about a wet rescue, they usually are on the fence about a rescue-pumper vs. a rescue with a PTO pump and a couple hundred gallons of water. We advise them that real estate on a rescue is very expensive, so they have to use it wisely. Some departments choose a wet rescue with a small pump, 300 gallons of water, and a si