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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

FDNY Mechanic Honored for Saving Department $700,000

Posted: Dec 2, 2016

FDNY Mechanic Honored for Saving Department $700,000

This may be a first - an auto mechanic that saves people money. A city-employed mechanic with the heart of an inventor is being hailed by the FDNY for doing more with less - and saving the city a bundle in the process.

Jomar Pichardo, 31, who’s responsible for keeping the city’s fleet of EMS ambulances running 24 hours a day, has saved the department more than $700,000 by engineering ways to refurbish ambulance batteries and car parts that the city would normally toss away and repurchase.

In his three years with the FDNY working at the department’s Long Island City garage, Pichardo created a battery charging station that can charge 10 batteries at once. He’s also come up with a “restoration room” where ambulance parts can be cleaned and refurbished to be used again. The restoration room has led to an estimated $645,000 in savings to the FDNY, officials said.

Pichardo is also the FDNY’s MacGyver, turning an old tank found in the back of the garage into a heated cleaning unit — another $60,000 save for the department.

“We first used a power washer, but that didn’t work very well, so we improvised,” he said. “The heated unit cleans it a lot better.”

“Protecting life and property in our city not only requires brave first responders, it also requires many dedicated and knowledgeable civilian employees like Jomar,” Nigro said.

Pichardo created the charging station after he went to the FDNY’s parts counter and learned how many ambulance batteries were being tossed.

“We would go through 20 batteries a day,” Pichardo said. “I got a couple of ideas, so I just started setting things up and expanding the methods. Now for the price of two batteries, we can charge 10 batteries.”

Pichardo also devised a way to replace computer parts on a circuit board that can be found on every ambulance.

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Wildland Firefighting to get AI Assist

Posted: Dec 1, 2016

Wildland Firefighting to get AI Assist

Lockheed Martin demonstrated its AI aircraft system that can spot fires and put them out independent of human intervention, while also checking to see if any humans were left behind near danger. The system is supposed to be in service within five years.

Deadly Fire Spurs Calls for New Fire Equipment for Smith Mountain Lake Rescue Squad (VA)

Following a deadly fire Monday at Smith Mountain Lake, the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad is taking a look at ways to prevent it from happening again.

They're asking the lake's surrounding counties for help funding new equipment and a new building to improve response times.

Fire Chief John Honaker says it took 22 minutes to respond to the fire Monday, and in an emergency, he says that's just too long.

That's why the department is asking for two new water crafts and a new firehouse to bring the crews closer to the people they serve.

Smith Mountain Fire and Rescue President Tom Lovegrove and Fire Chief John Honaker patrolled the lake Wednesday.

That activity includes a house fire two days ago that got out of control and killed one person.

"It's just hard to understand or adjust to something like that... there's times that people will hold onto that for a long time," said Honaker.

Valdosta (GA) Firefighters Unveil Four New, Custom-Made Fire Apparatus

The Valdosta Fire Department showed off four new custom-build fire trucks, decked out with the latest and most updated equipment. On Wednesday, VFD unveiled the trucks that will replace four 18-year-old pumper trucks at stations 2,3,4, and 6.

The trucks cost the city of Valdosta about $1.9 million and was paid for with a combination of funding approved by voters and a low-interest loan.

"These new vehicles were unanimously approved by the Valdosta City Council on January 21, 2016, on the same day that our Valdosta Fire Department officially received its Class 1 Insurance Service Office (ISO) rating--the highest rating a fire department can receive," said Mayor John Gayle. "Maintaining our top ISO rating is critical to keeping our insurance premiums low and demonstrates that Valdosta is a great place to live and do business."

The new trucks feature a 1,000-gallon water tank on them, back-up and blind-spot cameras, an additional LED lighting system, an exhaust removal system, and a low frequency siren that allows drivers to hear the emergency vehicles before they can be seen.

At the Nov. 30 event, the fire department also displayed its 1927 and 1998 fire trucks to demonstrate the advancements of these life-saving vehicles and the continued mission of the fire department.

Two of older trucks will be put into the reserve fleet to be used only when repairs or preventable maintenance is necessary to the newer trucks. The other two older vehicles will be sold on the GovDeals website, or they will be sold to another county/city.