LINCOLN, NE—When there is an emergency, seconds matter. Lincoln (NE) Fire and Rescue along with the Lincoln Lancaster County Emergency Communications Center are working to reduce the time it takes to dispatch a call and respond to an emergency. A new fire station dispatch system is now in place.

“With the new system, I can dispatch multiple units at multiple times,” Dispatcher Carson Coles said. “So, for instance if there is a fire and a medical at the same time, previously I would have to choose the higher priority and dispatch that.”

“This is critical because faster response can mean better outcomes,” Eric Jones, LFR battalion chief, said. “This kind of technology helps our emergency dispatchers as well as our firefighters achieve their mission and enhances our service to the community.”

Jones said the system has additional benefits. The alarm tones used at fire stations have been shown to increase heart and blood pressure rates in firefighters, which can contribute to cardiovascular disease. “Science has shown the (new) tone alerts them in a way that is less adverse. Any one call, it’s not a big deal, but you do a job 30 years, it makes a difference.” Chief Michael Despain said.

Fire stations now have digital screens that alert crews of the type of call, the address, and the units that need to respond. “Prior to this, they would get the audible. Maybe it was scratchy, or maybe the dispatcher was processing two calls. They would have to wait until they got to the computer system before they determined if that was their call,” Despain said.

In terms of “turnout” time, the new screens will help speed the time along as crews are processed out of the station. The screens are placed so that they are seeing the visual cues of where they are going on the way out of the building.

Jones said the new fire station dispatch system can reduce turnout time by 15 or more seconds.

The system was funded through a $610,000 federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant. LFR was responsible for a 10-percent match.

For more information, visit www.stationalerting.com.

One of the most rewarding aspects of working at US Digital Designs (USDD) is seeing how ITS fire alerting system technology has so many lifesaving applications across a range of towns, cities, and municipalities throughout the world.

USDD felt that satisfaction anew recently, as it partnered with the city of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, to implement its Phoenix G2 Fire Alerting System in that community.

Dave Zittlow, manager of Fond du Lac’s Information Technology Department, commented that the city has long been investigating ways to improve response times for its local fire department. He said that involved selecting and installing a new fire alerting system in an effort to improve the time between the incoming 911 calls and the time that fire and emergency crews arrive on the scene.

Zittlow explained that the project involves putting infrastructure in place that gets fire stations information as quickly as possible but with a system that also can deliver updates to crews en route to a call.

Enter the Phoenix G2 Fire Alerting System
Zittlow says that with installation well underway, the department is currently getting to the testing phase of the project.

USDD’s local partner in the implementation of the new system is General Communications, one of Wisconsin’s largest two-way radio dealers. The company’s expertise in wireless communications systems was a key point in its selection.

For more information, visit www.stationalerting.com.

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By Alan M. Petrillo

When Beukendaal Fire District in Glenville, New York, formed its station replacement committee, the 18-person group was focused on building a new firehouse. But, the committee ran into potential issues—from environmental problems because the station location was in an aquifer recharge zone, to the lack of a tax base to support the estimated $7 million to $9 million cost of a new firehouse of the size they envisioned to carry the fire department into the future.

Larry Colleton, a member of the district's board of fire commissioners, says the district reached out with a legal notice and letters to architects and engineering firms that it was looking to build a new firehouse. "When we sat down with Bob Mitchell of Mitchell Associates Architects, he pointed out to us that we didn't need to tear down our existing station, but would be able to preserve some of that fire house and its history," Colleton says. "Mitchell impressed all of us with his abilities and knowledge in giving us different options, and his use of technology to show us the many choices that we had in using the old station in a renovation and the addition of a brand new section."

Beukendaal Fire District is an all volunteer department mustering 60 firefighters out of its single station, and covering more than 10 square miles and 1,772 properties in the town of Glenville with a population of 27,000. The department runs a 2004 Rosenbauer engine, a 1995 Emergency Equipment Inc. pumper, a 1995 International 4WD front-mount rescue-pumper, and a Chevy Suburban emergency medical services (EMS) response vehicle. Its coverage area is a mix of suburban, commercial, rural, and light industrial areas, along with a 10 mile stretch of the Mohawk River.

Mitchell, a principal in the architectural firm, says the challenges he faced involved two earlier extensions that had been made to the existing station, one to the apparatus bays and the other to a members room. "We had to work with a concrete plank roof structure that was pretty low on the members room," Mitchell says, "and build a new station to the right of it, as well as keep the original apparatus bays working during construction of the new addition that would house the new apparatus bays and other facilities."

Mitchell says his firm built four new apparatus bays and new offices in front of the members room, with a new entry section while the department continued to operate its apparatus out of the two existing bays. "It was a pain for the members, but much better than going into temporary facilities," he notes, "which would have cost about $400,000. We compared that figure with the multiple mobilizati

West Liberty (IA) Fire Department, pumper. Spartan Metro Star cab and chassis; Cummins ISL 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 1,500-gpm pump