Lower Merion fire officials said a fire in a Gladwyne fire truck last weekend that sent five fire fighters to the hospital was "accidental due to a mechanical issue."

Lower Merion Chief Fire Officer Charles McGarvey said in an email the determination was made earlier this week after his office investigated. A phone call to McGarvey for additional details was not immediately returned. An email sent to McGarvey also asking for additional details had an automatic response indicating he would be away until next week.

According to officials, the fire started in the engine of the truck Saturday evening on the 600 block of Spring Mill Road in Bryn Mawr while the truck was returning to the station. All five firefighters were evaluated and released from the hospital the night of the fire.

According to Deputy Chief Andy Block, the company still has a reserve fire engine at Gladwyne and, if needed, crews from any other of the other Lower Merion or Narberth companies could also respond.

"The community is well covered," Block said when asked about the company's ability to cover the community despite having a damaged truck.

Fire company officials also thanked those who helped them on their website.

"Special thanks to Bryn Mawr Fire Company for extinguishing the fire and helping us unload the truck at the scene, Ardmore Fire Company for bringing up their utility to shuttle the equipment back to our fire house, Janeway towing, Lower Merion Police, Narberth Ambulance for taking great care of our members and especially our Gladwyne Firefighters who all responded and helped do whatever was asked of them," the company posted on its website.

For more information, view www.mainlinemedianews.com

Four people were injured, two seriously, in a crash involving a fire truck and another vehicle Sunday afternoon, according to FDNY.

The accident happened at 12:35 p.m. at New York Avenue and Snyder Avenue.

Four people, including a firefighter, were taken to the hospital. Two have serious injuries and two have minor injuries.

For more information, view pix11.com

YARDLEY, PA—Ziamatic Corp. (Zico) introduces the Hard Sleeve Gantry System, a safer, easier, and more efficient way to store a 10-foot hard sleeve on a fire apparatus’s high side shelf. When the hard sleeve is needed, simply unlatch the handle, slide the tray off the rear of the apparatus, and tilt it down to more reasonable retrieval height—no dangerous climbing involved. The Hard Sleeve Gantry is so easy to use it can be operated by a single firefighter.

The rugged, powder-coated aluminum system accommodates one 10-foot hard sleeve on either the driver (Model HSG-1-D-10) or officer (Model HSG-1-O-10) side of the fire truck. Time-tested Ziamatic QUIC-STRAPs and a new, patented Hose Catch keep the hard sleeve in place during transport.

For more information, visit www.ziamatic.com.

By Richard Marinucci

Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to attend countless conferences, seminars, workshops, symposiums, forums, and whatever other term may be used. These have been national, international, regional, and on a state level. These have always proven to be beneficial to my home organization and to me personally. Like so much of what is done, those who participate are most likely to gain maximum benefit. These should never be considered a waste of time or resources.

That is why I am tired of hearing from folks who consider any event that requires travel to be a junket or boondoggle. They obviously don’t know what occurs at these events when the attendees elect to be active participants and pay attention to the various messages being delivered. In fact, I have found that in almost all cases I have picked up on something that has saved my organization money—either through some direct purchase, information that lead to a smart purchase or a decision to not make a purchase, or through some knowledge gained that contributed to a good decision being made.

Attendance at various conferences helps with professional development and in keeping current in one’s profession. Conferences allow great networking opportunities with others in the profession and with those who support the profession. These create great resources that prove to be beneficial in many ways. I have also noted that those who attend and get involved have great influence within the profession. This leads to better service and better options. There are so many benefits that it riles me up when someone questions the value.

For those who cannot support participation, I say they should reevaluate their reasons. I understand that often this is a political decision with no logic behind it. Those making choices solely based on politics are really missing a great opportunity to improve their organizations. Their personnel will not have all the advantages needed to perform at a high level. If they really think that allowing personnel to travel is a junket, they either are not adequately supervising their personnel or they flat out don’t trust the people to behave and participate.

I am also tired of dilettantes. If you do not know what a dilettante is, the dictionary defines it as “a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.” To me this is the never-ending line of “experts” with minimal exposure to the fire and emergency service to extinguish a fire, respond to an emergency, handle an EMS call, be involved in fire prevention, or determine the origin and cause of a fire.

I don’t mind discussion and learning and even debating various aspects of this service. I think it is quite healthy. However, there are too many politicians and others who have never been on an emergency, crawled down a hallway, had someone die in their hands, get up and go on a call at three in the morning when it is 20 below zero, and so on. They often think they know because they saw “Backdraft” or some other movie. Or, they may have a third cousin, twice removed on their spouse’s side, who once served for six months as a firefighter. Or, it may the retired firefighter who has been out of the business for more than 30 years and can’t believe anything has changed in that time. There