Dave Poulin

A picture is worth a thousand words, especially in fire investigations and inspections. Photographs have long served a critical role for fire investigators and inspectors by allowing them to document scenes to preserve important information.

In recent years, the evolution of technology has brought digital video into the mix as well, which expands the ability to collect valuable data in the field. Not only does video capture information that photos may not, it also has numerous other benefits, including being especially effective in a courtroom. However, many popular consumer-grade video cameras are not suitable for use in fire service-video quality may be poor, especially in low-light conditions or bad weather, and the information may not be admissible in court because of chain of command requirements. While professional grade video equipment is another option, cameras may be too heavy and bulky for efficient field service, and the technology may be out of reach because of limited budgets.

Wearable Solutions

To overcome these challenges, today's modern fire service professionals are turning to industrial-grade wearable video solutions. Designed for first responders, these advanced tools can capture and store tamperproof video and audio to deliver an accurate and unbiased record. As wearable technology, the devices serve as total situational awareness and seamless digital information capture tools and important assets for fire scene investigators and inspectors.

Engineered to collect information in a range of environments, wearable video solutions can capture information that might otherwise be missed. Optimized to record both day and night images, wearable video solutions built for industrial use can operate continuously for as much as five hours and produce high-resolution video. Complete with wide angle fish-eye views and built-in microphones, the latest wearable camera devices even feature gyroscopic stabilization and image distortion correction software and can allow for video playback while maintaining the evidence integrity of the original file. Wearable cameras built for industrial use also often offer a ruggedized form factor that is both dust- and water-resistant, which ensures a level of durability superior to consumer-grade models.

(1) Designed for first responders, these advanced tools can capture and store tamper-proof video and audio to deliver an accurate and unbiased record. As wearable technology, the devices serve as total situational awareness and seamless digital information capture tools and important assets for fire scene investigators and inspectors. (Photo courtesy of Panasonic System Communications Company of North America.)

Evidence

When it comes to evidence recovery in the field, wearable video devices can be critical for investigators in the aftermath of a fire. According to the latest estimates on major fire causes, in 20111 United States fire rescue crews responded to an estimated 28,900 intentionally set home structure fires. In potential crime scene cases where intentional fires may have been set, wearable camera devices are especially useful because investigators can use footage from fire rescue operations to preserve hard-to-document early scene images that may prove critical to solving an investigation. These include bystanders, nearby vehicles, and other potential evidence that can be easily lost, moved, or forgotten in the confusion and panic at the scene of a fire. Once suspects have been identified and located, investigators can also use the footage to evaluate testimony provided during witness interviews.

In prosecutions, fire investigation

Alan M. Petrillo

Nozzle technology has become so advanced, the firefighter on the nozzle has an array of options for choosing flow, stream, and even pressure. Manufacturers of nozzles have spent time through focus groups and voice-of-the-customer sessions with seasoned handline-using firefighters to determine how to provide better streams and allow for adjustments in flow, stream, and pressure.

Final Stop

Eric Combs, director of marketing for Elkhart Brass, characterizes the nozzle as an integral part of the fire suppression solution. "It's the last part in the whole system of the water supply, the pump, the pressure governor, and the hose," says Combs, "and all components have to work in concert with one another. If you change the pressure flow setting on the nozzle, it will have an effect on the system, including changing the flow on other devices in the system."

Combs notes that Elkhart Brass engages in what it calls "active listening"-engaging with firefighters and fire departments face to face to determine what the industry wants out of nozzle performance. "The number one element that firefighters want from their nozzle is an effective fire stream every time they open it up," Combs says.

He points out that a number of variables are at work in putting water on a fire through a nozzle: flow rate, stream quality, stream reach, and reaction force. "But at the end of the day, it's the gallons per minute (gpm) to remove British thermal units (Btus) that put the fire out," he adds. "That's where it's so important to know your flow and how your nozzle is performing."

Elkhart Brass makes four types of nozzles for handline use, Combs says: deluge, fixed-gallonage, selectable, and automatic. He notes that adding foam, ultra high pressure, or compressed air foam (CAF) can improve the effectiveness of most nozzles even more than by using plain water.

(1) Akron Brass Co.'s HydroFX nozzle incorporates a flow-sensing device in the waterway and displays water flow through colored LED lights placed on the nozzle body under the bail. (Photo courtesy of Akron Brass Co.)

Simplicity

Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer (CMO) for Task Force Tips (TFT), says firefighters have told TFT that they want their equipment to be simplified, robust, and easy to use. "The pendulum has swung from the long-time usage of only smoothbore tips a number of years ago toward combination nozzles," Carringer says. "Take a look at a rig today and you may see five or six defined attack lines with specific nozzles on them designed for two- or three-firefighter operation."

David Durstine, vice president of marketing for Akron Brass Co., says his company also has reached out to firefighters for their input on nozzles and received many responses to keep the nozzle and its operation simple. "That's why we unveiled our new nozzle, the Hydro FX," Durstine says. "The Hydro FX incorporates a patent-pending flow-sensing device in the waterway that takes measurements of the water flow, correlates them against predetermined settings, and displays the flow rate via LED lights."

Durstine says a predetermined flow rate might be 150 gpm at 100 pounds per square inch (psi). If the flow rate is at or above 150 gpm, the LED light on the nozzle sensor would be green. For a flow rate below 150 gpm but above the predetermined low-flow setting, a yellow LED would light up. If the flow drops below the low-flow setting, 100 gpm for instance, the LED goes to a red indicator. "Instead of guessing about the flow, a firefighter has visual indication of

• SMEAL has announced that the Charlotte (NC) Fire Department's Ladder 23 achieved the milestone of responding to 40,423 calls in 10 years. The Smeal-built 105-foot rear-mount aerial ladder drove 177,000 miles-enough to travel around the world seven times. During that time, Ladder 23 has been through 1,890 gallons of oil, 158 tires, and 76,542 gallons of diesel fuel but only had 34 aerial-related work orders during the ten-year span.

Captain Buddy Caldwell, of the Charlotte Fire Department, sums up the value of a reliable vehicle this way: "A truck is the firefighters' life for 24 hours when on shift. They trust that truck to be dependable, to get them to every call, and to function the way it's supposed to function when they get there. It's an integral part of their job. And it's all got to work."

The truck is now in reserve status and was replaced by a new 2012 Smeal 105-foot rear-mount aerial.

• GLOBE, DUPONT, and the NATIONAL VOLUNTEER FIRE COUNCIL (NVFC) have teamed up again to provide new gear to volunteer fire departments in need. The application period is now open for eligible departments to apply for up to four sets of gear. Up to 52 sets will be given away in 2013.

To celebrate the company's 125th anniversary and say thank you to firefighters who dedicate themselves to protecting their communities, Globe partnered with DuPont and the NVFC in 2012 to launch a gear donation program. In all, 16 departments in the United States and Canada were awarded a total of 144 sets of gear.

To be eligible to apply for a gear donation, departments must be all-volunteer, serve a population of 25,000 or less, be located in the United States or Canada and legally organized under state law, and be a department or individual member of the NVFC. Find full program criteria and apply at www.nvfc.org/globe-gear-donation. Applications are due by June 30, 2013.

• MIAMI-DADE (FL) FIRE RESCUE'S Training Division recently took delivery of a Doron 660 Driver Simulator. This technology will allow firefighters to enhance their driving skills as well as increase their confidence when operating a fire engine.

The Doron 660 can simulate 102 different computer-generated scenarios and will allow the instructor to modify and customize each one via a computer console. The simulator is encased in a life-size fire apparatus shell, which is fully equipped with lights and sirens. Firefighters can respond to situations ranging from driving in the rain at night to a barn fire to responding to a plane crash on a busy highway in the snow. The simulator can also test braking reaction times and evasion maneuvers. The new simulator will allow drivers to operate a fire apparatus in a controlled, safe environment without the fuel consumption and wear and tear that come with training on the road.

• E-ONE announces that members of the Guil-Rand (NC) Fire Department and board of directors recently signed a contract for three new custom eMAX pumpers on Typhoon® chassis. "For years our department has survived by purchasing good, quality used apparatus, and we searched for two years before deciding to purchase new apparatus," says Brian Cox, Guil-Rand's chief. "These will be our first new trucks since 1996." Each new eMAX will feature a 780-gallon water tank, 1,500-gpm pump, 6-kW generator, Cummins® ISL 450-hp engine, enclosed ladder tunnel storage, dual canopy medical ca

W. Parker Browne

It's a given that suburban and rural fire departments that routinely draft from folding tanks or other static sources must have well-trained pump operators. I have learned during fire pump operations and drafting water from a static source instruction that priming the centrifugal fire pump is generally one of the most challenging and hardest tasks for the student to understand and master. Automatic priming offers ease of operation when priming a centrifugal pump.

Automatic priming was a standard feature and natural benefit for fire pumps installed in most of the early fire trucks built in the United States. These fire pumps were typically positive displacement, either piston or rotary type. Positive displacement fire pumps were truly self-priming because they were able to pump both air and water. The operator just connected a suction line from the pump to the water source, engaged the pump, opened a discharge, and waited for the air to pass through the pump and then for the water to flow. It was that simple.

If the pump swallowed some air during operation because of turbulence at the entrance to the hose, or even a slow leak in the hose itself, the fire pump would move air through and continue to provide water pressure as long as the pump was running and the water supply lasted. With the advent of the centrifugal pump, manufacturers had to find another way to prime because the centrifugal pump cannot move both water and air. When the centrifugal pump came into common use, so did the primer.

(1) The simplicity of the air-powered primer design is in its ability to create a high vacuum without the use of moving parts or high electrical current draw. Passing the pressurized air through a series of nozzles creates the vacuum. The reliability of a product that has no moving parts and is powered by a vehicle system as carefully engineered and maintained as the air brakes has led to the air-powered primer's growing use on new vehicles as well as its retrofit popularity on older vehicles equipped with air brakes. (Photos and illustrations courtesy of Trident Emergency Products, LLC.)

Conventional Priming

A conventional primer is a small vacuum-producing pump that can remove the air from the suction hose and pump. Since the primer's inception, the pump operator has been required to activate it manually, which can lead to problems if the operator is not trained in its use. If it is shut off too soon, the prime can be lost-if left running too long, the primer can burn out its vanes and seals.

Across the ocean, European fire truck builders also use the centrifugal-style pump. However for the past several decades, they have been providing many of their pumps with an automatic priming feature. Their approach also uses a separate small positive displacement priming pump, but the primer is automatically engaged whenever the pump shaft is rotating and it senses little or no discharge pressure.

Although this approach is not quite as simple as using a truly self-priming water pump, it does automatically tie the separate primer's operation to the water pump's discharge pressure status. The Godiva, Rosenbauer, and Ziegler brands all have fire pumps available with automatic priming.

As the world grows smaller, many of the more useful ideas for firefighting techniques and equipment are crossing the oceans in all directions. The automatic priming idea for centrifugal fire pumps is one of these and makes perfect sense on any fire truck for several reasons:

• It is simple and makes the pump operator's job easier, allowing time for other tasks.
• It will automatically remove any