San Bernardino County has been awarded $12 million in federal community project funding as part of the omnibus appropriations bill passed by Congress at the end of 2022, fontanaheraldnews.com reported.

This funding will support the planning, design, and construction of five major community projects across the county, including one in Fontana, that will greatly improve facilities in regional parks, rural fire stations, unincorporated areas, and the county flood control district, the report said.

The new funding was awarded by Reps. Pete Aguilar, Norma Torres, and Jay Obernolte as well as by California U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Feinstein directed $3.75 million to the county to repair and expand the Mt. Baldy Fire Station. This rural station deep in the San Gabriel Mountains is an aging facility built nearly a century ago. Expansion is critical for the station, allowing it to house modern fire engines and accommodate the need for fire crews. This remodeled facility will enhance county efforts to protect residents from the dangers of wildfire, especially in isolated rural communities.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Decontamination of firefighter turnout gear and equipment starts at the fire scene, with some departments choosing to bag and transport, while others go with gross decon of turnouts and some equipment. Makers of decon equipment have come up with various methods for firefighters to perform gross decon on fire scenes.

Phil Gerace, vice president of marketing for Task Force Tips, says TFT’s DECON/pak Portable Decontamination System is a self-contained agent proportioning and rinse application system developed specifically for gross decon of firefighters and their equipment. The DECON/pak is a 2½-gallon polypropylene concentrate tank that weighs 10 pounds and can be pressurized by a 1-inch or 1½-inch hoseline. Flow through a 12-foot discharge hose is controlled by a twist grip valve that also functions as a carrying handle, and the unit has a selector for agent proportioning from 0.1 to 0.5 percent for cleaning agent or can be set to rinse with water only.

Erik Ward, TFT’s health segment leader, notes that the DECON/pak can reduce particulate contamination of gear and equipment by 85 percent but does not remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs). He says TFT’s Crew Protect is a great solution for use in apparatus cabs, using molecular air filtration that cleans the cab air as long as the truck’s engine is running. He notes that Crew Protect is available in a variety of models for different sized cabs, from full-size trucks to SUVs.

• Decontamination Equipment for Emergency Medical Services Rigs
• Departments Want Decon Spaces in Fire Stations as Regular Features
• Cab and Equipment Disinfection: An Update
• Firefighters Focus on Scene and Station Equipment for Deconning PPE
• Portable Gross Decon Systems and Kits Are Being Used on Fire Scenes

 

 

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