By Robert Tutterow

Last Christmas Eve's Webster, New York, firefighter ambush that killed two volunteer firefighters and wounded two others once again brought the subject of violence against firefighters to the forefront. This incident was one of a growing number of acts of violence against firefighters. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) statistics reveal that, on average, there are three firefighter line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) annually from assaults. It is estimated that there are well over a million assaults against firefighters and EMS personnel annually in the United States. Anecdotal evidence also indicates that more than 90 percent of firefighters have been verbally or physically assaulted.

If you are a firefighter reading this column, you can probably recount one (maybe several) assaults. Violence against firefighters is not a new thing.

Thirty years ago, I responded with my volunteer fire department to a reported vehicle fire at an auction barn in rural North Carolina. It was an early Saturday evening, and an auction had just started. On our arrival, the fire had been extinguished. However, people were running out of the auction barn screaming, "He has a gun!" The owner/auctioneer came out of the barn and threatened all of us volunteer firefighters. We stood still, remained silent, let him vent, and then it was all over.

This situation was perhaps unique in that we all knew the owner/auctioneer. He was known as "Dud," and he liked alcohol and women. Apparently, he had a little too much of at least one of his two life pleasures that evening. I don't think any of us felt his threats were sincere, for he had a generous side. Dud was a well-known character who always carried a lot of money-and a gun. He never hesitated to peel off a few bills from the roll of cash he carried during fire department fundraisers. Nonetheless, this incident gave me pause to think how a similar situation in a different setting could have a bad outcome.

The fire service collectively acknowledged violent acts against firefighters in 2004 when the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) issued its 16 Life Safety Initiatives. Initiative #12 states, "National protocols for response to violent incidents should be developed and championed." The issue is also addressed in NFPA 1500, Standard on Fire Department Occupational Safety and Health Program. Chapter 8, "Emergency Operations," has a section titled "Scenes of Violence, Civil Unrest, or Terrorism."

Acts of Violence

Acts of violence can occur in many ways. The Webster ambush was staged by the assailant setting his house on fire. In 2004, the Lexington (KY) Fire Department lost a firefighter when she was shot during a domestic dispute. Firefighter/EMT Brenda Denise Cowan was in the yard providing aid to the wife of the assailant, whom he shot. She was also the first black female to die in the line of duty in the United States.

In 2008, a Maplewood, Missouri, firefighter was shot and killed at the scene of a vehicle fire by an awaiting sniper. Twenty-two-year-old Ryan Hummert, son of the former mayor, was on his first fire call. The sniper also shot and wounded two police officers.

In the Aurora, Colorado, theater mass shooting in July 2012, the shooter had booby-trapped his apartment to kill emergency responders through an array of ignition systems, chemicals, and a trip wire.

Some of you may recall that many of the tillered aerials in Los Angeles had to be removed from service during the riots following the Rodney King trial in 1992. It was apparent that the tiller person was a sitting duck for rioters.

And, violence against firefighters can occur at places other than an emergency scene. Seventeen years ago, a Jackson, Mississippi, firefighter shot and killed his wife and then went to the central fire station, where he opened f

Alan M. Petrillo

Pump manufacturers have responded to fire department requests for fire apparatus pumps that can flow plenty of water yet take up the least amount of space on their vehicles so any extra space saved can be dedicated to equipment storage or other uses.

Narrowing Pumps

Jon Moore, national sales manager for Hale Products Inc., says that his company's QMAX-XS-the XS stands for extra space-is a slimmed down version of its popular QMAX pump with the same flow characteristics and in the same versions that will generate from 1,250 to 2,000 gallons per minute (gpm).

Moore notes that the QMAX-XS takes a foot off the pump box with no loss of functionality. "The QMAX is our most reliable and largest selling pump," Moore says. "It's virtually indestructible and delivers very good performance. The XS version builds on those characteristics but in a smaller package that saves space on a vehicle and has many interchangeable parts with the QMAX."

Hale isn't a stranger to putting the most amount of performance into a smaller package, Moore notes. "We came out with the QPAK, a pump rated from 750 to 1,000 gpm, about 20 years ago and it was the original small pump for the fire service," he says. "This was the smallest version available of a fully manifolded midship pump."

(1) The Waterous CXS end suction pump with ram's horns on the pump's inlet allows the company to put a 1,500-gpm pump into a 28-inch-wide package when using electric discharge valves. (Photo courtesy of Waterous.)

He adds that the QPAK can be run off of a J gearbox for a left or right power takeoff (PTO) or off of a standard G gearbox for a split-shaft midship drive off the vehicle's transmission. "QPAK is a very slim pump that sets up well for smaller chassis and for tankers where you want a smaller pump box," Moore says. "It also works well in smaller brush trucks. It's the original pump that started the series of narrow pumps we have out now, like the QMAX-2 and the QFLO."

Bruce Senn, Hale's Southeast regional sales manager, says Hale also makes the Sidekick, a pump available in the 500- to 1,500-gpm range but that doesn't require a conventional pump box. "Sidekick fits in a compartment and can be narrowed down to 24 inches wide," Senn says. "It's great for rescues and tankers. The pump is available as both a package and a kit that bolts to the side of the frame rail and works with several different models of pumps."

(2) The S101 end suction pump made by Waterous uses schedule 10 stainless steel plumbing and can fit into a 38-inch pump house for a 1,500-gpm model. (Photo courtesy of Waterous.)

End Suction

Paul Darley, president and chief executive officer of Darley, says the fire industry has seen a strong move away from big midship fire pumps and toward end suction pumps. "End suction allows an apparatus builder or pump manufacturer to custom design the pump manifolds-the suction and discharge manifolds-which can free up a lot of space in the pump compartment that can be put to other uses."

Darley says one of the key driving forces in putting bigger pumps in smaller packages is the freeing up of space on fire apparatus for other uses. "The second key is the availability of large or full torque PTOs, and the third key is pricing,"