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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

Posted: Oct 10, 2014

Apparatus Showcase

Delivery of the Month

Featured Delivery of the Month: KME-Flint (MI) Fire Department, pumper. Predator Severe Service cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 1,750-gpm pump; UPF Poly 750-gallon tank; 32-inch front bumper extension with dual crosslays; stainless steel cab and body. $470,000. Dealer: Chris Payette, Payette Sales and Service, Gross Ile, MI.

Pierce-Cicero (IL) Fire Department, PUC pumper. Dash CF PUC cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 400-hp engine; Pierce PUC 1,500-gpm single-stage pump; UPF Poly 500-gallon tank. $494,000. Dealer: Jim Connolly, Global Emergency Products, Aurora, IL.

Rosenbauer-Lander (WY) Volunteer Fire Department, 101-foot aerial platform quint. Commander 4000 cab and chassis; Cummins ISX15 500-hp engine; Waterous CMUC 1,500-gpm pump; UPF Poly 300-gallon tank; Onan 10-kW generator; Smart Aerial controls; aerial command seat; TFT Monsoon monitor. $905,928. Dealer: Floyd Bacon, Max Fire Apparatus, Castle Rock, CO. (Photo by Jim Rackl.)

Ferrara-Wayne Township Fire Department, Indianapolis, IN, 100-foot rear-mount platform. Inferno cab and chassis; Cummins ISX15 500-hp engine; Raydan AirLink air ride rear suspension; 2,000-gpm rated waterway; Elkhart Scorpion radio remote monitor; Onan 15-kW generator. $975,000. Dealer: John Mullin, Mid-America Fire & Safety, Evansville, IN.

E-ONE-Middlesex (NJ) Fire Department, pumper. Cyclone 2 cab and chassis; Cummins ISL9 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm pump; UPF Poly 780-gallon tank; Harrison 6-kW generator; low hosebed; enclosed ladders; front bumper crosslays. $609,152 with equipment. Dealer: Tony Amoroso, Absolute Fire Protection Company, South Plainfield, NJ. (Photo by Ron Jeffers.)

Spartan ERV-Anne Arundel County (MD) Fire Department, three pumpers. Metro Star cabs and chassis; Cummins ISL9 450-hp engines; Hale Qflo Plus 1,250-gpm pumps; UPF Poly 750-gallon tanks; 30-gallon foam cells; Feecon AP 400-gpm single-agent foam systems; Akron Deluge guns. $416,150 each. Dealer: Peter Laake Sr., FESCO Emergency Sales, Elkridge, MD.

HME-Notre Dame (IN) Fire Department, MiniEvo mini pumper. Ford F-550 cab and chassis; seating for six; Power Stroke 6.7-liter OHV direct diesel injection; Hale DSD 1,500-gpm pump; 400-gallon polypropylene tank, 17-gallon foam cell; Hale FoamLogix 2.1 Class A foam system; stainless steel piping. $209,886. Dealer: Ken Lenz, HME Inc., Wyoming, MI.

Midwest Fire-Lewisville (MN) Firefighting Company, pumper-tanker. International 7400 cab and chassis; MaxxForce DT 300-hp engine; Darley LSP 1,000-gpm pump; APR 1,500-gallon polypropylene tank; four PTL5040 LED deck lights; two Whelen Pioneer model PFA1 12-volt LED telescoping lights. $147,267. Dealer: Jeff Bowen, Midwe

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Posted: Oct 10, 2014

In the News

SMEAL FIRE APPARATUS recently signed an agreement with Danko Emergency Equipment Company to sell and market Danko's entire line of fire apparatus, skid units, and ultra-high- and high-pressure foam systems. Under this agreement, Smeal will be responsible for North American marketing, sales, and service. Smeal's entire dealer network is now the exclusive distribution arm for DankoÂ® products. In addition, Danko will continue as a full-line Smeal dealer, including USTÂ® and Ladder Tower™ apparatus, in Nebraska, Kansas, southern South Dakota, and western and central Iowa. Danko's product line includes 1,500- to 5,000-gallon tankers/tenders in wetside, dryside, and elliptical configurations; mini pumpers and quick-attack units; light and medium rescues with eight- to 14-foot body lengths; wildland flatbeds with skid units from 50- to 500-gallon capacities; airport rapid intervention vehicles (RIVs), Classes 1, 2, and 3; industrial in-plant fire and rescue vehicles; and ultra-high- and high-pressure fire suppression pump systems.

E-ONEÂ®, INC., has entered into an agreement with Bronto Skylift Oy Ab, of Tampere, Finland, to be the exclusive distributor of Bronto SkyliftÂ® RLPs in the United States and Canada. Bronto parts and service for firefighting applications will also be made available exclusively through E-ONE's independent dealer network. The E-ONE Bronto Skylift product range will include the RLP 100, 114, 134, F118 HDT-ER, and new F116 RLP+ articulating aerial platforms. Bronto's "RLP+" denotes an optional control system that offers advanced color displays to enhance operator capabilities and features technology to automatically adjust the operating envelope based jack placement. The Bronto devices will be available on E-ONE CycloneÂ® II and QuestÂ® chassis.

MAINTAINER CUSTOM BODIES (MCB) has appointed David Jans as its plant manager. Jans brings 25 years of production management experience to help MCB expand production on its line of rescue trucks and other emergency vehicle bodies. Jans assumed his role in August and has been challenged with studying the plant layout and product flow as well as developing employees' skills and knowledge.

STREAMLIGHTÂ® INC. has renewed its sponsorship commitment to the Travis Manion Foundation. The company's support will contribute to programs that honor and assist the nation's veterans, first responders, and families of fallen heroes. As part of its commitment, the company continues to serve as a sponsor of the Foundation's 9/11 Heroes Run, which consists of more than 50 races throughout the United States and internationally on or near September 11. In addition, the company is making an equipment donation of 100 KnuckleheadÂ® flashlights to local fire departments that are partnering with four of these races. Agencies in Annapolis, Maryland; Summerville, South Carolina; Madisonville, Kentucky; and Tempe, Arizona, each will receive 25 of the lights. The company also donates $1 from the sale of each Coyote Nano LightÂ® to the Foundation. The keychain light features a double-sided fob with the Travis Manion Foundation logo.

GLOBE, DUPONT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGIES, and the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC) have announced the second round of winners in the 2014 Globe Gear Giveaway. The Cape Ferrelo Rural Fire Protection District, in Brookings, Oregon, a small department in a very rural area, will receive four sets of Globe gear. The Stratton (CO) Volunteer Fire Department has 24 members who respond to a variety of emergencies. This department will also receive four new sets of Globe gear. Additional awards will be made each month through December.

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Posted: Oct 10, 2014

Bryn Mawr (PA) Fire Company Fields E-ONE's First All ProTech Apparatus

Alan M. Petrillo

The Bryn Mawr (PA) Fire Company was on schedule to replace two pieces of apparatus -a pumper and a rescue-pumper-as part of its eight-year replacement plan, and its truck committee wanted to be sure to include as much firefighter safety protection on the apparatus as possible.

Chief Dan Kincade convened a 12-person committee consisting of all current company chiefs, three engineers, several past chiefs, and a board of directors member. Kincade says the committee took its current apparatus specs and decided what it wanted to keep and what to delete and then rewrote the specs for both the rescue-pumper, which the company calls a squad, and the pumper.

"We also visited some area fire companies that had newer apparatus," Kincade says, to get an idea of innovations that were available. "We put together our bid specs and got five bids back, although two of the bidders didn't meet our specs," he adds. The committee's unanimous vote was to go with E-ONE for both vehicles, he says.

Safety Features

1 The Bryn Mawr (PA) Fire Company received the first E-ONE rescue-pumper built entirely with E-ONE's ProTech safety protection package. Bryn Mawr designated the vehicle Squad 23. [Photos courtesy of the Bryn Mawr (PA) Fire Company.]

Ron Elmo, owner of First Choice Fire Apparatus, has sold Bryn Mawr a number of pumpers and rescue-pumpers over the years. "The fire company was looking for ways to enhance safety for its firefighters, so we introduced it to the ProTech products that E-ONE has available," he says. "The committee liked them and got approval to add them to the specs before the preconstruction conference."

Joe Hedges, product manager for aerials and chassis at E-ONE, says both of the Bryn Mawr vehicles were being built with all of the elements of E-ONE's ProTech system with the exception of OnGuard, added later, which is a forward-looking radar system that was just coming online for E-ONE's chassis.

2 The front of the Bryn Mawr rescue-pumper mounts the forward-looking infrared radar (FLIR) system that drives the OnGuard system in the center of the bumper. The extended bumper also carries a Holmatro combination tool, with CORETM Technology, and 60 feet of hydraulic hose on a reel.

ProTech is a comprehensive safety package for all E-ONE's chassis that includes a roll cage cab that can withstand twice the National Fire Protection Association and Society of Automotive Engineers impact requirements and five times the roof load requirements; front and side air bag systems with integrated seat belt pretensioners; electronic stability control, which constantly monitors driving conditions; an occupant detection system that gives audible and visual warnings; backup sensors that warn a driver of p

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Posted: Oct 10, 2014

Conveyor Rescue Technology for EMS

By Raul A. Angulo

I recently came into the N gates at SeaTac International Airport.

The N gates have a long set of stairs that go up to the main terminal. Thank goodness for escalators. Even climbing the stairs on the escalator is a workout. I always choose to ride it up. As I was gliding up the escalator, I thought, "Too bad Ladder 6 doesn't have an escalator instead of a ladder. That would make ladder rescues fast and easy!" Alan Petrillo wrote "Alternative Lift Systems Proposed for Rescue Aerials" in the September 2011 issue of Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment. Inventor Orville Douglas Denison started studying fire-rescue technology after the extensive television coverage of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.

1 The SpineBoard is a wedge-shaped backboard that uses conveyor-belt technology to smoothly and effortlessly load a patient safely onto the backboard. The upper board and lower carriage are attached. The wedge automatically keeps the patient in a semi "shock position." This has its advantages for hypotensive patients. (Photos by author.)

Denison came up with a rescue conveyor ladder design that was actually an "escalator for firefighters." It was a 113-foot aerial ladder with a conveyor system of rungs that could operate at 200 feet per minute, carrying a firefighter up to the tip in about 30 seconds. He also claimed his ladder could rescue four victims and have them down in four minutes. Although this conveyor-belt technology has not been implemented on fire apparatus yet, a company serving the emergency medical services (EMS) market is adapting it.

EMS is about 80 percent of our emergency work. Patient packaging and transport are the most time-consuming and physically demanding parts of it, so I'm always looking for something that is quicker, easier, and safer to accomplish this task. On the average, the fire service sustains approximately 100,000 on-duty injuries per year. Of those, my guess is that 50 percent of them are back injuries from heavy lifting and twisting.

2 Once the patient is loaded on to the SpineBoard, connect the the side rails and head rail. They slide on very easily.

In 1999, John Spanton was watching his son play high school football. Over the seasons he witnessed numerous sports injuries on the field. He watched from the stands time and time again as local emergency medical technicians (EMTs) responded with aid kits, backboard, and gurney to tend to an injured player. Knowing something about emergency medicine, Spanton knew it was paramount to immobilize the neck and keep the back straight to prevent cervical spinal injuries. Although the EMTs were doing their best, it was obvious that the football helmet, pads, and gear made it difficult to examine the patient and log roll the injured player onto the backboard for spinal immobilization and transport. Even from the bleachers, Spanton could see the player's spine being twisted and bent while EMTs packaged the patient. As he cringed, he tho