BY ALAN M. PETRILLO
The trend toward carrying as much water as possible on a fire apparatus means there must be efficient methods of filling water tanks and getting the water out of them.
Tankers and pumper-tankers each have their own typical arrangement of intakes and discharges, but some fire departments are asking manufacturers to be creative when locating both dump valves and intakes.
Discharge Types
Greg Lewis, inside sales manager for Spartan ER, says his company has built a tanker with a 16-inch dump valve for Hillsborough County (FL) Fire and Rescue. "It was an unusual installation," Lewis says. "It was a large air-operated butterfly valve that went on the rear of a 3,500-gallon elliptical tanker. The fire department was able to get a 3,100-gallon-per-minute (gpm) flow out of it." He adds that when the mission is pure water handling, whether on a single- or tandem-axle tanker, one dump at the rear of a wetside tanker where the tank is outside of the body allows Spartan ER to lower the center of gravity of the truck and lower the cost too.
Ryan Slane, pumper-tanker product manager for KME, notes that "the latest trend is a single rear dump with a 180-degree swivel that's integral with the water tank. It's one dump, which means less body work, less weight, and less cost of two additional side dumps."
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| 1 Pierce Manufacturing Inc. installed a 10-inch round side dump on each side of this tanker built for a South American fire department, along with a 10-inch rear dump. (Photo courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.) |
David Stock of A.H. Stock Manufacturing, says his company makes the Newton Kiwk-Dump Valve, named for the town where it was invented. "Our 1010 plunger-style valve will flow 2,940 gpm, while our 1050 model, where the plunger flips straight up into the water tank, will flow up to 3,570 gpm," Stock says.
A.H. Stock makes the Newton Kwik-Dump Valve in both steel and stainless steel models, although Stock notes that nearly 70 percent of those sold are stainless steel. A.H. Stock also makes an extend-a-chute and a swivel chute that allow water to be dumped over a 180-degree arc. "Our telescoping chute extends 36 inches, and we also have a slip-on chute that gets attached manually," he says. "We offer both electric and air operation for our chutes and valves, although it's almost 99 percent electric on the valves now."
David Durstine, vice president of marketing for Akron Brass Co., points out that Akron Brass has one product that can be used as a dump valve. "It's an eight-inch round butterfly valve that can be built for manual, air actuation, or electric operation," he says. "The most versatile is electric operation because it allows more finite control of the valve, while with air, it is either open or closed." The butterfly valve is available in sizes from four to eight inches around.
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Posted: Sep 10, 2015
In today's world, fire departments are always striving to improve in two fundamental areas: efficiency and crew safety.
These two factors ultimately have a serious impact on every area of the operation-from response times to cost savings and everything in between. Therefore, it might surprise you to learn that one of the most effective changes you can make to reach these goals has to do with the simple technology of portable lighting.
Most fire chiefs take incident scene lighting very seriously and can easily recognize the impact it has on safety and efficiency. Good scene lighting puts firefighters in a better position to assess potential hazards and work safely around the scene, promotes situational awareness, and empowers the crew to make the right decisions when it matters most. While apparatus-mounted tower lights are useful for lighting the area directly around the vehicle, crews rely on portable floodlights to adequately illuminate the complete area.
Despite the important role it plays, portable lighting is generally taken for granted and is one of the most commonly overlooked areas of incident response equipment.
The Dangers of Quartz Halogen
It is still quite common to find old bulb technologies, such as quartz halogen floodlights, being used on an incident scene. You are probably familiar with these types of lights as they are a standard piece of equipment found in the compartments of most fire trucks. These quartz halogen lights are notorious for running extremely hot and are well known for causing burns and fires.
A 500-watt quartz halogen portable work light quickly reaches its maximum temperature of more than 570°F within a short time period. At this temperature, it will ignite paper and wood. This is the melting point of pewter. Styrofoam will become liquid at this temperature. Just think about what this will do to human flesh. Skin will burn at about 200°F, which means that a 500-watt quartz halogen light becomes an immediate danger to people just by being near it.
Not only do these lights pose a serious threat to human safety, they are also a serious fire hazard. Many types of flammables will ignite at temperatures less than what the quartz halogen can produce. One of our customers told us a story of a quartz halogen light left running while in contact with a fire blanket and, because the light was so hot, the fire blanket began to smoke and smolder. These stories are not uncommon. In college dormitories, students are prohibited from using halogen lamps because of their potential dangers. The construction industry has also recognized the dangers. On many construction sites, the use of quartz halogen lights has been completely banned in response to repeated injuries to employees and extensive property damage the lights have caused.
Why do fire departments still use these dangerous tools that harm workers and start fires? The simple answer is that until recently there have been no other viable options. A quartz halogen floodlight gives off a lot of light, is relatively inexpensive, and is compact. Everyone knew they were dangerous yet risked the dangers because there were no other options that could give off that much light in a portable unit.
The LED Advantage
Thankfully, LED technologies today are quickly becoming the new standard. By taking advantage of advancements in LED technology, these new lighting options deliver win-win solutions that leave no good reason for firefighters to continue working with outdated equipment that brings potential risk and unnecessary dangers to the crew and community.
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Posted: Sep 10, 2015
BY PETER ONG
The Seattle (WA) Fire Department currently has four fireboats: the 108-foot Leschi, built in 2007 and the primary fireboat on the saltwater side; the smaller Fireboat 1, built in 2006; Fireboat 2, built in 2014 and based on freshwater; and the Chief Seattle, built in 1983, retrofitted, and returned to service in 2013. This article focuses on the retrofitted Chief Seattle, the Seattle Fire Department's primary fireboat on the freshwater side of the city.
The Chief Seattle is a three-deck 96-foot, six-inch all-aluminum superstructure and hull fireboat retrofitted by Vigor Industrial in Seattle, Washington, under a firm fixed-price contract. Two of the main reasons for the retrofit stemmed from the Chief Seattle's three main engines not meeting current environmental emissions standards and the need for more interior space for equipment, medical treatment, and command and control. Originally, the Chief Seattle had three engines, shafts, propellers, and rudders. The retrofit removed one engine and its central shaft, propeller, and rudder. The two new MTU engines are "emissions-friendly" and, operating together, produce the same horsepower (hp) as the original three Detroit Diesel engines.
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| The Chief Seattle is the Seattle (WA) Fire Department's primary fireboat on the freshwater side of the city. Shown is the retrofitted Chief Seattle during sea trials. (Photos courtesy of Vigor Industrial unless otherwise noted.) |
Richard Chester, senior engineer with 43 years in the Seattle Fire Department-23 of those years with fireboats-says that the original Chief Seattle had a very good [aluminum] hull that the fire department decided to keep. Seattle firefighters maintain the Seattle fireboats in every case except for those repairs requiring outside contractor assistance. "The vessel was very well maintained over the years," says Chester. "The hull was in excellent condition. We have been pleased with the hull design and the large platform it provides." The Seattle Fire Department decided to keep the hull and retrofit it because the budget did not cover the cost of a new 97-foot fireboat. The City of Seattle levy funds and Department of Homeland Security grant funds financed the Chief Seattle's retrofit.
Retrofitting Chief Seattle
According to Randy Wyllys, Vigor's project manager for the Chief Seattle retrofit process, Vigor used a crane to lift the boat onto land and performed the stripdown inside a canvas tent. "Vigor removed the superstructure all the way to the mast by cutting off the superstructure at the deck and removing it as one piece," describes Wyllys. "This included the medical room in the main deck and the pilothouse. Vigor gutted the engine room and removed all three main engines and generators and all the original propulsion systems-the shafts, propellers, and rudders. Vigor removed the center stern tube for the shaft and propeller and plated that over. All the insulation, paint, cabinetry, wiring, analog instruments, ceilings, furniture, joiners, and interiors were gutted and removed. The interior sea chests, engine beds, and hull interiors were removed. When finished, the only original part left was the Chief Seattle's outer aluminum hull. It took four to six weeks to strip the boat down to the
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Posted: Sep 10, 2015
RICHARD MARINUCCI
A coordinated, planned, and prepared response to a hazmat event is a relatively new concept in the fire service.
By that, I mean that up until 25 or 30 years ago, fire departments responded to calls involving hazardous materials and did the best they could with minimal preparation. Often materials were diluted and "washed down" the drain or into a ditch. There were no "moon suits" or various levels of protection. Chemicals like mercury were just picked up and thrown in the trash. For the most part, departments did the best they could. If they realized they had something above their level of training or expertise, they contacted a private company. Thankfully, this has changed, and there is an expectation that fire departments will have the necessary knowledge to address these events in an appropriate manner.
The transition has occurred for a variety of reasons. There is much more awareness of the environment and the damage that is done when hazardous materials are not disposed of in a safe manner. Government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state government departments control the use and disposal of hazardous materials. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has developed standards. Responders have learned from various historical emergencies and better understand the need to study and improve their capabilities. Besides being better stewards of the environment, firefighters and those who respond as part of a special team are much safer and exposed to fewer materials that can harm them.
Contrasting Approaches
The approach to hazmat events still strikes me as being such a contrast to fire response and even emergency medical service (EMS) calls. Firefighters going to fires are definitely on the go and doing what they can to save time. Response to priority one or life-threatening calls for EMS service requires quick action to effect a positive outcome. Firefighters are conditioned to operate quickly and often take shortcuts to reduce response time from the start of the alarm through the stabilization phase. They may not completely button up their protective clothing if they believe they need to rush into action. They will take extra risks if a life is at stake to the point that they will put themselves at risk by not totally using all safety items at their disposal. This is contrary to the methodical approach taken by well-trained hazmat teams, who rarely ever appear to be rushing.
This is where the patience part comes into play. I don't think I am too different from many in the fire service in that I want to see action. I don't like sitting around when something needs to be fixed, so I think there should be some hustle to resolve problems and incidents. During a fire, there is an initial blast of activity to initiate the operation. People know their jobs and begin to take steps that are visible and done with some sense of urgency. The same can be said on the scene of a vehicle crash with injuries or a cardiac case. We are conditioned to see something happen and are impatient when people don't appear to be hustling when taking action. When we don't completely understand how an incident is being handled, we default to our knowledge and wonder why there doesn't appear to be a sense of urgency. Though I still don't have the total patience I need when on these types of emergencies, I am getting better and learning to rely on the experts who have much more training and experience in the proper way to handle hazmat incidents.
Hazmat Response Evolution
Emergency response to hazmats has evolved considerably and continues to do so. Those who are committed to the profession are looking for better ways to respond and make sure respond
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