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The Finest Supporting the Bravest!

The purpose of the Fire Mechanics Section is to promote standardization of fire apparatus and equipment preventative maintenance, improve safety standards and practices, promote workshops, conferences, and seminars related to the purposes of this Section, and to promote cost savings through standardization of building and equipment purchasing and maintenance.

RECENT FIRE MECHANIC NEWS

Posted: Jul 6, 2017

Sherborne (UK) Firefighters Urge People Not to Obstruct Fire Apparatus

Dorset firefighters have urged Sherborne residents to park considerately after one crew was held up on Lenthay Road yesterday evening (July 5). One fire engine from Sherborne was called out to attend a community event on Lenthay Road in the vicinity of Sherborne Abbey Primary School.
But the engine was delayed in reaching its destination due to parked cars on both sides of the road, leaving no room for the vehicle to pass without causing damage to itself or the parked cars.

Fortunately on this occasion, this was not an emergency call out and no-one was harmed as a result of the firefighters being delayed.

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Posted: Jul 6, 2017

Sheffield Lake (OH) May Finance Refurbishment of 1996 Fire Apparatus

Sheffield Lake Finance Director Tamara Smith suggested that after paying down the existing note by $275,000, the city should add approximately $115,000 in new financing to the rolled-over note to refurbish the fire department’s backup fire engine, along with approximately $68,000 to purchase the service department’s skid-steer machine.
"Fire Chief Tim Card has obtained an estimate of $113,000 to refurbish engine 63, our 1996 fire engine, from a reputable company that we've used for repairs recently and that he knows well and trusts," Smith said. The firefighters say they prefer the older fire engine, saying it is better built than the newer fire engine the city obtained with grant money. The process would include refurbishment of the 21-year-old fire engine's pumps and repainting.

'The 21-year-old truck is simpler to use, and the repairs it needs are new brakes, replacement of hoses and other internal plastic parts," SLFD Lt. Brian Davis said Tuesday. "They'd overhaul the engine, which was built to go a million miles, replace all the leaky hoses and valves, and repaint it in about six weeks. When it comes back, it would be as if we have two new fire engines. Replacing Engine 63 with a new pumper truck would cost the city at least $400,000-$500,000. This would save the city a lot of money, and we could go another 21 years before we need to do anything again."

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Posted: Jul 6, 2017

Multiple Purpose Storage Systems from Ready Rack

Store a wide variety of equipment in a very small footprint. Can store 24 SCBA units, up to 32 air cylinders, up to 1,400 feet of 2½-inch, or be set up as a combination storage system depending on your department’s needs.

The following Configurations are available:

  1. MPSS-H: Hose Configuration includes three Double Hose Ledges
  2. MPSS-S: SCBA Configuration includes 24 Air Pack L-Bracket with two Speed Clips* 
  3. MPSS-C: Cylinder Configuration storage includes eight V-Shelves for Cylinders and eight Air Pack L-Brackets with two Speed Clips*
  4. MPSS-HC: Hose and Cylinder Configuration includes two Single Hose Ledges and (4) V-Shelves for Cylinders
  5. MPSS-HSC: Hose/SCBA/Cylinder Configuration includes three V-Shelves for Cylinders, two Single Hose Ledges, (1) Double Hose Ledge, eight Air Pack L-Brackets with two Speed Clips*

*Specify bottle size - 5", 6" or 7"

To learn more about the five different configurations of the Multiple Purpose Storage Systems or to request a custom combination, visit www.readyrack.com.

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Posted: Jul 6, 2017

Dubuque is Fourth City in Iowa to Install USDD’s Alerting System

US Digital Designs (USDD) and its partners at Racom Corp. have recently completed the training and installation for a new Phoenix G2 Fire Station Alerting System in Dubuque, Iowa.

This is USDD’s fourth installation in Iowa, as the company also services the communities of Davenport, Urbandale, and Marion.

The six fire stations in Dubuque serve nearly 60,000 people, and the city is already seeing a decrease in response times—one of many benefits of an automated dispatch system.

As the KCRG-TV9 news reporter, Katie Wiedemann, discovered, Dubuque’s emergency team is seeing a decrease in response times of 30 to 60 seconds.

New ‘Voice’ Helping Dubuque Emergency Crews
A new “voice” in Dubuque is helping first responders get to emergencies faster. The Dubuque Emergency Communications Center is now using a recorded voice to make that initial call out to first responders.

When an emergency call comes in, Dubuque fire and rescue crews pride themselves on leaving the fire station in record speed. “The tone goes out, they have 60 seconds to be in the vehicle and out the door,” said Dubuque Fire Chief Rick Steines.

But, what they say they want to improve is the time between when someone first calls 911, and when the dispatcher sounds the alarm.

Enter Samantha. She’s the newest member of the Dubuque emergency communications dispatch team. Instead of placing a frantic 911 caller on hold while the dispatcher contacts the fire department, the dispatcher instead types a message while talking with the caller, hits send, and Samantha puts out the call to fire crews. “It takes all of that work off the dispatcher, sends the message actually quicker than the dispatcher can manually,” said Steines.

Fire officials say Samantha streamlines the process. “It always reads the message in the exact same order, all the time. It’s the exact same voice in the exact same cadence all the time,” said Steines.

The basic system cost the fire department $235,000. Steines says that’s an improvement worth the investment. “Between 30 and 60 seconds shortening of the time, so that’s significant,” said Steines.

For more information, visit www.stationalerting.com.

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Fire Mechanics Section Board

Chair

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Chair

Elliot Courage
North Whatcom Fire & Rescue
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Vice Chair

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Vice Chair

Mike Smith 
Pierce County Fire District #5
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Secretary

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Secretary

Greg Bach
South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue
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Director #1

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #1

Doug Jones
South Kitsap Fire & Rescue
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Director #2

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #2

Paul Spencer 
Fire Fleet Maintenance LLC
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Director #3

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #3

Jim Morris
Mountain View Fire Department
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Director #4

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #4

Arnie Kuchta

Clark County Fire District 6

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Director #6

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #6

Brett Annear
Kitsap County Fire District 18
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Director #5

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #5

Jay Jacks
Camano Island Fire & Rescue
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Legislative Representative

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Legislative Representative

TBD
TBD
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Immediate Past Chair

Posted: Oct 20, 2015

Immediate Past Chair

Brian Fortner
Graham Fire & Rescue

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