USSC Group (USSC), a Dubin Clark Portfolio company and manufacturer of safety, survivability and technology products for the mass transit, school bus, first responder, and military markets, announced that its president and CEO, Joseph Mirabile, was awarded the EY Entrepreneur Of the Year Award 2019 for Security and Safety.Considered one of the most prestigious business awards programs in the U.S., the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award recognizes leaders who excel in innovation, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities, while transforming the world. Mirabile was selected by an independent panel of judges, and the award was presented at a special gala event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"I am honored to receive the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award on behalf of our passionate and dedicated employees as well as our talented management team”, says Mirabile. “Our team works hard every day to solidify USSC's unfaltering commitment to advance the safety, survivability and technology that our customers deserve by creating innovative products that save lives,” Mirabile said. 

USSC has experienced exponential growth and has received several notable accolades in 2019. USSC recently opened a new 300,000 square foot state of the art headquarters, dedicated to worker safety and environmentally safe conditions, attaining the gold standard of an IOS 14001—environmental certification. USSC broke ground on an additional 200,000 square feet of modern world class manufacturing space to be opened in early 2020. First quarter acquisitions included Vista Brake Lock, a safety and security system designed to prevent the theft of emergency vehicles and Child Check-Mate, a unique alarm system which aids school bus drivers to ensure that all children have safely disembarked their vehicle upon the completion of each run. USSC has also helped champion legislation requiring fire suppression systems on all school buses.

In addition, USSC Group was named one of “Philly's Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and certified as a Great Place to Work. USSC also received Smart Business Networks 2019 Dealmaker of the Year award at its annual Aspire Awards in Philadelphia on June 12. USSC plans to hire several hundred additional employees over the next year.

This Washington, D.C. station was designed in 1935 for Engine 16, and is one of the first buildings commissioned by the District of Columbia. The building is three stories with a partial basement. Fire equipment and common spaces were on the first floor, living quarters on the second floor, and the “Fire and Police Clinic” on the third floor. The clinic included medical records storage, doctor’s offices, operatory with recovery area, and dentistry. These facilities treated on-the-job injuries and provided standard medical exams for fire and police department personnel.

In 2016, the District of Columbia began to began planning for renovating Engine 16’s station, including demolishing interior spaces to support a new floorplan design and building systems including mechanical and electrical systems. Lemay Erickson Wilcox Architects handled the design. Work on the exterior of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, included widening the bay doors, window and roof replacement, gutters and downspouts, restoration of the cupola, and stabilization of existing masonry elements. In addition to modernizing the facility, the design strived to return the 80-year-old structure to its former glory as a civic landmark. Specific features included recreating and installing the lost original copper weather vane, replacing the copper vaulted dormers, refurbishing the stately cupola, repairing/refi nishing the original terrazzo flooring, repairing the original fire poles and safety cages, stripping/refinishing the existing central stair, and repurposing the existing marble wall and shower panels to use as counter tops.

Restoration
In order to increase the width and height of the apparatus bay doors in the ornate masonry façade, the architects removed the exterior brick and granite below a limestone course at the second floor. The granite was saved and cut to fit between the new larger bay openings, and new brick was installed using the old details and coursing to create a cohesive masonry composition that avoids obvious patching of brick, stone, and grout. Prior to removing the old brick and granite, temporary shoring of the front façade was installed to ensure structural stability was maintained while the new, wider doors; brick; and stone were installed.

The central open stair was retained and refurbished. The stairwell was enclosed on the second floor with a glass wall that proudly features a sand-blasted etching of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department seal. The capstone to the project was the architect’s decision to reinstall the weather vane, previously lost to history, by refabricating the copper weather vane from the original blueprints.

For more information, visit http://lewarchitects.com/portfolio/engine-company-no-16/.

This Washington, D.C. station was designed in 1935 for Engine 16, and is one of the first buildings commissioned by the District of Columbia. The building is three stories with a partial basement. Fire equipment and common spaces were on the first floor, living quarters on the second floor, and the “Fire and Police Clinic” on the third floor. The clinic included medical records storage, doctor’s offices, operatory with recovery area, and dentistry. These facilities treated on-the-job injuries and provided standard medical exams for fire and police department personnel.

In 2016, the District of Columbia began to began planning for renovating Engine 16’s station, including demolishing interior spaces to support a new floorplan design and building systems including mechanical and electrical systems. Lemay Erickson Wilcox Architects handled the design. Work on the exterior of the building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, included widening the bay doors, window and roof replacement, gutters and downspouts, restoration of the cupola, and stabilization of existing masonry elements. In addition to modernizing the facility, the design strived to return the 80-year-old structure to its former glory as a civic landmark. Specific features included recreating and installing the lost original copper weather vane, replacing the copper vaulted dormers, refurbishing the stately cupola, repairing/refi nishing the original terrazzo flooring, repairing the original fire poles and safety cages, stripping/refinishing the existing central stair, and repurposing the existing marble wall and shower panels to use as counter tops.

Restoration
In order to increase the width and height of the apparatus bay doors in the ornate masonry façade, the architects removed the exterior brick and granite below a limestone course at the second floor. The granite was saved and cut to fit between the new larger bay openings, and new brick was installed using the old details and coursing to create a cohesive masonry composition that avoids obvious patching of brick, stone, and grout. Prior to removing the old brick and granite, temporary shoring of the front façade was installed to ensure structural stability was maintained while the new, wider doors; brick; and stone were installed.

The central open stair was retained and refurbished. The stairwell was enclosed on the second floor with a glass wall that proudly features a sand-blasted etching of the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department seal. The capstone to the project was the architect’s decision to reinstall the weather vane, previously lost to history, by refabricating the copper weather vane from the original blueprints.

For more information, visit http://lewarchitects.com/portfolio/engine-company-no-16/.

By Bill Adams

Firematic trade shows are great places for Raisin Squad members from different locales to compare notes, lie to each other, and pass judgement on the things we’ve seen, read or heard. And if challenged on accuracy or truthfulness, we can blame age, failing eyesight or defective hearing aid batteries. One white hair told a tale about a rural water supply seminar he attended where the instructor gave the scenario of a small farmhouse fire. The objective was to maintain a continuous 1,000 gallon-per-minute flow for two hours with tankers. One old guy questioned the instructor: “After two hours, dontcha think the fire should’ve gone out?”

One geezer said he and another were rubber-necking the end of what was a well involved attic fire. On the C-side they saw a small freshly dug trench or trough that was running perpendicular to and about 50 feet away from the house. It was about a foot wide, almost two-foot deep and over six-feet long. They couldn’t figure out what the hell it was. The light came on after they looked back at the house. The trough was in line with an open second-floor window, half of the burned off roof, and directly aligned with the ladder pipe that was still up in the air. “Brilliant. How much water did they waste on that?”

At one morning coffee the Raisins who remembered their glasses were commenting (second guessing) about some of the articles found in the magazines left on the table. “Look at this. This company’s having a nationwide tour showing off all their rigs. How much do you think that’s gonna cost?” One perceptive white hair said to read between the lines. “They’re bring’n eight rigs and six of them are ladder trucks.  Guess what market they’re trying to capture.” A testament to their commitment to the fire service is bringing multiple configurations of aerial devices to display side-by-side on a nationwide basis.
 
 An article about tactics and strategy got the raisins in a tizzy. It had a statement that any fire attack is impacted by response time, water supply, and staffing. It’s a valid observation, but was the subject of diverse geezer opinions that weren’t so convincing. “Yeah, if they put bigger motors in today’s rigs, they could go faster and get there quicker.” Another said, “They need bigger booster tanks. And, those damn playpipes (smoothbore nozzles) are no good; straight tips use up too much water. They should stick to fog nozzles.” Most of the comments about staffing can’t be repeated. They aren’t politically correct. In fact, they’re borderline sexist, bigoted, and biased against anyone not old enough to collect Social Security.

The latter comment reignited earlier heated discussions about how old is too old for someone to be humping hose, throwing ladders, driving apparatus, or even directing traffic. One geezer brought us back to reality, showing us an article describing the line-of-duty deaths that occurred a month or so earlier. There were four. A 30-year-old career firefighter who complained of not feeling well while on duty the day before suffered a major stroke and eventually passed away—tragic for such a young man with a family. The other three deaths were suffered by volunteers 78, 73, and 75 years of age. One suffered a medical emergency and the other a heart attack while responding to an alarm. Neither survived. The last passed away of cardiac arrest after returning home from a firematic drill. While equ