It's the season of lights, which for some, means a battle to have the best Christmas display on the block.

"Basically the weekend after Halloween we start decorating and planning out what we want to do," explained Garry Aranda.

He doesn't put lights on his house though. He is the "Clark Griswold" of firetrucks.

"There is about 60 hours of work between my wife and I," Aranda said.

Garry Aranda is a retired firefighter with South Adams County Fire and Rescue. He is now the station's fleet manager. He owns four of his own firetrucks and has been lighting them up each December for almost 30 years.

"Every year we change or add something to the truck. This year we changed the color scheme on it. We put more blue on it this year," he said.

There are about 6,500 lights on the 2015 display. They flash to the beat of holiday music that plays on the engine's speakers. Aranda drives it around the metro area spreading holiday cheer.

"If we take Santa Clause, there are times when you can't even see the road because the flashes are going off on cameras. Cars are pulling up next to us. We've even had celebrities pull up next to us," Aranda said.

"We go out through trailer parks or places we know people need stuff and start passing things out," he said.

He hands out toys, candy and other donations to low income families and children. None of them know he is coming. It is a total surprise. Aranda says the smiles on their faces make all the hours spent decorating his truck worth it.

For more information, view kdvr.com

CCTV shared this video of a firefighter jumping from a window at a commercial structure fire with his PPE on fire. Watch as the firefighter calmly but urgently tries to rig something to help him descend from the window safely before his turnout gear caught fire, making it necessary to jump.

The Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA) announced the addition of “The Safety Officer’s Role in Active Shooter/Hostile Events” to the annual Safety Forum to be held January 20-22, 2016, in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The program will be presented by Brent Siegel, EMS coordinator, Northville Township (MI) Fire Department. A certified Incident Safety Officer and a Health & Safety Officer, Siegel is also a tactical paramedic on the Western Wayne County Special Operations Team. His 90-minute program is scheduled for Thursday, January 21.

“I study this topic constantly and have a good understanding of what is appropriate for the fire service,” said Siegel. “It’s such a large spectrum, people have a hard time identifying what their role is, from going in with guns to not going in at all. I think I can help safety officers identify what their roles and responsibilities are.”

Siegel’s program will focus on the role of safety officers in a hostile incident. “When you look at the key roles and responsibilities we are teaching in Incident Safety Officers’, they are monitoring incident conditions, evaluating the hazards, developing measures that promote safe incidents, intervening when an immediate threat exists, monitoring communications and all those roles are present in one of these events. I’m going to tie everything I talk about to those responsibilities,” he said.

Among the goals for his presentation, Siegel said, “I want to introduce the Rescue Task Force (RTF) concept. It’s currently the ‘best practice’ on violent incidents. I say introduce because a lot of people still aren’t aware of it and some agencies are already doing it. I want to introduce the concept to Safety Forum attendees.”

In addition, Siegel will stress the importance that agencies integrate fire, law enforcement and EMS into their training. “Because this whole concept does not work if everybody is not on the same page. It’s all about communication,” he said.

Understanding the role of the fire department safety officer is critical in an all-agency hostile event. According to Siegel, an active shooter or hostile event is a more chaotic event to manage because the safety officer will not be able to walk around or have free access. 

“The whole Rescue Task Force evolves around operating in a warm zone,” Siegel stated. “The most important role of the safety officer is maintaining the clarity of what the warm zone is and keeping everybody responding to the incident informed.”

Siegel will offer action steps for attendees to take back to their departments to be better prepared in the event of an active shooter or hostile incident. 

“I don’t think there are many people who disagree there is a need for this and I don’t think it’s as much of a challenge as it was five years ago, but we must recognize the need to sit down with brother and sister agencies, develop the policies, and train together.”

For more information, visit www.fdsoa.org.

Globe, DuPont Protection Technologies, and the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) are wrapping up the 2015 Globe Gear Giveaway Program by providing two more departments with turnout gear. The Cairo Volunteer Fire Department, Booneville, Mississippi, and the Mountain View (OK) Volunteer Fire Department will each receive four sets of new Globe turnout gear.

In 2015, 13 departments in need have been awarded a total of 52 sets of state-of-the-art Globe turnout gear to help protect their firefighters. All Globe gear is made with DuPont™ Nomex® and Kevlar® fibers, providing proven protection and top performance. The recipients were selected through a competitive nationwide application process and demonstrated a great need for the gear that they were unable to fulfill on their own.

“We thank Globe and DuPont for recognizing the critical need and taking action to help volunteer departments as they struggle to find funding to obtain gear and equipment for their firefighters,” says NVFC Chairman Kevin D. Quinn. “Four sets of new, compliant gear will go a long way in helping these departments enhance the safety, efficiency, and morale of their personnel.”

The Cairo Volunteer Fire Department serves 1,200 residents in a 25-square-mile area. It also runs mutual aid calls with four other departments. The department’s very small annual operating budget is barely enough to pay for basic utilities and fuel, let alone new gear. In fact, it currently does not have enough turnout gear for all its active members. The gear donation will help get it closer to having a full set of compliant turnout gear for all of active members, as well as free up funds for upgrades in other vital areas

“Our new Globe gear will keep our volunteers much safer on the fire scene and allow us to be more productive in saving lives and property within our community and surrounding communities,” says Chief Jerad Sims. “This award is greatly appreciated by our department and the whole community.”

The Mountain View Volunteer Fire Department, Inc. (MVVFD) provides fire protection and first responder services to the rural community of Muskogee, OK. Its service area includes 2,500 residents as well as a variety of buildings and businesses, a section of a river, and several highways. MVVFD also offers a community center for residents, which includes an underground tornado shelter, and maintains a helipad for Life Flight helicopters. Its 16 volunteer firefighters work to protect life and property by providing response services, assisting residents with obtaining and installing smoke alarms, and educating the community about fire prevention. Of the department’s 17 sets of gear, 12 sets are more than 15 years old. With the four sets of new Globe turnout gear, the department will be able to outfit more than half of their volunteers with new, up-to-standard gear. 

“Proper equipment will give our volunteers the ability to help our community in a safe and effective manner when they need us most,” says MVVFD Board Chairman Bobby Allen. “We are grateful for the new Globe turnout gear, which gives our volunteers the proper protection that every firefighter should have when they are called to duty.”

For more information, visit www.globeturnoutgear.com.