Via Houston Fire Department

The Houston Fire Department is saddened to announce the loss of Firefighter Paramedic Stephen Scott, who passed away following an on-duty medical emergency on Sunday.

We ask for your continued thoughts and prayers for his family, our brothers and sisters at Station 102, and the department as a whole.

“Firefighter Scott was a dedicated member of this team, and will be missed by the HFD family,” said Fire Chief Thomas Muñoz. “His legacy is one of hard work, honor, and service to his community.”

Firefighter Paramedic Scott entered The Department in 1997. He has been assigned at Station 102 in Kingwood since 2008, and before that, spent many years at Station 9 on Hogan St. Firefighter Paramedic Scott also worked as the manager for HFD’s Base Station services operated by SETRAC, which coordinates ambulance patient traffic for the Houston region, ensuring that patients are matched with hospitals with appropriate resources and availability. Scott is remembered by his wife and three adult children.

The Houston Fire Department’s Firefighter Support Network is coordinating with the Scott family, the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association IAFF Local 341, the crew of Station 102 and the department at large to ensure the family is assisted through each step of honoring their loved-one’s legacy and life.

In addition to the City’s Employee Assistance Program, HFD’s Critical Incident Stress Management program is available to members who are affected by the loss of Firefighter Paramedic Scott. In honor of HFD’s fallen brother, all members will wear Class B uniforms with shrouded badges until Firefighter Scott is laid to rest. Houston Mayor John Whitmire has requested flags at all City facilities to be flown at half-staff until further notice.

Funeral services are pending.

The post Houston (TX) FF-Paramedic Dies in the Line of Duty appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

This month, I want to focus on the “Top 10” of thermal imaging to help users have a better understanding of how helpful this technology is to them. In my travels, I see some pros and cons in some fire departments, and let’s just chalk that up to a lack of education.

1. Mounting of the thermal imagers (TIs): Have these mounted somewhere on the apparatus accessible to all who will be using them—on the front engine doghouse for the officer and rear seat area for the firefighters. The days of carry cases are gone; having TIs charging in the battalion chief’s office is all wrong.

2. Carrying the TIs: All manufacturers have a carry retractable lanyard for their TIs; make sure you have yours attached. Some firefighters prefer a longer seat belt-type carry strap, which works well too, but this is a user preference. Where you have it attached to your gear is another preference. Some prefer to have it on a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) strap, on their turnout gear, slung over their shoulder, or attached behind them to not interfere when crawling or climbing ladders.

3. Turn the TI on: While en route to the call, once you have the TI attached to your gear, turn it on. Even though it boots up quickly, the TI goes through a calibration process for approximately the first minute. This gives the TI time to warm up, and you can check to ensure it is 100% operational and confirm that the battery level is full.

4. Arriving on scene: What is your assignment? What will you be using the TI for—size-up, fire attack, search and rescue? Does your TI have specific user modes? What mode will work best for your assignment? Thermal imaging view vs. naked eye view gives you more detail and better command decision making information. Certain modes are there to help you distinguish between warmer areas of concern like during overhaul, smells and bells types of calls, or victim search and rescue.

5. Scanning with the TI: Scan with the TI slowly and methodically to understand the interpretation of the image you are seeing. The refresh rates on your TI—depending on the make and model—could range from nine to 15 Hz for situational awareness TIs to 25 to 60 Hz for advanced decision-making TIs. The smaller the number, the slower the refresh rates, which means you must scan much more slowly so you don’t miss any important details such as a victim or door/window for means of egress. Regardless, you still need to scan slowly enough for your brain to understand what you are looking at, as this is very important! When entering a room, conduct a seven-sided scan to get your situational awareness up of where you are and what you are entering. Look across the floor for structural integrity. Look straight ahead for the room layout. Look up at the ceiling for high heat and structural integrity. Look left and right in a “Z” pattern from floor to halfway up the wall to the wall and ceiling looking for room layout, victims, fire conditions, doors and windows, and elevated temperatures. Look behind you. Scan around the room.

6. Temperature measurement: Your TI has a feature that shows a digital temperature number in the lower right corner of its display screen. Do not rely on this. If your TI is compliant with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1930, Standard on Fire and Emergency Service Use of Thermal Imagers, Two-Way Portable RF Voice Communication Devices, Ground Ladders, Rescue Tools, Fire Hose, and Fire Hose Appliances (2025 ed., formerly NFPA 1801, Standard on Thermal Imagers for the Fire Service), then it will appear in BASIC PLUS mode only. No TI on the market can provide a 100% accurate temperature because there are too many variables that

The Broken Bow (OK) Fire & Rescue Department was having some issues with a pumper that caused it to be undependable, necessitating its replacement. The department checked out several manufacturers and decided to have Ferrara Fire Apparatus build it a new commercial chassis pumper.

Chief Ryan Martin says Broken Bow is a combination department with 11 paid full-time firefighters covering the main station on a 48/96 schedule and 10 volunteer firefighters responding out of two substations. “We’re a 100-square-mile rural district in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma that covers an area with a lot of mountains, hills, and small dirt roads,” Martin observes. “We have hydrants in our town (Broken Bow), but not in the rural areas. A railroad runs through the middle of town, so our main station is on one side of the tracks, and the two substations are on the other side.”

He continues, “We had an engine with electrical problems that became unreliable, so we went through a bid process and the winning bid went to Ferrara Fire Apparatus,” he says. Martin notes that after acquiring the new Ferrara pumper, Broken Bow Fire is running four engines, a 77-foot aerial ladder quint, four tankers, and a small rescue, which is built on a Ford F-550 chassis.

Steve Loftin, the salesman at Fire Master Fire Equipment who sold the pumper to Broken Bow, says the pumper is built on an International HV507 two-door cab and 4×4 cab and chassis with seating for three firefighters, a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Wheelbase on the pumper is 221 inches, overall length is 30 feet 6 inches, and overall height is 10 feet 1 inch.

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