Menu

Welcome

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: Jan 4, 2017

Fire at Concord (MA) Fire Station Destroys Fire Apparatus

Three Concord firefighters escaped injury Wednesday when a fire broke out on the first floor of the town's Station 2 firehouse, a fire that eventually grew to two alarms and destroyed at least one engine, an official said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, although Concord Fire Captain William Noke said preliminary indications are that it started in Engine 4, which was destroyed in the fire. He said replacing Engine 4 could cost about $600,000.


Concord had to call in mutual aid companies to put out the fire, the department posted on its official Twitter account. "2nd alarm struck at 1201 Main Street, our station two,'' the tweet said. "CFD and mutual aid companies working.''

Read more
Posted: Jan 4, 2017

Polk County (FL) Officials Working Against Clock to Repair 12 Fire Apparatus

Polk County is dealing with a costly blow as officials work against the clock to repair a dozen Ferrara fire trucks in their fleet. The fire trucks all have the same issue, failing front suspension. Currently, four trucks are out of service because of the problem.

"Lead time, even on the new axles can be up to five to six months, so it's not one of those quick turn around things," Polk County Director of Fleet Maintenance Chuck Cheatham said.

"It's kind of premature in their life span, so in order to preserve the life of the vehicle, we're going to retrofit a more conventional suspension in it," Deputy Chief of Operations Tony Crouse said.

Spares are being used in place of the trucks out of service, and will continue to be used until all 12 are fixed.

"We need the trucks. We can't afford for them all to go into service. We are stretched a little bit, we have a lot of our spares in service," Cheatham said.

"When we have these component failures on these trucks it kind of cripples us for having a good, safe amount of spares," Crouse said.

This week County Commissioners approved spending $300,000 to replace the front suspension for all 12 firetrucks.

"The trucks are ten years old. They're probably half to two-thirds of their life gone. Do we want to replace them? Then you're talking six to seven million dollars," Cheatham said.

 

Read more
Posted: Jan 4, 2017

Three Firefighters Escape Blaze at Fire Station

CONCORD, Mass. - A fire broke out early Wednesday inside a Concord Fire Department station as firefighters were sleeping inside the building. The flames started inside Station 2 in West Concord just before 1 a.m. Chief Mark Cotreau said three firefighters who were sleeping on the second floor were awakened by smoke detectors and saw a haze of smoke.

They called in the fire to the main station and then got out the back, but they couldn't get to their gear to help put out the blaze.

“They were fortunate to listen to the smoke detectors and act on them. They got out of there quickly, and I might say, just in time,” he said.

Cotreau said the fire started in middle bay, where an engine truck was parked. Other trucks were damaged, but likely can be repaired.

Arrangements have been made to cover the area in the event of another fire.

Video: http://my.firefighternation.com/video/concord-ma-firefighters-escape-firehouse-fire

Read more
Posted: Jan 3, 2017

Tamarac (FL) Plans to Build Fire Station Closer to Retirement Complex

The numbers are not what Tamarac's Fire Department wants to see: 20 minutes in response to a 911 call in November, and more than 17 minutes to show to another call the very next day. 

To improve response times to calls made from a district that includes Kings Point, the gated retirement enclave, Tamarac plans to build a fire station in the heart of that community.

The city aims to arrive to 911 calls in eight minutes or less, fire officials said.

It hits that benchmark almost 82 percent of the time in the zone framed to the west by the Sawgrass Expressway, to the north by Southgate Boulevard, to the east by Nob Hill Road and to the south by McNab Road.

Records of 911 calls made in 2016 of that zone show some callers were left waiting upward of 10 minutes. In rare cases, it took first responders 17 minutes or longer to arrive, records show.

Assistant Fire Chief Percy Sayles said the nearest fire station is on Hiatus Road, and with no direct road connecting Hiatus with Nob Hill, "you're behind the eight ball already."

The city's plan: move one of the city's ambulances from the Hiatus station to a new station within shouting distance of Kings Point itself in 2017.

The station, to be at first created from trailers, could be set up on Kings Point property at a parking lot, or at the city's Sports Complex.

There is no pricetag attached to the project yet.

Although the ambulance would not be reserved exclusively for Kings Point — it would serve the entire zone — the bulk of calls for emergency help often come from that area, officials said.

A review of seven of the longest-to-respond calls — all 14 minutes and 51 seconds or longer — show no deaths were reported, and the calls for service included falls without injury, one call of an unknown nature, and a resident locked out of a home.

Read more
RSS
First36313632363336343636363836393640Last

Theme picker

Upcoming Events

Theme picker

Sponsors

Fire Mechanics Section Board

Chair

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Chair

Elliot Courage
North Whatcom Fire & Rescue
Read more

Vice Chair

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Vice Chair

Mike Smith 
Pierce County Fire District #5
Read more

Secretary

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Secretary

Greg Bach
South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue
Read more

Director #1

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #1

Doug Jones
South Kitsap Fire & Rescue
Read more

Director #2

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #2

Paul Spencer 
Fire Fleet Maintenance LLC
Read more

Director #3

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #3

Jim Morris
Mountain View Fire Department
Read more

Director #4

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #4

Arnie Kuchta

Clark County Fire District 6

Read more

Director #6

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #6

Brett Annear
Kitsap County Fire District 18
Read more

Director #5

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #5

Jay Jacks
Camano Island Fire & Rescue
Read more

Legislative Representative

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Legislative Representative

TBD
TBD
Read more

Immediate Past Chair

Posted: Oct 20, 2015

Immediate Past Chair

Brian Fortner
Graham Fire & Rescue

Read more
RSS

Theme picker

2020 CAR SHOW