Globe, DuPont Protection Solutions (DuPont), and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) are pleased to announce the latest round of winners in the 2016 Globe Gear Giveaway. This is the fifth year that Globe has partnered with DuPont and the NVFC to provide volunteer departments with critically needed sets of turnout gear. The Brindle Ridge Fire Department in Mount Vernon, KY, and the Eastern Douglas County Fire Department in Drury, MO, will each be outfitted with four sets of new, state-of-the-art Globe turnout gear.
 
“We appreciate of the opportunity to partner with Globe and DuPont to help volunteer departments enhance the safety and effectiveness of their firefighters,” said NVFC Chairman Kevin D. Quinn. “Since the Globe Gear Giveaway program began four years ago, over 300 sets of gear have been awarded to departments across the U.S. and Canada. This program is having an immense impact on the safety and readiness of boots-on-the-ground volunteer firefighters in North America.”
 
To be eligible to apply, departments had to be all-volunteer or mostly-volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be legally organized in the U.S. or Canada, and be a member of the NVFC. To help departments meet this last requirement, Globe sponsored NVFC Department Memberships for the first 500 applicants.

The Brindle Ridge Fire Department (BRFD) serves 1,700 people over 91 square miles in Rockcastle County, KY. Department fundraising proceeds are used for purchasing equipment and essential tools as well as helping pay for basic utilities. BRFD attempts to replace old turnout gear on a yearly basis, but with 38 members on the roster and only eight sets of gear that are National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) compliant, the department has a large number of members that do not have the gear required to fight fires. This reduces their ability to provide training to their volunteers, as the state requires all members to have compliant gear in order to work in live fire training situations. This gear donation will provide BRFD members desperately needed protective equipment, enabling them to better protect their community.

Eastern Douglas County Volunteer Fire Department (EDCVFD) is a small rural department providing fire and medical services to approximately 2,200 citizens in Drury, MO. They are a membership-based department, receiving no tax funding. More than half of their annual budget is dedicated to insurance coverage. Their 24 volunteers have only 14 sets of gear among them, all of which are more than 10 years old. Even with this obstacle, EDCVFD is very active in the community; they were named a national Firewise Community in 2015 and 2016. “Departments like ours depend on companies like Globe to provide grant programs to acquire new gear,” said Chief Chris Hammett.

The final two 2016 Globe Gear Giveaway awards will be announced in December. Stay tuned to the NVFC web site, Dispatch newsletter, and page on Facebook, as well as the Globe page on Facebook, for additional information and announcements regarding the Globe Gear Giveaway.

About Globe
Firefighters need to be prepared to perform at their peak, on every call. That’s why Globe delivers the most advanced, best-fitting, and longest lasting protection by listening to our customers, creating breakthrough designs, and applying the engineering skills of the nation’s most trusted turnout gear manufacturer. Globe turnout gear is designed to protect you, move with you, and improve your performance. It’s athletic gear for firefighters. Learn more at www.globeturnoutgear.com.

By Chris Mc Loone

It’s not often that you get to meet and listen to the inventor of something we see and use every time we are alerted to an emergency. But, that is exactly what happened recently when a group of press representatives from various industries, including the fire industry, met in the Elkton, Maryland, and Newark, Delaware, W.L.Gore & Associates facilities on November 17 and 18. The event coincided with the 40th anniversary of GORE-TEX® and the opening of Gore’s Biophysics and Heat and Flame Protection labs. The company is almost 60 years old, and it has endured because of its focus on the end user and an environment that encourages innovation with an emphasis on the long term.

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As an associate who spent most of her career with Gore in the Fabrics Division, Terri Kelly, president and CEO, says that the event was a proud moment and served as an example of how “one invention can change the trajectory of a company. GORE-TEX—no one else has it.” It was Bob Gore, Bill and Vieve Gore’s son, who discovered expanded PTFE (ePTFE), the core of GORE-TEX, and he discovered it while trying to create a less expensive plumber’s tape. Sometimes that’s how things happen, and like Kelly says, it only takes one thing to change the trajectory of a company. Now GORE-TEX is 40 years old and is used in countless products throughout the world. Bob Gore attended the event, having recently retired as chairman of the board at Gore. As he related how he discovered ePTFE, he explained how it wasn’t until 1993 that the company paid back all the investment it made in what became GORE-TEX. But, that is how the company works. It is interested in the long term. As Gore says, it is not patience, it’s persistence. And, the innovation comes from doing things, not talking about things. “Make sure that the work we are doing is doing things, not planning things. You learn so much more when you start doing things,” he says. Kelly adds, “It’s hard to create a viable business when you are worried about quarterlies. GORE-TEX would have never come about. The nature of innovation is trying a lot of things. Not all work.” However, by focusing on the end user, Kelly says, it helps create the next generation of products.

The event began with various Gore associates providing a background on Gore, its products, and its new labs at the company’s Elkton, Maryland, EM5 facility.

No matter who spoke, everyone always came back to the same phrase: “Fit for Use.” Everything that Gore produces is done with the end user in mind. And, these two new labs are an expression of this philosophy. The ultimate end use determines the type and level testing each product goes through.

Many may be surprised to learn that there is a science behind every product Gore produces. For example, the Biophysics Lab is where products are put through their paces according to the science of comfort. Matthew Decker, comfort and biophysics core group leader, says there are four Ps of comfort: physics, physiology, perception, and psychology. Comfort also requires the right balance of comfort and protection and is a function of the clothing system, the activity, and the environment. Perceived comfort results from thermal, ergonomic, psychological, and sensorial aesthetic influences. This is where the new Biophysics Lab comes in. Gore conducts extensive testing in the lab to predict the effects of apparel, activity, and environ

Berwyn (IL) Fire Department PUC pumper. Enforcer cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 400-hp engine; Pierce 1,500-gpm single-stage pump.