The city of Orange’s new, massive fire department headquarters – complete with all the bells, whistles and hoses – is up and running on East Chapman Avenue, OCRegister.com reported.

Fire Station No. 1, which now serves as both the department’s administrative headquarters and a station from which emergency calls will be serviced in the area, was unveiled October 6 during a ceremony followed by tours of the new 29,000-square-foot facility.

The new headquarters include a 15,500-square-foot bay for the fire trucks and engines and a two-story, 13,500-square-foot administrative building. It replaces the city’s old Station No. 1, which was located a few blocks away on South Grand Street.

The new fire station is bigger and was constructed with more sensible design features, such as a bay that allows the fire trucks to pull through, instead of backing up into the garage, the report said.

The added space also provides room for firefighters to train and test equipment, and for the city to house its reserve apparatus and wildland equipment used to maintain overgrown brush and other hazardous vegetation. That gear and machinery were previously stored at different locations because of space constraints, according to the report.

The facility, which was constructed on a site that was previously home to the Orange County Fire Authority headquarters, was estimated to cost between $22 million and $23 million, and was paid for through bonds issued by the city, the report said.

Construction on the fire headquarters broke ground in January 2021, and the facility was completed last month, according to the report.

Station 1 is one of eight fire stations in the city, and the new headquarters will house the department’s administrative personnel, fire inspectors, chief and emergency medical services, the report said.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District is going electric, adding two new all-electric trucks to its fleet, NBCBayArea.com reported.

The addition makes the department the only Bay Area agency to incorporate four-wheel-drive electric vehicles into its fleet, the report said.

The two Rivian pickups will be used in support roles, such as carrying fire chiefs to fire scenes. They will be getting a few upgrades before hitting the streets, the report said.

Depending on how things go, this could be the beginning of a much bigger transformation for the fleet, according to the report.

This past May, Los Angeles Fire showcased its first hybrid fire truck.

A city official said the all-electric trucks are in lockstep with the county’s goal of a zero emissions fleet. The city official said the move will help the department save money.

The purchase price for an electric vehicle is a bit more than a diesel truck, the report said, but the fuel and maintenance costs can be half that of a diesel.

Residents and city officials gathered at the Tahlequah Fire Department October 6 to celebrate the traditional push-in ceremony for its new fire engine, TahlequahDailyPress.com reported.

Push-in ceremonies have been performed for generations by fire departments as a way of bringing the community together.

The 26-year-old fire truck is being replaced by the new Pierce Saber customer cab fire engine. The new engine carries additional and upgraded equipment that will help fire crews meet modern needs. The engine will be the primary response truck to Tahlequah’s downtown area and will be kept at Station 1.

Once the blessing was finished, firefighters and the public pushed the new engine into service.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Industrial firefighters face big challenges when dealing with massive amounts of flammable products, so the rigs they use typically carry a big foam system.

Foam examples include the Williams Hot Shot II, FoamPro AccuMax® Fury™ and Fusion™, Hale SmartFOAM, Waterous AQUIS™ ULTRAFLOW, Pierce Husky, and Rosenbauer HYDROMATIC foam systems.

• Selecting the Right Foam
• Training with Foam
• Foam, Foam Concentrate, and Delivery
• Wildland Fire Apparatus Foam Systems
• Preventing Foam Operation Failures, Part 1
• Preventing Foam Operation Failures, Part 2
• Compressed Air Foam Systems Continue in Popularity in Some Wildland Jurisdictions

Williams Fire & Hazard Control

James Morgan, applications and engineering manager for Williams Fire & Hazard Control, says his company’s Hot Shot II Foam System combines the proven reliability of balanced pressure technology with the modern efficiency of a hydrostatic drive powered from the chassis transmission via a power takeoff (PTO). Morgan says Hot Shot II is a hydraulically driven demand system that uses a positive displacement foam pump and pressure control circuit to provide foam concentrate supply at a pressure balanced or matched to that of the fire water pump.

The combination of the pressure control circuit and the variable displacement hydraulic drive system regulates and adjusts the foam pump output, independent of engine or PTO speed, to maintain the proper pressure balance as foam concentrate demand increases or decreases to meet total foam solution discharge requirements, he says. Based on specific installation chassis transmission, PTO drive ratio, and hydraulic drive pump/motor sizing, maximum foam pump output may be achieved at or near engine idle speeds, Morgan notes.

Williams offers a dozen versions of the Hot Shot II Foam System in both single-tank and dual-tank control models. Its ratio controller kits, which include the ratio controller, metering valve, and foam check valve, run from 2-inch to 8-inch ratio controller sizes and can include remote metering controls.

Williams also makes the WATP 500, which can proportion Class B foam up to 4,000 gallons per minute (gpm) at 1% foam proportioning, the Around the Pump 1500 that will proportion Class B foam at up to 4,500 gpm at 1% foam solution, and the Thunderstorm® that will proportion