By Paul Frenzel

Welcome to central Europe-Germany, to be precise-where fire stations tend to be a little bit larger than in the United States. A station with more than 30 bays is completely normal in towns and cities. One example is the Regensburg Career Fire Department (CFD), in the city of Regensburg in the Free State of Bavaria in southern Germany.

To get an idea of the response area, Regensburg is a city of 31 square miles with a population of 180,000. As for the danger potential, the city has everything except a subway and tram line, coal/nuclear power plant, international airport, or space center.

The Regensburg CFD covers all of the city area first due. In case of larger scenarios or more alarms than the CFD can handle on its own, it receives support from some of the 11 volunteer fire department stations, each with two to three units that are scattered around the city area. Additionally, there are three industrial fire departments from BMW, Continental, and Infineon.

1 The front view of the Regensburg CFD main building. (Photos by author.)

Station Characteristics

The long list of apparatus in the sidebar brings up some questions. Why aren’t there several stations scattered in the city? How much staff is needed? How do they manage all that? First, here is insight into the station and what belongs to it.

The station covers an area of 560 feet × 370 feet. In the large main building, there’s the primary vehicle hall, administration offices, common room, restrooms, kitchen, gym, lecture rooms, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) training parkour, hose tower, and integrated command center, answering all emergency medical service (EMS) and fire-related calls and directing units not just from Regensburg City but also Regensburg County, Cham County, and Neumarkt County and covering 630,000 inhabitants. The entrance hall shows some historic equipment, among it Germany’s oldest steam fire pump, an 1868 Fire Queen made by Merryweather & Sons in London.

2 A view from the hose tower down onto the backyard with storage depots and equipment pods hall. The repair shops, etc., are out of view to the left side of the backyard.

Behind the main building there’s a huge backyard, which is used as training ground and helicopter landing zone. Around the backyard, there are smaller halls with a hose-cleaning station, SCBA refill and repair station, apparatus repair station with two bays, storage facilities, and a separate equipment pod hall. On one end of the station ground, there’s a parking lot for all crew members, and on the other end there’s a sports ground.

Without the staff in the offices and the command center, the station is permanently staffed with 21 firefighters. More apparatus than firefighters? How is that possible?

Staffing

Unlike in the United States, there are no “engine crews” or “truck crews” that will always only be on an engine or a ladder. Apart from the inspection chief and the crew on the command van, each firefighter is assigned to two, three, or even four different

By Paul Frenzel

Welcome to central Europe-Germany, to be precise-where fire stations tend to be a little bit larger than in the United States. A station with more than 30 bays is completely normal in towns and cities. One example is the Regensburg Career Fire Department (CFD), in the city of Regensburg in the Free State of Bavaria in southern Germany.

To get an idea of the response area, Regensburg is a city of 31 square miles with a population of 180,000. As for the danger potential, the city has everything except a subway and tram line, coal/nuclear power plant, international airport, or space center.

The Regensburg CFD covers all of the city area first due. In case of larger scenarios or more alarms than the CFD can handle on its own, it receives support from some of the 11 volunteer fire department stations, each with two to three units that are scattered around the city area. Additionally, there are three industrial fire departments from BMW, Continental, and Infineon.

1 The front view of the Regensburg CFD main building. (Photos by author.)

Station Characteristics

The long list of apparatus in the sidebar brings up some questions. Why aren’t there several stations scattered in the city? How much staff is needed? How do they manage all that? First, here is insight into the station and what belongs to it.

The station covers an area of 560 feet × 370 feet. In the large main building, there’s the primary vehicle hall, administration offices, common room, restrooms, kitchen, gym, lecture rooms, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) training parkour, hose tower, and integrated command center, answering all emergency medical service (EMS) and fire-related calls and directing units not just from Regensburg City but also Regensburg County, Cham County, and Neumarkt County and covering 630,000 inhabitants. The entrance hall shows some historic equipment, among it Germany’s oldest steam fire pump, an 1868 Fire Queen made by Merryweather & Sons in London.

2 A view from the hose tower down onto the backyard with storage depots and equipment pods hall. The repair shops, etc., are out of view to the left side of the backyard.

Behind the main building there’s a huge backyard, which is used as training ground and helicopter landing zone. Around the backyard, there are smaller halls with a hose-cleaning station, SCBA refill and repair station, apparatus repair station with two bays, storage facilities, and a separate equipment pod hall. On one end of the station ground, there’s a parking lot for all crew members, and on the other end there’s a sports ground.

Without the staff in the offices and the command center, the station is permanently staffed with 21 firefighters. More apparatus than firefighters? How is that possible?

Staffing

Unlike in the United States, there are no “engine crews” or “truck crews” that will always only be on an engine or a ladder. Apart from the inspection chief and the crew on the command van, each firefighter is assigned to two, three, or even four different

By Paul Frenzel

Welcome to central Europe-Germany, to be precise-where fire stations tend to be a little bit larger than in the United States. A station with more than 30 bays is completely normal in towns and cities. One example is the Regensburg Career Fire Department (CFD), in the city of Regensburg in the Free State of Bavaria in southern Germany.

To get an idea of the response area, Regensburg is a city of 31 square miles with a population of 180,000. As for the danger potential, the city has everything except a subway and tram line, coal/nuclear power plant, international airport, or space center.

The Regensburg CFD covers all of the city area first due. In case of larger scenarios or more alarms than the CFD can handle on its own, it receives support from some of the 11 volunteer fire department stations, each with two to three units that are scattered around the city area. Additionally, there are three industrial fire departments from BMW, Continental, and Infineon.

1 The front view of the Regensburg CFD main building. (Photos by author.)

Station Characteristics

The long list of apparatus in the sidebar brings up some questions. Why aren’t there several stations scattered in the city? How much staff is needed? How do they manage all that? First, here is insight into the station and what belongs to it.

The station covers an area of 560 feet × 370 feet. In the large main building, there’s the primary vehicle hall, administration offices, common room, restrooms, kitchen, gym, lecture rooms, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) training parkour, hose tower, and integrated command center, answering all emergency medical service (EMS) and fire-related calls and directing units not just from Regensburg City but also Regensburg County, Cham County, and Neumarkt County and covering 630,000 inhabitants. The entrance hall shows some historic equipment, among it Germany’s oldest steam fire pump, an 1868 Fire Queen made by Merryweather & Sons in London.

2 A view from the hose tower down onto the backyard with storage depots and equipment pods hall. The repair shops, etc., are out of view to the left side of the backyard.

Behind the main building there’s a huge backyard, which is used as training ground and helicopter landing zone. Around the backyard, there are smaller halls with a hose-cleaning station, SCBA refill and repair station, apparatus repair station with two bays, storage facilities, and a separate equipment pod hall. On one end of the station ground, there’s a parking lot for all crew members, and on the other end there’s a sports ground.

Without the staff in the offices and the command center, the station is permanently staffed with 21 firefighters. More apparatus than firefighters? How is that possible?

Staffing

Unlike in the United States, there are no “engine crews” or “truck crews” that will always only be on an engine or a ladder. Apart from the inspection chief and the crew on the command van, each firefighter is assigned to two, three, or even four different

By Michael W. Michelsen Jr.

Mention the name Ray Russell to someone on the street, and chances are good that you won’t cause much of a stir. Mention the same name among a group of firefighters, on the other hand, and the chances are pretty good that you will be treated like a rock star.

This is because not only has Russell spent a great portion of his career in the fire service, but for the past 40 years he has spent a lion’s share of his time producing products that better protect his brethren. In the process he has created a legend of sorts. His product? Fire helmets.

Origins

All of this started in 1969 when Russell, who at the time was a captain in the California Division of Forestry, met Ronny Coleman, who was a captain with the Costa Mesa (CA) Fire Department, over a mutual interest in collecting fire helmets from all over the world. One day, while discussing their interest in collecting, Coleman asked Russell if he was happy with his fire helmet.

“When he asked that,” Russell recalls, “I had to say no, and we decided to meet to discuss what we thought we could do to create a better helmet, one that offered better protection and was more ergonomically designed, not to mention more comfortable to wear. Interestingly, when we met, we discovered that we had each designed a helmet that was virtually the same. I guess that’s evidence that great minds really do think alike.”

The helmet the pair designed was what is now called the company’s First Due series, which not only featured a roomier fit but also allows wearers to use interchangeable parts, such as chin straps, liners, ID brackets, D rings, and other features that allow users to customize their helmets.

1 The first helmet Ray Russell and Ronny Coleman designed was what is now called the company’s First Due series, which features a roomier fit and the ability for wearers to use interchangeable parts, such as chin straps, liners, ID brackets, and D rings. (Photos courtesy of Phenix Fire Helmets.)

The men created prototypes of their design, which each of them wore while working. Other firefighters began asking them for copies of those helmets for use. Before the two friends knew what hit them, the demand spread. The duo started their business with $22,000 and high hopes to produce a line of helmets that would not only incorporate the tried-and-true designs of traditional fire helmets but be complete with the latest and greatest in materials. After four years in this experimental mode, they were selling nearly 1,000 of their helmets each month.

Today, the company, called Phenix Technology, is headquartered in Riverside, California. Since it is a privately owned company, officials do not reveal sales figures, but they do concede that they are a multimillion-dollar business. Phenix is family owned and operated, with several members running their own portion of the enterprise. Russel serves as president of the firm, while daughter Nichole Clesceri serves as chief financial officer. Shaun Russell, a son, serves as national sales and marketing manager. Three other family members also work