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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: Jul 11, 2022

Anderson (TX) Firefighter Hurt in Tanker Rollover, Blown Tire Caused Wreck

An Anderson Volunteer Fire Department firefighter suffered injuries in a tanker rollover while responding to a fire Saturday. He is expected to make a full recovery.

The fire broke out in a house on County Road 185 on Saturday afternoon. No one was in the house at the time of the fire.

The firefighter has non-life-threatening injuries, the department said on Facebook. A tire blowout is believed to be the cause of the accident.

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Posted: Jul 11, 2022

Photo of the Day: July 11, 2022

Rosenbauer—Bloomington (MN) Fire Department pumper. Commander R6011 cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Waterous CSUC20 2,000-gpm pump; 750-gallon polypropylene water tank; TFT Crossfire monitor with 18-inch Extenda Gun; FireTech scene lighting. Dealer: Steve Harris, General Safety Fire Apparatus, Wyoming, MN. (Photo by Paul Barrett.)

MORE FIRE APPARATUS ARTICLES>>

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Posted: Jul 11, 2022

Finalists for the 2022 Hooley Awards Announced

LAKEVILLE, MINN. [July 11, 2022] – ImageTrend, Inc. is excited to announce the finalists for the seventh Hooley™ Awards. The Hooley Awards recognize innovators and thought leaders, honoring their involvement, creativity and passion, and were founded to acknowledge their contributions in innovation and excellence. There are three categories: Innovation, Service and New Frontier.

The Innovation Award recognizes those who are serving in a new or innovative way to meet the needs of their organization, including developing programs or solutions to benefit providers, administrators or the community.

Innovation Award Finalists:

Captain Anthony Maro, Collier EMS Training Department, Collier County EMS

Collier County EMS developed a way to track social service needs in the community, such as homelessness, substance abuse, senior service needs and DCF concerns, and connect these people with the resources they need.

Captain Brandon Grinstead, Orange County Fire Authority

Using his passion for data, Captain Grinstead worked to establish guidelines to transport hypoxic patients during the pandemic to best care for them.

Chief Frank Simone, North Las Vegas Fire Department

Chief Simone used integrated data to help his department take care of patients during a paramedic shortage.

The Service Award considers how data is being used to further the safety of their community or reach community goals, and acknowledges the fact that data is boundless and can be used in any number of ways for the benefit of society.

Service Award Finalists:

Michael Scadden, Idaho Falls Fire Department

Scadden and the Idaho Falls Fire Department worked with the Idaho Falls Police Department to influence changes in legislation to promote and improve the mental health and the well-being of its members through a Peer Support Team.

Timothy Seplaki, New Jersey Department of Health Office of Emergency Medical Services

Seplaki was a key contributor to creating the “Five Minutes to Help” program that teaches EMS providers how to connect patients with substance use disorders to recovery resources.

Michael Poynter, Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services

Poynter formed a partnership between Camp Hero and Nature Reliance School to bring the outdoors to first responders that desperately need a break.

The New Frontier Award recognizes those that are going above and beyond the call of duty and breaking new ground or serving in a humanitarian way.

New Frontier Finalists:

Peggy Huddleston, Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services

Huddleston helped create a Mass Casualty Worksheet within ImageTrend Elite™ that activates when patients are involved in a mass casualty incident.

St. Paul Fire Department

The St. Paul Fire Department installed saunas in all their stations and are conducting research to determine whether saunas help reduce the risk of cancer in firefighters.

Nashville Fire Department

The Nashville Fire Department deploys mini-ambulances on the weekends to reduce response times, reduce strain on larger equipment and free up Medic Units for emergency calls elsewhere in the county.

“The initiatives that all nine of this year’s finalists have helped lead are impressive and truly inspirational in the ways they’re able to give back to their communities and support those they work with every day,” commented Joe Graw, President and COO of ImageTrend. “We’re proud to honor their hard work and dedication.”

The winners of the 2022 Hooley Awards will be announced on Wednesday, July 20 at the 14th annual ImageTrend Connect Conference. Follow ImageTrend on Fac

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Posted: Jul 8, 2022

AZ Electric Utility Installing Wildland Fire-Detection Cameras in Remote Transmission Line Areas

By Alan M. Petrillo

An Arizona electric utility is installing a series of wildland fire-detection cameras in a remote area of its transmission line corridor to allow it to identify sparked wildland fires and also monitor transmission equipment that was damaged by wind or storms.

Salt River Project (SRP), a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility and the largest electricity provider in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, serving approximately 1.1 million customers, also provides water to about half of the Valley’s residents, delivering more than 244 billion gallons of water (750,000 acre-feet) each year, and manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive system of reservoirs, wells, canals, and irrigation laterals.

SRP is piloting a Smoke Detector Pilot Project that will act as a camera and smoke detector early-warning system for wildland fires that occur near the utility’s transmission line towers in the Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests. The project, which is expected have an impact on wildland fire preparedness and protecting a portion of the Valley’s watershed, is the first of its kind in Arizona.

The smoke detectors and cameras, which have been used in CA and Europe, are SmokeD models, made by a manufacturer in Warsaw, Poland, says Floyd Hardin, SRP’s fire management officer. Besides detecting the initiation of wildland fires, the SmokeD units will capture physical changes on the utility’s 500-kilovolt (kV), transmission towers that transmit energy to the Valley from power plants located in eastern AZ.

A dozen of the SmokeD cameras will be installed along sections of transmission lines in the Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests.

About 120 miles of SRP’s high-voltage power lines are located on U.S Forest Service land located in the northeastern part of the state. SRP is setting up two test areas with 12 cameras to capture images of a portion of the 500-kV transmission towers every 10 minutes, Hardin points out. The solar-powered infrared cameras can work at night and capture images up to 10 miles out with a 360-degree view.

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI), the cameras can learn their surrounding environment, report changes, and provide alerts when identifying smoke from wildland fires or changes to structures, Hardin says. The cameras can also alert SRP to issues such as downed lines, downed towers, or damaged equipment.

“Today, if a fire impacts our lines, we may not know until we get an ale

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Fire Mechanics Section Board

Chair

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Chair

Elliot Courage
North Whatcom Fire & Rescue
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Vice Chair

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Vice Chair

Mike Smith 
Pierce County Fire District #5
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Secretary

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Secretary

Greg Bach
South Snohomish County Fire & Rescue
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Director #1

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #1

Doug Jones
South Kitsap Fire & Rescue
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Director #2

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #2

Paul Spencer 
Fire Fleet Maintenance LLC
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Director #3

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #3

Jim Morris
Mountain View Fire Department
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Director #4

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #4

Arnie Kuchta

Clark County Fire District 6

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Director #6

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #6

Brett Annear
Kitsap County Fire District 18
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Director #5

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Director #5

Jay Jacks
Camano Island Fire & Rescue
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Legislative Representative

Posted: Oct 21, 2015

Legislative Representative

TBD
TBD
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Immediate Past Chair

Posted: Oct 20, 2015

Immediate Past Chair

Brian Fortner
Graham Fire & Rescue

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