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Showing posts from September, 2009

Engine #4 The Pride of Wilson

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I really love a lot of things. Two of them are old fire engines and trading patches. I met a firefighter the other day from the Wilson Fire Department in CT.  I did not have a chance to get a lot of information on the department and when I looked it up on the internet I did not find much either.  The interesting part about the department is that they have a functioning  1901 Amoskeag  steam engine.  I found a little bit of information from the Connecticut Historical Society and the Connecticut Fire Museum . In the picture below: The new propeller, No. 4, extra size Amoskeag, known as the Pride of Hartford. It was the largest engine of its kind at the time. The photo was taken in front of the station at 60 Ann Street. At the throttle, Engineer John C. Moran; in rear, Assistant Engineer Charles F. Grundt; and at the wheel, Tillerman Warren A. Bingham. Photo by William G. Dudley, probably 1901. The original image is here . at the Connecticut Historical Society website. Accor

StageIT: Build Your Own Training Simulations

I am always browsing around the web looking at different fire simulations, because you know you can never train too much. I ending up on the StageIT web page the other day. They had a link to a news story about a Searcy, AR department that is using their Emergency Response Simulator and I attached the video below. The system looks like it lets you build lots of different exercises because you can select different scenarios as you go along. The one thing I thought was interesting was that according to the news clip you can take a digital photo of any building in your area and input it into the simulator for use in a simulation. The simulator comes pre-loaded with clip art images, commercial and residential photographs, fire, smoke animations and over 130 sound files. There is also an expansion pack if you need more smoke and fire effects. The base package with the instructor's license and manual is running $1499 right now with student licenses running $159. You can check the

Video: Car Crashes Into Fire Station

Earlier this week two cars crashed in front of a New Hampshire fire station. One of the cars was deflected and crashed right into the Pelham fire station. Three firefighters near the station doors heard the car coming and luckily got out of the way in time.

Build A Fire Truck With The Kids At Lowes: Saturday, Sept 26

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Fire Prevention Week will be here soon.  Lowes Build and Grow Clinics allow you to work on a project with the kids.  Bring the kids into any Lowe's store and build a FREE wooden project. Each participant also receives a free apron, goggles, a project themed patch and a merit certification upon completion of their project. This Saturday, Sept. 26 the project is a fire engine.  It looks really neat.  For more information  and to sign up for this project, go to www.lowescreativeideas.com .

Yvorra Leadership Development Foundation Scholarship for Fire and EMS

The Yvorra Leadership Development Foundation (YLD) annual scholarship is now accepting applications and is open to all active members of the fire & rescue and EMS. The organization was founded in 1988 in memory of Deputy Fire Chief James G. Yvorra, who was killed in the line of duty. Since that time, YLD has awarded $88,000 in scholarships to members of the fire and emergency medical services. Jim Yvorra was a Deputy Chief with the Berwyn Heights (Maryland) Volunteer Fire Department and a nationally recognized author and editor in the fields of fire, hazardous materials, and emergency medical services. He died in the line of duty when he was accidentally struck by a car while investigating an accident scene on Interstate 95 near Washington, D.C., in January 1988. The application deadline for is October 5th. Applicants can fill out an application online or you can download an application. For more information go to www.yld.org

Most realistic Fire Training Simulator ever!!!!!!

If you are a seasoned firefighter, recruit or anywhere in between, you need to experience the Swede Flashover Simulator if you haven’t yet. The Swede Flashover Simulator lets you observe (Phase 1) and experience the progressive stages of fire and the heat that is generated as the fire builds to the Flashover and have the opportunity to apply fire stream applications you have been taught (Phase 2). Being able to accomplish these task all while meeting NFPA 1403 safety requirements is a challenging task for Fire Instructors in today’s world. Firefighter training accomplished through repetition is the guaranteed way for the firefighter to learn how to act when the need arises. The Swede Flashover Simulator lets you as the instructor repeat training evolutions in about 5 minutes for each evolution and to allow the fire to return to the free burn state. The Swede Flashover Simulator is just one component of the Swede Survival System by Dräger Safety can be configured in different ways.

August 2009 Pierce Firetruck New Deliveries

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Just checking out who got a new truck last month. Pierce list their new truck deliveries here if you want to see all the pictures. Department: St. Matthews Fire District. St. Matthews, KY Job Number: 21948 Category: Aerials Chassis: Arrow XT™ Body: 100' Super Heavy Duty Ladder Overall Height: 11' 2" Engine: Cummins ISM Horse Power: 500 Generator: Harrison hydraulic Key Features: Remote Winch under front bumper, basket & roof ladder on aerial Department: Indian River County Fire Rescue. Vero Beach, FL Job Number: 22157 Category: Pumpers Chassis: Impel™ Overall Height: 9' 11" Engine: Cummins Horse Power: 425 Pump GPM: 1250 Tank GPM: 750 Department: Clark County Fire Department. Las Vegas, NV Job Number: 21801-01 & 21801-02 Category: Pumpers Cha

Video: Inside Italian Fire Engine as It Hit's Car

I always like to check out the European fire engines. I have visited and driven Italy's narrow streets in a tiny Fiat and can't even imagine how difficult it would be driving anything bigger. Well in this video it becomes clear. About mid-way into the video the truck hits a white BMW. The funniest part is they don't stop and keep going.

Video: Fireman vs Policeman pt.6

I know this is a little old, but I just stumbled across these fireman vs. policeman videos on youtube and they are hysterical. Dude, why do girls love firemen. Don't know and don't care. Check this one out. It is pretty funny.

Magnetic Door Chock for Firefighters

I came across this website http://magneticchock.homestead.com/ the other day by accident. A firefighter/paramedic has designed a magnetic chock that covers the strike plate of a door to keep the door from latching. The magnets are placed so the chock works on both residential and commercial doors. The chock also has cut-outs so it can be used to prop the door open. I have added the video below so you can see how the chock works. It looks pretty interesting, but I have not used it. It looks like it could help speed search and rescue time by allowing you to chock the door open and not having to worry about it. If anyone has used the chock, please let us know what you think by leaving a comment.

World Response Conference on Global Outbreak (WRCGO - 2009: H5N1 + H1N1 Flu)

I received an email today about the upcoming World Response Conference on Global Outbreak. The conference is being held on November 12 -13, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Here is a highlight from the brochure: World Response Conference on Global Outbreak is the first practical conference to highlight the first real-time test on global and domestic preparedness in the aspect of prevention, protection, response, and recovery. The global and national critical infrastructure is threatened by the latest WHO declaration of Pandemic Level Alert Phase 6. WRCGO 2009 is a spearhead of convergence to address the leadership roles and responsibilities for an influenza pandemic, to test and exercise the mechanism of coordination, to strengthen the performance monitoring and accountability, between federal, state, and local governments and the private sector in preparing and responding for a pandemic. At the conference, the attendees will gain confidence in managing the risk not only to their own co

Live Fire Training Simulator for Firefighters

Automation controls are helping firefighters get the full training experience without the danger. With the ability to monitor the smoke machines, the sprinklers, the temperature in the training environment trainers can automatically shut down the system when circumstances become dangerous, something that one could not do a few years ago training in old abandoned buildings. Interviews with Frank Corregio, Boca Raton Fire Rescue Services, Rick Egelin, founder, Fireblast 451, Tom Kopanski, Siemens, Elizabeth Moran, firefighter.

Emergency Reporting Awarded U.S. Marine Corp Contract

Emergency Reporting has announced it has been awarded a contract to provide fire, EMS and risk assessment reporting and records management services for the US Marie Corp.  According to the press release the services will include web-based NFIRS 5.1 and NEMSIS compliant incident reporting, as well as training, apparatus maintenance, hydrants and other modules required for daily operations. Emergency Reporting (Reporting Systems, Inc.) is a privately held Washington State corporation which was established January 2003. Emergency Reporting provides centralized web-based NFIRS, NEMSIS and risk assessment reporting and records management system. The solution supports fire rescue, EMS agencies, Navy, Marines, Army, nuclear power facilities, airports, ambulance services, hospitals, oil refineries, and multi-agency districts internationally. Because the system is web based, it reduces and even eliminates the costs normally paid by a department to manage hardware, software and networks ne

Top Ten Emergency Items From Nitro-Pak

You know we all see natural and man made disasters on the news everyday. Some of you may have even been caught off guard and been unprepared when disaster has hit your home. Our family lives in the South and after some severe hurricanes passed through our area a few years ago, my wife and I decided we would not get caught without supplies in the house again. You probably would have thought that as an emergency responder, I would have been someone who was always prepared. Well, I always am at work, but on my days off I don't always think about getting things prepared around the house. A guy that works for me at the station told me about which carries all kinds of preparedness supplies. I think they really have some great stuff. Here is just a sample of their top 10 bestselling items: 1. SPACE Blanket, These are the ORIGINAL, one and only, USA MADE SPACE® Brand blankets (Space Blanket) invented for NASA as external insulation on all space vehicles. Packaged specifically f

Firefighting Robot

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I found these pictures of a firefighting robot at Hacked Gadgets . The Brazilian company ARMTEC has created this firefighting robot. The SACI (Incidents Support Combat System) robot brings the firehose directly into the fire or sprays water or foam from 60 meters. The robot can work for 3 hours before it needs a recharge.