Firerescue201609 DL

Devoted to the Interests of Firefighters Worldwide
September 2016 Connect with us at FirefighterNation.com

1609FR_C1 1
8/22/16 8:29 AM
STARTING AT
$289,898
CUSTOM PUMPER
Intruder2 Chassis, Cummins ISL9 - 330 HP
Heavy duty extruded aluminum body
Hale QMAX 1500 GPM side mount pump
1000 gallon poly water tank
LEARN MORE ONLINE
www.ferrarafire.com/stock
See available stock chassis and prices available for 60-90 quick build
Save money with one of our available purchase contracts
Watch Chief Mace discuss purchasing a quick build from Ferrara
Contact us to answer questions and help you get started
www.ferrarafire.com/stock | 800-443-9006
1609FR_C2 2
8/22/16 8:29 AM
COMMERCIAL PUMPER
COMMERCIAL TANKER
Price and details online
COMMERCIAL RESCUE
HD-77 LADDER
HD-100 PLATFORMS
HD-107 LADDER

TRU
TRUCKS SHOWN
TIONAL
OWN MAY FEAT
URE OPTIO
NAL EQUIP
UIPMEN
UIP
MENT
MEN
TURE
firerescue.hotims.com
1609FR_1 1
8/22/16 8:29 AM
September 2016
Volume 34, Issue 9
To subscribe, visit
www.firefighternation.com
s
e
r
u
t
a
e
F
42 PPA Deconstructed
64
58 Polands Big Investment
What UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute experiments reveal about ventilation.
Recently intensified efforts to overhaul the countrys fire services result

in investment in gear, stations, and salaries.
By Nick Ledin
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
49 Roll-Down Security Gates, Part 3

Choosing the appropriate entry tactics for roll-down gates and the techniques
to cut different types of gates.
61 Ethical Leadership
Six pillars of character and other qualities of ethical leaders.
By Paul DeBartolomeo
54 Apparatus Technology
By Dave Donohue
64 Russian Fire Service Reform
What the apparatus manufacturers unveiled at FDIC International 2016

in terms of trucks and truck technology and associated equipment.
Reform aims to significantly improve firefighting operations and systems.

By Eugene Gerden
By Bob Vaccaro
58
F ire r escue M agazine September 2016
1609FR_2 2
61
F ireFighterNatioN .com
8/22/16 8:19 AM
THE EVOLUTION OF TURNOUT GEAR CONTINUES.

G-XTREME 3.0 NOW WITH NOMEX NANO.
NOMEX NANO thermal barrier

material is thinner, lighter,
more flexible, more breathable,
and quicker drying
Lower collar, deeper neck opening, and

hanging throat tab never get in your way
Retailored fit
in the chest
and sleeves for
unrestricted
mobility for even
the most athletic
firefighter
AXTION Back and
AXTION Sleeve let
you make all the
right moves
The only turnout

gear that comes
in SHAPES to fit
your body like
never before
At Globe, we never stop innovating. Retailored from collar to cuff to provide even less restriction,
G-XTREME 3.0 is the latest evolution of our original breakthrough design. Learn more at globeturnoutgear.com
A T H L E T I C G E A R F O R F I R E F I G H T E R S .T M
GLOBE, G-XTREME, AXTION, and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of Globe Holding Company, LLC.DUPONT, NOMEX, and designs are trademarks or registered
trademarks of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company or its af liates.
1609FR_3 3
8/22/16 8:19 AM
nts
e
m
t
r
a
Dep
8 From the Editor
Managing your operational capital.
22
16
By Erich Roden
Fires of note from September 1916.

By Paul Hashagen
10 ToolsNewsTechniques
38 From the Chiefs Desk
The most recent NFPA LODD report.
Use self-assessment to capitalize on strengths.
By Nathaniel J. Melby
By Ronny J. Coleman
14 Nozzlehead
40 Thermal Imaging
Of booth babes and calendar girls.
Training on camera basics.
By Billy Goldfeder
By Carl Nix
16 Apparatus Ideas
Elmont (NY) Fire Department refurb apparatus.
By Bob Vaccaro
22 Fire Attack
Commercial building metal deck roof fires.
By Greg Jakubowski
26 Wildland Urban Interface

Strategies for making WUI incidents safer.
By Jennifer DeShon
34 Hump Day S.O.S.

Boosting organizational and individual morale.
By David Rhodes
COVER: Fire Department of New York Tower Ladder 44 positions its bucket to the sixth floor of an occupied
H-type multiple dwelling in the Bronx. Fires in such dwellings are difficult because of building size and the potential for
numerous wings that are attached as segments by narrow public hallways with apartments known as the throat of
the building. The truck companys inside team must locate, define, and control the fire apartment door while the outside
team checks the roof and floors above for extension. These buildings usually have a common cockloft, and once fire
enters this space the potential for rapid, horizontal fire spread can occur. Firefighters on the roof must prepare to make a
trench cut if they anticipate fire spread between wings. This is best accomplished by making the trench cut in the throat
area between wings. Truck companies should also anticipate pulling much of the top-floor ceilings to locate and define
the extension of fire in the cockloft, and tower ladders must optimally position to cover at least two sides of the wings
of the fire building, as seen in this photo. (Photo by Matt Daly.)
36 Distant Fires
1609FR_4 4
68 Health and Wellness

Perform a size-up of your health and
make small changes.
By Jordan Ponder
71 Community Risk Reduction

Smoke alarms/nuisance alarms and solutions.
By Jim Crawford
73 New Deliveries
73 New Products
74 Classifieds
75 Ad Index
76 The Backstep
Remembering others who died in 2001.
By Matthew Tobia
8/22/16 8:19 AM
1609FR_5 5
8/22/16 8:19 AM
M A G A Z I N E
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHING DIRECTOR
Eric Schlett - erics@pennwell.com
ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
Ted Billick; tedb@pennwell.com; 801-262-1871

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Bobby Halton - roberth@pennwell.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF
Erich Roden - erichr@pennwell.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Diane Rothschild - dianer@pennwell.com

SENIOR EDITOR
Kindra Sclar - kindras@pennwell.com
MEDIA SALES CONSULTANT, WESTERN REGION
Erin Moriarty; emoriarty@pennwell.com; 208-309-2747

MEDIA SALES CONSULTANT, NORTHEAST
Anthony Maglionico; anthonym@pennwell.com; 973-251-5073

MEDIA SALES CONSULTANT, EAST & MIDWEST
Ted Billick; tedb@pennwell.com; 801-262-1871

MEDIA SALES CONSULTANT, SOUTHEAST
Tim Tolton; ttolton@pennwell.com; 678-974-2472
ONLINE NEWS/BLOG MANAGER
Bill Carey - billc@pennwell.com

EDITORIAL ADVISORS
AND CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS
Les Baker, Jim Crawford, Billy Goldfeder,

Todd Harms, Angela Hughes, Greg Jakubowski,
Rhoda Mae Kerr, Joseph Knitter, Tom Lakamp,
Stephen Marsar, Jordan Ponder, Forest Reeder,
Homer Robertson, Tiger Schmittendorf,
Peter Silva Jr., Matt Tobia,
Bob Vaccaro, Becki White
ART DIRECTOR
Josh Troutman - josht@pennwell.com

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Rae Lynn Cooper - raec@pennwell.com

VICE PRESIDENT,
PENNWELL MARKETING SERVICES
Paul Andrews
marketingservices@pennwell.com; 240-595-2352
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
FOR ASSISTANCE WITH MARKETING STRATEGY

OR AD CREATION, PLEASE CONTACT
PENNWELL MARKETING SOLUTIONS
Vice President Paul Andrews

(240) 595-2352; pandrews@pennwell.com
CHAIRMAN
Robert F. Biolchini
VICE CHAIRMAN
Frank T. Lauinger
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Mark C. Wilmoth
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT,
CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY
Jayne A. Gilsinger
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE
AND CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Brian Conway
FOUNDING PUBLISHER
James O. Page, 19362004
Amanda Landsaw - amandal@pennwell.com

DIRECTOR OF EPRODUCTS
SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT
Scott Nelson - scottn@pennwell.com
Phone 847-763-9540 / fr@halldata.com
DIGITAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR
REPRINTS, EPRINTS & LICENSING
Erin Northrop - erinn@pennwell.com
Rae Lynn Cooper

raec@pennwell.com / 918-831-9143
www.pennwell.com
FireRescue
4180 La Jolla Village Dr., Suite 260
La Jolla, CA 92037-9142
Phone 800-266-5367 or 973-251-5077
Fax 858-638-2601
www.firefighternation.com
1609FR_6 6
FireFighterNatioN .com
8/22/16 8:19 AM
1609FR_7 7
8/22/16 8:19 AM
From the Editor
Managing Your Operational Capital

Apparatus, equipment, and SOPs
help protect human resources
By Erich Roden
Connect with Erich!

Stay in touch with
Erich Roden
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/
ErichRodenFRM
very municipality has some type of human

resource department. Some enjoy their visits to
this place and others would rather drive into a
tree on the way there, but theres always a purpose
for these visits: managing human capital in an organization. And most fire departments employ some
type of administrative position in the organization
that manages this capital, be it an executive-level
chief officer or civilian. The fire chief, however, has
to manage all of the fire departments operational
capital. Although our human resources are the most
important, in the fire department, our apparatus,
equipment, and standard operating procedures
(SOPs) should also be considered important as they
support our human capitalboth firefighters and
the civilians we are sworn to protect. Lets refer to
all of the above as our operational capital.
This month in FireRescue, we show you what we
mean by this capital: how other countries manage tough human resource decisions, why we cant
afford not to buy certain safety systems for our
people, how to take care of the health and wellness of our human resources, how not to take care
of morale when its down for the count in the
organization, what to expect in future apparatus
design, and how those of us in the wildland-urban
interface (WUI) environment need to know how to
incorporate Mayday and retreat strategies to protect
the most important capitalour people. So how
did we manage to pack it all in this month? Let me
show you.
Well start across the pond this month with our
brothers and sisters in Poland and Russia. Poland
and Russia have taken a nationalized approach to
fire service reforms by looking at ways to invest in
new gear, firehouses, and salaries for their firefighters. Years of underinvestment have led to investment from the European Union in Poland and
nationally in Russia to streamline the modernization and success of their fire departments. Although
tough decisions had to be made to shift financial
resources to where they were needed most (to their
people), were anxious to see how they emerge after
their respective overhauls. But we also need to
ensure we shift the right financial resources to our
1609FR_8 8
own people here in the United States, too.

Like the management of an incident scene,
intentional, purposeful action that begins with
conducting a scene size-up, establishing goals,
and implementing small consistent changes will
see dramatic results. The Milwaukee Fire Departments Jordan Ponder makes a great correlation
between managing incidents and the health of
our human capital. Human capital is our obvious
principal focus, but when everything we are able
to do wont work, it may be time to get out of the
way of the problem.
Jennifer DeShon brings us a compelling story of
a WUI fire that challenges the notion of committing human capital when its actually time to go.
Read her amazing story and youll get a tremendous perspective of how much were actually in
harms way and how much worse it can get.
David Rhodes brings us a very telling Hump
Day S.O.S. that asks us to really think about the
control measures we attempt to incorporate when
we try to solve morale issues. Sometimes, we fail to
see that our efforts to fix the problem may not just
be masking the problemthey may be painting
over it.
Dont let good intentions become misguided.
Rather, these intentions will come to fruition
naturally if we take care of the root problems first.
We also tend to let good intentions fail us when
we spend our financial capital on apparatus. Each
community has its own needs, and manufacturers have stepped up to provide us with myriad
solutions to our apparatus needs. So where do we
even begin to see whats out there that we may
need? How about the Fire Department Instructors
Conference (FDIC) International?
Bob Vaccaro takes us back to the floor of FDIC
International 2016 to introduce us to whats new in
apparatus design, innovation, and performance.
Come read what he found and what youll find for
your own organization that will not only transport
your human capital to an emergency but help
support it to ensure that our civilian capital gets its
moneys worth from its fire departments operational capital.
8/22/16 8:19 AM
Smaller, lighter,
now with anti-panic
EXO AP
Personal escape system with anchor hook
Originally designed in collaboration with the FDNY to create a safe and reliable solution for
rapid egress from a multi-story structure. The new EXO AP is smaller, lighter, and features an
anti-panic function to reduce the risk of overspeeding a descent during a bailout emergency.
www.petzl.com
1609FR_9 9
8/22/16 8:19 AM
Tools News Techniques

Equipment
How To
Training
People
News
Web & Media
Events
Firefighter
Fatalities
The NFPAs 2015 report

By Nathaniel J. Melby
ccording to the report Firefighter Fatalities in the

United States2015 issued by the National Fire
Protection Association (NFPA), in 2015, 68 firefighters
died while on duty in the United States. Over the past
10 years, the annual average number of deaths is 81, and
for the fourth time in the past five years, the total number of deaths has been below 70. Of the 68 firefighters
who died while on duty, 32 were volunteer firefighters,
24 were career firefighters, six were federal land management agency employees, one was a state land management agency employee, one was a state prison inmate,
and one was a civilian employee of the military.1
In 2015, three multiple fatality incidents occurred.
An apparatus crash at a wildland fire claimed three
wildland firefighters, a helicopter crash killed two
contract firefighters at a prescribed burn, and two firefighters were killed when a wall collapsed at a structure
fire. In addition, one firefighter was murdered when
a motorist deliberately struck and killed him during a
fundraiser, and another firefighter died from suicide
while on duty.
1977-2015
The NFPA measures on-duty fatalities as any injury sustained in the line of duty that is fatal or becomes fatal, any
illness as a result of on-duty actions that becomes fatal, and
fatal accidents involving nonemergency occupational hazards taking place while on duty. Most often, injuries take
place on an incident scene, in training, or while responding
to or returning from alarms. The firefighters considered
in the study are career and volunteer, state and federal
including seasonal and full-time or contracted, firefighting
prison inmate crews, military personnel, civilians working
at military installations, and industrial fire brigades.
The NFPA report includes data from historical studies
from 1977 to the present. Some of the key findings of this
report include the following:
10
1609FR_10 10
Sudden cardiac death is a major threat to firefighters. It is imperative that firefighters rest, recover, and rehab after both training and
working on the fireground. (Photo by author.)
In four of the past five years, the total number of

deaths has been below 70. Historically, this number
had been higher, closer to 100 per year. This demonstrates a notable reduction.
A marked decrease in deaths among volunteer firefighters was noted, averaging half as many deaths in
the past five years as the first decade of research.
Road vehicle crashes are reduced in recent years, but
it is too early to define the trend as statistically solid.
A high percentage of cardiac deaths exist, accounting for more than half of the on-duty deaths.
It was noted that violence against firefighters is not as
rare as broadly perceived, as 22 firefighters have been
assaulted while on duty since 1996.
The trend of on-duty firefighter deaths has been
steadily decreasing since 1977, with the exception of
2001s World Trade Center deaths, which are considered to be a statistical outlier. At 1978s peak, 174
firefighters died on duty, compared to 68 firefighters in
2015. This is a 61 percent reduction over 38 years.
CAUSES OF FATALITIES
By nature of injury, sudden cardiac death is the leading cause (51 percent). Internal trauma and crushing
are second (24 percent), followed by asphyxiation (13
percent), stroke or aneurysm (six percent), burns (three
percent), and other (three percent).
Firefighter death rates for sudden cardiac death
showed a demonstrable increase in firefighters at higher
8/22/16 8:19 AM
FIND IT @
Rosenbauer ARFF Simulator

By Bob Vaccaro
Rosenbauer has designed a portable simulator for
its PANTHER line of aircraft rescue and firefighting
(ARFF) vehicles that can be transported to airport ARFF
facilities around the world. The great part is that an
airport ARFF facility that orders a new vehicle or vehicles
can start training on the operation of the new vehicle
way before it takes delivery. This makes it more cost
effective by not burning fuel using a real ARFF vehicle
or sending numerous firefighters to a training facility off
site for the same training that can be performed on site.
Read more about the simulator here:
www.firefighternation.com/author/bob-vaccaro
Laddering with Purpose
Photo of the Month
MyFFN member Larry Curtis

posted a photo of the fire
service honoring one of the
fallen. In this photo, it is
the last ride for a brother of
the fire service. Firefighters
serve their community with
strength and courage and are
willing to lay down their lives
to save others. The loss of a
fire service brother or sister is
heartbreaking, and members
of the fire service do all they
can to honor those who have lost their lives. Do you have shots
of your department honoring fallen firefighters? Remember,
FirefighterNation.com is the place to share your fire service
photos and videos with more than 60,000 members!
Its Easy to Share!
Did you know that all FireRescue articles

are available online? You can access the
complete issue each month online. Bookmark your favorite authors, share articles
with your firefighters, or enjoy reading on
your smartphone or tablet. Scan the QR
code to visit the FireRescue magazine pages today!
Like us on Facebook:
facebook.com/firefighternation
1609FR_11 11
Follow us on Twitter:
twitter.com/firenation
What prevents fire departments from throwing ground ladders

or aerials? Why do ground ladders remain on the apparatus
and aerials remain in their beds at fire calls? Why are RIT
teams allowed to stand around like yard gnomes, not being
proactive? And on that same vein, if two in, two out is your
thing, how can we justify the two-out members standing in
the front yard contributing nothing to the overall operation?
Find out the answers to these questions and many more in
this series of writings from the blog Firefighter Basics:
www.firefighternation.com/article/training-0/laddering-purpose
Featured Blog: Not Just Another Fire
Ben Peetz, a 20-year-veteran of the fire

service, works as a loss prevention specialist and too often found facilities he
interacted with had never had anyone
from the first-due fire department set
foot on the property, let alone give them
any feedback on their emergency
response plans. In response, Peetz
created Not Just Another Fire as an
effort to promote interest and provide education in fire
prevention and suppression activities that go beyond the
scope of the day-to-day or bread and butter operations.
This blog is devoted to the observation and discussion of
those firefighting situations where unique circumstances
demand special training or knowledge. Check it out at:
www.notjustanotherfire.net
Get connected: linkedin.com/

groups?about=&gid=111539
Get the latest from our

Bloggers: FireEMSBlogs.com
S eptember 2016 F ire r escue M agazine
11
8/22/16 8:19 AM
ages, as evidenced by 22 deaths over the age of 51

compared to 13 deaths of firefighters between 20
and 50 years old.
Volunteer firefighters carried the largest share of
on-duty deaths (32 total), although this number
has been reduced in half since 1977. This is the
second lowest total for volunteers, below the annual
average of 42 deaths per year. The total of career
firefighter deaths (24) continues a flat trend over
the past decade, with the exception of an increase
in 2007 because of a single nine-fatality incident in
Charleston, South Carolina.
STRATEGIES FOR REDUCTION

This ongoing research by the NFPA draws several
conclusions that are valuable as we continue to attempt
to reduce line-of-duty deaths in the fire service:
Overexertion, stress, and strain continue to be
leading causes of deaths.
We continue to see a downward trend overall,
indicating that efforts to improve safety are having some level of success.
Cardiac deaths are a majority of the deaths (51
percent).
Crashes are usually the second-highest share of
deaths, although 2015 had the second lowest
number of crash deaths in the past 39 years (six
deaths in four crashes).
Deaths because of long-term exposures are not
yet estimated because of limitations in tracking
the exposures and potential for long-term effects.
12
1609FR_12 12
Emotional health is emerging as a trend that

should be considered as a part of fire service fatality problem analysis.
The NFPA also states that there are other
organizations that report line-of-duty deaths using
different definitions and criteria, including the
United States Fire Administration and the National
Fallen Firefighters Foundation. When reviewing
reported deaths, it is important to consider the
definitions for accurate comparison.
Authors note: Find the full report at www.nfpa.
org/news-and-research/fire-statistics-and-reports/
fire-statistics/the-fire-service/fatalities-and-injuries/
firefighter-fatalities-in-the-united-states.
REFERENCE
1. Fahy, R.F., LeBlanc, P.R., and Molis, J.L. Firefighter Fatalities in the
United States- 2015, National Fire Protection Association, 2015.
Nathaniel J. Melby is a 19-year veteran of the fire service and
chief of the Campbell (WI) Fire Department. He serves on the
Board of Directors of the Wisconsin State Fire Chiefs Association and is the president of the La Crosse County Fire Officers
Association. A Wisconsin-certified fire instructor, Melby has a
bachelors degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,
an M.B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and a
Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University. He has developed and
taught graduate and undergraduate courses in management and
technology at multiple universities and has a full-time career in
technology management for a large global enterprise.
8/22/16 8:19 AM
MADE IN
USA
1609FR_13 13
8/22/16 8:19 AM
Nozzlehead
Love Those Calendar Girls

Sexualized representation
at exhibit booths and in calendars
By Billy Goldfeder
A note from Billy G: We received a few letters

in the past 90 days about us boys and girls in the
fire service, specifically about behavior as well as
exhibit displays at conventions and conferences, sex
at the shows, the beautiful sexy calendar, scantily
clad bunker gear babesyou know, all that stuff.
I have addressed this before but I thought given
recent issues, headlines, and social media, I would
address it again. Enjoy!
Dear Nozzlehead,
cal appearance to attract men to the booth. And

some of them are not firefighters but rather just hot
women hired by the company to display their bodies to get firefighters to take a look.
Because I feel the same way about this issue now
as I did several years ago, what follows is an excerpt
from the April 2003 Nozzlehead column, Fire
Hotties:
w
m a regional fire sho
I just came back fro
m,
gra
pro
l
coo
a
s
t it wa
and, while I though
eral exhibitor booths
I was surprised at sev
ng
women, some claimi
that had half-dressed
and
ths
boo
ir
rking the
to be firefighters, wo
t of
ies. Im confused. Par
bod
ir
the
g
yin
pla
dis
me felt
of
t
par
and
m
the
me loved looking at
of
tainly doesnt give any
it was stupid. It cer
s.
ter
figh
fire
are
y truly
them credibility if the
h
wit
l
dea
the
ats
Maybe its me, but wh
se women show off
exhibitors having the
s at fire conferences?
end
r
rea
their front and
g at them (includHonestly, I love lookin
chicks), but I am so
ing the hot calendar
ed messages between
mix
confused about the
being
station, firefighters
the shows, the fire
with
e
ubl
tro
in
s getting
offended, firefighter
at!
re
sta
to
at
wh
w
kno
the laws, etc. I dont
do
Conflicted in Colora
Dear Conflicted,
Over the years, others have written very similar
letters, and my response has not changed. While I
joke about a lot of stuff and try and keep things in
perspective, quite frankly, the more I see women
firefighters posing at these shows, the more I have
difficulty accepting the role of those women in the
fire and rescue service. Thats just how I feel.
There is absolutely no reason for those women
firefighters (or pretenders) to be dressed the way
they are other than to exploit themselves. And
while exploiting their gender may be good in some
cases, in this case they are strictly using their physi-
14
1609FR_14 14
I have attended fire shows for nearly 35 years

and have always gained information and knowledge
from the items on display. I also enjoy watching the
many different methods the exhibitors use to sell
their products. They remind me of those old Wild
West or turn-of-the-century movies where different
community businesses did whatever it took to attract
customersearly marketing strategies. Sometimes
they would display a nice wooden sign with the word
Saloon and a drawing of a beer carved into it. Others
would show off a striped pole, indicating the business
was a barbershop. Still, others had women lounging
around on the front porch or hanging out a window
with their front-end discharges busting out of their
dresses and blouses.
Were they advertising? Ya think? They

were advertising what they had for sale, or
should I say what their business owners
were pimping (er, selling). Marketing. Like
it or not, thats the way it was and sometimes still is. And thats exactly what some
of the exhibitors look like at almost all of the fire
shows and conferences.
Vendors at professional fire service trade shows
arent advertising women for the same purposes
as mentioned above. So then, what are they using
these women for? Lets focus on what exhibitors
have to dosurround their booths with Kimmy
Ks twin cousinsto get some of us to look at their
booths and accidentally see their products. To me,
thats the issue.
Many excellent fire service manufacturers and
sellers exist. The majority in the business spent
years developing their products to ensure they
will make a difference in our jobs. With that said,
there are also a lot of crummy products out there
8/22/16 8:19 AM
that can only be sold using extreme marketing

your chief on the othersort of like the devil and
tactics, such as having Miss Fewclothes 2016 stand
the angel. Or having your wife, partner, husband,
in front of the booth so some boys and some girls
daughters, or Granny with you, watching you all
will pay attention to their product. Simply put:
the time. Now, with them watching, whats the best
If manufacturers have to use a woman (and thats
way to behave, operate, sell, or market?
exactly what theyre doing, using the woman) to
spark interest in their product, they may want to
Got a fire service question or complaint?
reconsider the products value.
Let Nozzlehead hear all about it.
Hell answer you with 2,000 psi of free-flowing opinion.
When I brought up this point to a vendor, he
Send your letters to:
said, Just look at them lining up at our booth!
Nozzlehead, c/o FireRescue
PennWell Corp.
OK, Kanye, yeah, they line up but not to see
21-00 Route 208 South
your turnout coat. They line up to see Miss
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
Attn: Diane Rothschild
Scantily Clad 2016. The vendor went on to say,
(dianer@pennwell.com)
Yeah, but once we have them in the booth, we
can sell, sell, sell! I doubt it. Ill bet
those arent the decision makers. Sure,
a few firefighters who dont get out
much may become overwhelmed by
that womans features and get conned
into buying that vendors stuff, but
they are few and far between. In fact,
dont be naive. Quite frankly, in 2016
there are numerous fire department
leaders who will absolutely NOT look
at a product for that reason.
I AM SO CONFUSED.
Another concern you mentioned is the
skin calendars. Some manufacturers allow
calendar girls and boys to use their booths
to sell their calendars for charity. Some
official fire department foundations even
do it to raise money. I understand that
the charities are operating to raise money
for burn victims and related good causes.
But heres the deal: In one newspaper
article, I read that a firefighter is upset
and suing because he was/is offended by
these kinds of pictures at the firehouse.
On the other hand, the same fire departments foundation is selling pictures of
A 55-year-old male has collapsed in
half-naked Bobby Buttocks and Betty
Boobs in bunker gear. Confused? Join the
front of his family. Few of your calls are
rest of us.
cardiac arrest, but you know you have to
Am I against women, men, and manuperform the highest quality CPR to maximize your patients chances
facturers having the right to do this?
for survival. With two-minute cycles, even the best rescuer fatigues.
Well, this is America. Do what you want
The ZOLL X Series with Real CPR Help indicates when its
with anticipated results. Do I think its
offensive? These days, it seems everytime to change rescuers so your team can provide the CPR
thing offends someone, and its a shame
everyone deserves.
that weve become that sensitive in some
cases. However, with so many good
women and other nontraditional fire
Insight for informed decisions.
service members working hard to simply
www.zoll.com/cardiacarrest
succeed, this doesnt help the cause at all.
Not at all.
Sometimes deciding the right or wrong
2015 ZOLL Medical Corporation, Chelmsford, MA, USA. Real CPR Help, X Series, and ZOLL are trademarks
in all of this is as simple as imagining
or registered trademarks of ZOLL Medical Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. MCN EP 1510 0123
your Mom on one of your shoulders and
Is he receiving the kind of CPR

his family deserves?
1609FR_15 15
September 2016 F ire r escue M agazine
15
8/22/16 8:19 AM
Apparatus Ideas
Refurb Is the Way to Go

Elmont (NY) works to keep an apparatus around
By Bob Vaccaro
ust about every fire department in the country has felt a budget crunch in the past several
years. Most are trying to do more with less.
With regard to apparatus, replacing vehicles way
before the 20-year mark or more seems to be the
way to goif you can afford it.
Some fire departments have the luxury of keeping
frontline apparatus for 20 years and then putting
them into reserve status. Keeping a vehicle in action
depends on the workload the vehicle sees in its life
span, and most major cities replace apparatus way
before this time frame.
However, I am beginning to see a pattern with
some local fire districts trying to replace 10- to
12-year-old apparatus that are in good shape to
gain a better resale value or refurbing the vehicle to
extend its life span.
ELMONT FIRE DEPARTMENT

One of these fire departments is the Elmont Fire
Department (EFD) located on Long Island, New
York. The EFD is a larger volunteer fire department
located in Western Nassau County, which borders
the borough of Queens and the Fire Department of
New York. The area served is primarily suburban,
with a population of 48,000 in six square miles.
The department operates four engines, one tower
To read more
from Bob Vaccaro,

visit www.firefighternation.
com/author/bob-vaccaro.
16
1609FR_16 16
ladder, one tractor-drawn aerial (TDA), and a spare

rearmount. It also operates a heavy rescue and an
EMS company with two ambulances out of seven
stations. Aside from the usual single-family dwellings, strip malls, restaurants, and schools, it also
protects the world famous Belmont Race Track.
The department had its first TDA back in 1926,
which consisted of an old tractor and trailer of
unknown origin. It had gotten away from this type
Spartan ERV TDA Specs

Spartan Gladiator ELD chassis.
100-foot steel aerial with a 100-foot vertical
reach and a 95-foot horizontal reach.
Cab and body collision interlock safety system.
Rotational limited safety system.
550-hp Cummins ISX15 engine.
Allison EVS 400 transmission.
Solid-state electrical system.
ABS/ATC/ESC braking system with 17-inch
front disc and rear drum brakes.
20-kW Stucco Genet.
Refrigerator for rehab.
2 Holmatro systems.
Whelan LED light package.
Groeneveld auxiliary lubrication system.
Elmonts 2015 Spartan/ERV refurbed TDA.

It was originally built as a Spartan/LTI.
(Photos by author.)
8/22/16 8:17 AM
UNSTOPPABLE
RACE AGAINST TIME TO SAVE LIVES, EMERGENCY RESPONDERS REQUIRE
UNRELENTING POWER AND SPEED. WITH THE LARGEST SPREAD AND SUPERIOR CUT RATING, THE
IN THE
SC 757E2 COMBI TOOL BY HURST JAWS OF LIFE IS THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL COMBI TOOL ON THE RESCUE MARKET.
BATTERY-POWERED AND LIGHTNING FAST, START EVERY RESCUE WITH THE UNSTOPPABLE.
STARRING
STARRING
STARRING
POWER SPEED LARGEST SPREAD
8 0 0 . 5 3 7. 2 6 5 9 7 11 N . P O S T R O A D S H E L B Y, N C 2 815 0 J A W S O F L I F E . C O M
F E AT U R I N G T H E
SC 757E2 COMBI TOOL
B UILT T O E X T E ND L I V E S
1609FR_17 17
8/22/16 8:17 AM
Apparatus
Ideas
Right: Forcible entry tools

and a water extinguisher are
mounted on the rear of both
sides of the cab for easy
access.
Far right: An extra complement of ground ladders in the
rear of the truck.
of vehicle until 2004, when it purchased a new

Spartan/LTI.
According to former chief and current department public information officer Mike Capoziello,
the department decided to go with a TDA because
of extremely tight streets in the older parts of the
district, as well as a problem with the dense population of people who park their cars on most streets
at night, making it more difficult to maneuver
standard double-rear-axle ladders around.
VEHICLE REFURB
Fast forward to 2015. The department usually
tries to replace apparatus every 10 years if possible,
according to former chief Brian Schriefer, who was
on the apparatus replacement committee. We try
to accomplish this to get a better resale value for
whatever we are replacing, he explains.
The district and committee had a manufacturer
look at the 2004 TDA, and the manufacturer

thought that the vehicle was in great shape. The
committee decided to refurb and save a great deal
of money. We still had to go out for competitive bidding, with Spartan ERV winning the bid,
Schriefer says, which we were happy with, since we
dealt with Spartan previously and like their roomy
cabs.
The refurb involved the manufacturer taking the
cab off the chassis. The manufacturer also removed
the ladder from the body and cleaned and serviced
the aerial. It also rewired the aerial and rearranged
cabinets on the body.
What really made a difference for us was that
they shortened the fifth wheel area by shortening
the cabinets on the cab and moved up the fifth
wheel, Schriefer says. By doing this, they made
the vehicle two feet shorter and made the truck
more maneuverable. The older TDA had a tough
time making it down some of our streets. The
refurbed laddernot at all.
VEHICLE SPECS
Compartments are the same on both sides of the body, holding the same tools.
18
1609FR_18 18
The committee traveled to the Spartan ERV

ladder factory in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, several
times to see the conversion and had some items
changed. We wanted all of our hooks, cans,
and forcible entry tools mounted on the outside
of the body to make them easily accessible,
Schriefer says. They boxed them in on the body
so they would meet National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA) standards. Also, 100-foot
hydraulic lines and two Holmatro tool generators were added to the rig so personnel could
operate rescue tools if needed.
One unique aspect of this vehicle is that the
body is configured so that compartments on both
8/22/16 8:17 AM
The Strion PiggyBack charger and backup

battery works with all Strion flashlights, so
you never run out of light. It charges via USB or
AC/DC and has a specially engineered microUSB interface for a secure connection. The Strion
PiggyBack charger from Streamlight. Because you
dont have time for downtime.
Streamlight.com
2016 Streamlight, Inc.
YOUR WRENCH
NEVER NEEDS
DOWNTIME.
YOUR FLASHLIGHT
SHOULDNT EITHER.
SAVE $20 INSTANTLY WITH PURCHASE OF

A SIDE ZIP DUTY BOOT IN 6 OR 8.
Use promo code FRBOOTS at checkout.
Free Shipping on all domestic orders!
Excludes Waterproof and Safety Toe styles. US Residents Only. Limit 1 Per Customer. Expires 9.30.16.
1609FR_19 19
8/22/16 8:17 AM
Apparatus
Ideas
sides of the truck contain the same tools. This was

done so that no matter what side of the vehicle the
firefighters get off of, the same tools and equipment
are available for easy access.
The cabinets and shelves were rearranged and
reconfigured so that there is added space for
future growth, as you never know what new
tools or equipment might come out in the next
several years. By being proactive in the design,
the department ensured the rig has the added
space.
The EFD has been proactive in the refurb of its
TDA. The apparatus committee did an excellent
job of designing the vehicle for future growth and
tool placement and making the truck more maneu-
Organize your new or existing re apparatus with our

products and services
Add roll out trays and shelves
Install Chanl Panl mounting system
Inquire about new plastic welded storage boxes
Add ChanlPanl
to your next
apparatus
specification
See our products online at www.SenPro.net

1609FR_20 20
verable to operate in the response district.

For all purposes, the department treated this as a
new purchase with its forward-thinking redesign,
as it should be. The committee was able to travel to
the manufacturers factory to talk to the engineers
and make some adjustments and changes while the
vehicle was in the process of being refurbed.
NFPA 1912
If you have an older apparatus and think you
might be able to extend its life, refurbing might be
the way to go for your department. However, you
have to weigh the cost factor, how long the refurb
will extend the life of the vehicle, and if it will
meet NFPA standards when completed. Reading
NFPA 1912, Standard for Fire Apparatus
Refurbishing, is a must before you start the
process.
This standard specifies requirements
for the refurbishing of automotive fire
apparatus used for firefighting and rescue
operations, whether the refurbishing
is done at the fire department, at the
municipal maintenance facilities, or at the
facilities of private contractors or apparatus
manufacturers.
What does NFPA 1912 address?
Detailed guidelines for Level I and Level
II refurbishing cover everything from
carrying capacity to frame; engine design;
cooling, lubrication, fuel, air, and exhaust
systems; fire pump; hose storage; water
tank; and aerial devices. In addition, NFPA
1912 includes provisions for purchaser
and contractor responsibilities, chassis
components, personnel protection, and
governmental requirements.
THE UNKNOWN
You must preplan for the unknown as
well. While the vehicle is being worked on,
will the manufacturer find added problems
that will add to your purchase cost? In the
case of a ladder, will an X-ray of the aerial
find additional problems that need correcting? Does it have cracked chassis rails, etc.?
Only after careful consideration and
investigation can you make a smart
decision on which way you are going to
proceed with your apparatus refurb.
Bob Vaccaro has more than 40 years of fire service
experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (NY)
Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the
Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol,
and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life
member of the IAFC.
FireF ighterNatioN .com
8/22/16 8:17 AM
T3 X
T4 X
Ecl ip se LD X
YOU WANT THE BEST. WEVE GOT THE BEST.

X Factor offers the most flexibility and versatility for your budget and preference.
Upgrade: Upgrade your Bullard to any X Factor for $3,999
Trade-In: Get credit for trading in your old TI
Warranty: Industry-leading, five-year warranty
S EE THE C LA RI T Y.
IN
Learn more at www.bullard.com/xfactorti
UD
LY M
DE
PR
Demo our X Factor Thermal Imagers at

Firehouse Expo Booth #226
THE US
THER MAL IM A G ERS
1609FR_21 21
8/22/16 8:17 AM
Fire Attack
Fighting Fire on the Roof

Commercial building
metal deck roof fires
Most roof fires will require
getting water to the roof.
(Photos by Willie Cirone.)
By Greg Jakubowski
hen a fire occurs on a roof of a commercial

building, it is often a spectacular event.
Thick, black smoke is usually showing,
often from miles away, and at first glance it can
appear that the building itself is well involved in
fire. This may or may not be the case, depending on
what is actually burning. The incident may prove
challenging to handle or may be able to be quickly
controlled if you have done a bit of homework and
know what to expect at the location that is on fire.
Commercial building roofs have a variety of construction types. In this column, I will concentrate
on roofs with one of the most common construction types used in commercial occupancies, the flat
metal deck roof with asphalt or other built-up roof
covering. However, many of the items covered in
this column may apply to roofs of other construction types as well. Ill touch on the construction to
help firefighters understand it a bit more, but the
focus will be more on the tactics needed to fight a
fire involving or on the top of the roof.
CONSTRUCTION
Breaking it down, this roof type starts from the
bottom up with a steel truss that supports everything. The trusses normally rest on columns or walls
to transfer the weight of the roof and anything on it
22
1609FR_22 22
to the foundation and the ground below. This steel

truss is normally exposed to whatever is below it,
whether that is simply open to the occupancy below
or to some type of suspended ceiling that is below
the trusses. If open to below, the roof structure will
be directly exposed to any fire involving the occupancy, presenting the potential to rapidly weaken
the roof support structure. The truss holds up the
decking above, which is most commonly steel,
although it could be of another construction. The
metal deck normally has ribs or channels that can
permit fire to move horizontally under the sheathing, insulation, and weather membrane installed on
top of it. The type and thickness of the insulation
can vary, depending on the climate of the area in
which the building is located.
Insulation, sheathing, and membrane are secured
to the deck by various means including adhesive
(which may be readily combustible) and screws
or other fasteners. Rock or similar ballast may
be placed on top of the membrane material that
is intended to help hold the roof down. The
membrane, asphalt, or other material on the top
is intended to shed water. Roof drains are often
located at various points on the roof surface. These
features are all important for firefighters to understand when responding to fires on these roofs.
8/22/16 8:20 AM
Fires on the roof can involve

the roof itself, items installed
or located on the roof, or both.
Roof structures have some original design parameters that hopefully take into account snow loading
on top of them (where applicable) and perhaps additional top loading with some consideration for things
such as utility services [heating, ventilation, and
air-conditioning (HVAC), sprinkler, other piping]
that may be hung underneath the deck. Over the
buildings life, additional loads may be placed on top
(HVAC equipment, solar or other alternative energy
equipment, and signs) or hung from underneath that
may or may not have been considered in the initial

design. During construction, both construction
materials as well as construction equipment may be
on the roof. There was likely a safety factor considered for this during the initial design, but what that
safety factor actually is must be obtained from the
designer or design documents and is likely not readily known to the normal building occupants or even
facilities operations personnel. Firefighters operating
on the roof also add to the loading.
You may not consider yourself

a hero. But we do!
USSC Valor First Responder Seating Systems have the most advanced
safety engineering features in the industry, providing you with the best!
Ergonomically designed with Single Point Release
activating seat belts and unique SCBA holder
Industry-first, magnetic SCBA shoulder strap support
Optional built-in accident protection with RollTek
Easy-to-reach front toggle controls
Dual Retractor ABTS Belt System
Comfort suspension choices
NEW
Crew Seat
EMT Seat
Officer Sea
Seat
at
Driver Seat
1609FR_23 23
Contact Mark Finley

610-994-5436
www.usscgroup.com
Part of the USSC GROUP
8/22/16 8:20 AM
Fire Attack
WHAT CAN BURN?
Fires on the roof can involve the roof itself, items installed or
located on the roof, or both. Often, the insulation or roof covering itself will burn, but it normally needs an ignition source
to burn. This could be the heat from a fire inside the building
that causes the roof above to ignite or some type of ignition
source from equipment or construction on the roof. Equipment
on the roof may be gas fired and become involved in a fire that
could be contained to the equipment or spread to adjoining
equipment or the roof itself.
Construction materials on the roof, whether for building/
rebuilding the roof or for some other reason, may also become
involved in a fire. These materials may not be easily visible
from the ground/street and can add a significant additional
fire load on the roof. Involvement of these materials will
require stretching one or more hoselines to the roof. Rapid
extinguishment is important to avoid further damage to the
Honoring our rich

heritage in the
re service...
Brass trumpet mounted on
custom base reminiscent
of historical hexagon shaped
fire h drants from the 1800s.
888-548-6834
www.cruisemasterengraving.com
If equipment on the roof

is on fire, extinguishing
the fire might be as simple
as shutting off the gas
supply or electric to the
equipment on the roof.
roof/building. Solar panels can certainly cause or be involved
in a fire. (See Tackling Solar Power Challenges, May 2014,
www.firefighternation.com/article/firefighting-operations/
tackling-solar-power-challenges.)
If equipment on the roof is on fire, extinguishing the fire
might be as simple as shutting off the gas supply or electric to
the equipment on the roof. To do this successfully, you need to
know what is on the roof and where the shutoffs are. Fuel supplies and shutoffs may be on the roof or leading to the roof.
If the roof covering material is burning, it can be a challenge
to extinguish. Fire can smolder and burn, running horizontally
under the roof covering through the metal roof deck channels.
A tactic that can be successful in this case is to cut a fire break
on the insulation/membrane ahead of the fire down to the metal
deck itself to prevent the fire from spreading farther laterally.
You will be cutting asphalt, polyisocyanate, insulation board,
membrane, or other roof covering material, so be sure you have a
saw capable of doing that. You do not need to cut the metal deck
itself. Pulling tools will then be needed to pull up the burning
material so that it can be extinguished. Use a very small smoothbore nozzle tip ( inch is a good choice) to discharge water into
the space between the deck and the covering above to help break
the adhesive and remove the burning membrane or insulation
material.
24
1609FR_24 24
8/22/16 8:20 AM
EXTINGUISHMENT
Most roof fires will require getting water to the
roof. The most obvious method is to stretch a
hoseline from an engine company to the roof using
a stairway or ladder. Larger buildings may have a
roof standpipe with outlets on the roof or inside a
stairway or space that leads to the roof. Firefighters
need to know not only where these are but also how
they are activated. Sometimes there is a valve at the
standpipe itself; other times there may be an activation valve inside the building for the roof standpipe.
Even if there is not a specific roof standpipe, there
may be a regular standpipe in a stair tower that can
be used to make a hose stretch to the roof. An additional means to get water to the roof would be using
an aerial apparatus to function as a flying
standpipe, connecting the attack line to the
aerial tip at roof level.
EXERCISE CAUTION
Beware when working on these roofs of

either visible or hidden translucent corrugated roof panels. There is a possibility
that they were on the roof at some point
and membrane or another covering is
installed over the top of it but they still
present a weak point for operations on
the roof. The best way to know if they are
there is to conduct building walkthroughs
with facility personnel before a fire starts.
There are likely hundreds of thousands
of buildings with this general roof
construction type. There are also variations
on this type, and it is quite likely that
designers of construction materials are
coming up with or have already come up
with alternative construction methods that
are both lighter in weight and less
expensive to install than this common roof
type. A fire on or involving one of these
roofs will generate a great deal of attention
because of the smoke it will generate.
Tactical generalizations for firefighting on
these roofs can be made based on the
presumed roof type, but the only way you
will understand how best to handle a fire
on one of these roofs is if you are out
looking at these buildings while they are
being built, as well as during any building
modifications/changes that occur during
their lifetime. It is incumbent on you to
make sure that this information is
documented and shared with your
colleagues, officers, and mutual-aid
organizations.
Greg Jakubowski, a fire protection engineer and
certified safety professional, started his fire service
career in 1978. He is a Pennsylvania state fire instructor and a

former chief of the Lingohocken (PA) Fire Company. Jakubowski
is also a member of the IAFC and a principal in Fire Planning
Associates, a company dedicated to helping fire departments,
municipalities, and businesses with preemergency planning.
To read more from Greg Jakubowski, visit www.
firefighternation.com/author/greg-jakubowski.
For more information, read the NIOSH
Safety Advisory Translucent Corrugated Roof
Panels May Contribute to Increased Fall Risk
During Roof Operations at https://www.cdc.
gov/niosh/docs/2016-110/pdfs/2016-110.pdf.
Smooth Bore Performance

from a Combination Nozzle
Mid-Force Nozzle
...REALLY!
TFTs Mid-Force dual pressure automatic nozzle
offers you a choice of maximum flow, or maximum
reach and penetration from a single nozzle.
TIP ONLY
TIP ONLY WITH SHUTOFF
The low pressure mode provides target fire flows

with greatly reduced nozzle reaction, and the
integrated slide valve produces a turbulence free
straight stream, even when gated.
Your choice of molded rubber or stainless steel
spinning fog teeth.
SLIDE VALVE SHUTOFF
To learn more about how you can dramatically

improve your initial attack flow operations
automatically, contact your local TFT dealer today.
IMPULSE
TRIGGER VALVE SYSTEM
WITH PISTOL GRIP
SLIDE VALVE SHUTOFF

WITH PISTOL GRIP
Visit www.tft.com
to view a complete video overview
of the Mid-Force Nozzles
www.tft.com 800 348-2686

1609FR_25 25
8/22/16 8:20 AM
Wildland Urban Interface

Grass Valley Drainage nine years after the fire. Looking
from the southeast to the north, a portion of Edgecliff
Drive is visible on the right. (Photos by author.)
Windward
Strategies for making WUI incidents safer
should have known. I was the one who had
grabbed the map trying to figure out exactly
where it was going to hit. But so many things
were happening it didnt register that we were standing at the point of impactin the exact spot I had
pinpointed on the map. I knew the fire front was
going to hit us hard, but I also knew that the house
we were protecting could shelter us for a long time
if we got in too deep, an advantage we wouldnt
find in many places on this mountain. But, the full
picture, the overhead view that I should have been
seeing in my head, pinpointing our location at the
top of the that steep draw, in the very worst place
we could possibly be during a wind-driven wildfire,
never coalesced in my mindnot until that first
blast of hot air hit me in the face.
We fought this fire before any of us had been
taught the term WUI (wildland urban interface)
or the current WUI structure defense guidelines. But
the Old Fire, which had burned the leeward slope of
this same Southern California mountain range just
four years before and taken more than 900 hundred
homes with it, had already taught us a lot of lessons.
Techniques like fire front following and prep and go
had not been taught to us in training classes but had
evolved organically out of necessity. These techniques
had proven to be extremely effective and, more
importantly, safer. As urban interface firefighters,
we had used every bit of our training and adapted
to the crazy situations we found ourselves in during
the Old Fire and miraculously survived unscathed.
Those lessons would not be easily forgotten.
So, this really wasnt our first rodeo. And this
wasnt unfamiliar terrain, either. This new fire was
burning in one of the neighborhoods we have used
for training hikes. But somehow, in the process of
trying to save lives, things had happened too fast
for our brains to keep up.
By Jennifer DeShon
26
1609FR_26 26
CLOSE TO HOME
The structure defense strategies taught today are
extremely effective. Picking the right strategy for
the situation you are in and implementing that
strategy take training that is regularly reinforced,
coordination between units, local knowledge, experience, and a very strong leader. But coordination
and strong leadership are difficult to achieve when
a first-alarm assignment is faced with a monster fire
in its own backyard. The firefighters are way behind
the curve and literally fighting to save the lives and
property of the very people they see every day at the
post office and in the grocery store; its their sons
kindergarten teacher or the woman who runs their
daughters ballet studio.
I am working an extra shift as a firefighter/paramedic at my regular station when our fire starts.
Santa Ana winds howl all night long, and shortly
before dawn the tones drop for power lines down in
the northern part of our district.
I climb out of bed and stumble across the room
in the dark. I flip the light switch on and off three
times before my sleepy brain realizes we dont have
power. Our giant diesel-powered emergency generator, which was supposed to automatically switch on
whenever the station lost power, has failed.
I head downstairs to the engine bay, locate the
generator room in the dark, and hit the manual
start. The generator fires right up, and I head to the
engine to pull on my bunkers. Before I can even
slip into them, the generator stalls and the station
goes black. I go back to the generator room and
pushed the manual start again, this time jogging
over to open the bay doors before we lose power
again. The door rolls up about a foot, allowing
ominously strong winds to rush into the bay carrying leaves and debris, and the power fails yet again.
We finally are en route and are notified that our
8/22/16 8:15 AM
Apply now for an FDIC 2017 Scholarship.

See. Learn. Change.
Early applications are being accepted. Scholarship
recipients will be selected monthly through December.
Develop a video.
Create your application.
Review with your Chief.

Submit it.
New
Educa
tio
Oppor nal
tunity
added
:
H.O.T.
Evolut
ions
Download your application now and learn more about the program here:
http://landing.penngage.com/honeywell-fdic-2017-scholarship/
In Partnership with:
1609FR_27 27
2016 Honeywell International. All rights reserved.
8/22/16 8:15 AM
Wildland
Urban
Interface
call has been upgraded to a vegetation fire. Just

blocks from the address dispatched, our engineer,
Ron, suddenly slams on the brakes, locking up all
six wheels. We screech to a stop. I peel myself off
the jumpseat and turn around, straining to look out
the windshield. A broken power line sways in the
wind just inches from the windshield.
We back up and reroute.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER

As we make the turn onto Edgecliff Drive, the
dead-end road that skirts the canyon, were greeted
by an ominous orange glow building in the thick
forest below us. We can see a few of the residents
frantically trying to evacuate in the dark, bombarded by relentless wind and trying to keep one
eye on the swelling forest fire below them.
There is a brief silence in the cab as we all process
what were seeing. This is the Big One. Stationed
in the most heavily populated national forest in
the country, after years of drought and bark beetle
infestation, it was just a matter of time. We know
what needs to be done.
We have to start evacuating.
Im going to see if I can get a better look at it.
I have to get us turned around so we can get out
of here.
Looking from Amador Lane

east into the main drainage.
Structure Protection
Tactical Actions
Check and Go.

Prep and Go.
Prep and Defend.
Bump and Run.
Anchor and Hold.

Fire Front Following.
Tactical Patrol.
We each state our objectives in rapid fire and

without prompting.
The captain heads down a dirt path at the end of
the road to try to get a better vantage point. Ron
is struggling to get the rig turned around, maneuvering the big beast around cars and people and
trees until the engine is facing back out the way we
came. Im working on evacuations.
As we scramble to accomplish all this, the two
rookie firefighters who staff our ambulance arrive
and join us on the engine.
ITS PERSONAL
One of our engineers lives nearby. A few months
earlier, I stood on his back deck as he pointed down
this very canyon and told me, If there is ever a
fire in Grass Valley Drainage, my house is going
to burn down. Now, not only is there a fire in the
drainage, but Santa Ana winds mean that the fire
basically has a missile lock on his house.
I dig my cell phone out of my pocket and dial.
Theres no answer. I leave a quick message and try his
home phone next. Again, no answer; another message.
But he doesnt need me to warn him. The sound of
the wind woke him, and he quickly realized that he
smelled smoke. He crawled out of bed and stepped
onto his back deck. From there he could already see
the fire eating up acreage down in the canyon. By
the time I leave those messages, he and his wife have
already loaded up their three daughters and their
most treasured possessions and evacuated.
ON OUR OWN
Soon, a sixth firefighter, who was to relieve me
that morning, joins us. Fortunately, T has some
solid wildland experience.
The main part of the fire, completely inaccessible down in the canyon and still building steam,
is become more and more unmanageable by the
minute. As the sun comes up and the smoke tries to
blot it out, we know we are completely outmatched
by the weather and the terrain.
Fingers of fire occasionally rush up the canyon
walls following creeks and drainages. The aircraft
that are usually so essential to putting these fires
out are unable to fly because of the wind.
Multiple fires are burning throughout the state. I
hear our battalion chief call for more resources. Less
than a dozen engines are on scene and that isnt
28
1609FR_28 28
8/22/16 8:15 AM
Structure Triage
Categories
Not threatened: Safety zone and temporary refuge areas (TRAs) are present and
construction features or defensible space
makes it unlikely that the structure will
ignite during initial fire front contact.
Threatened defensible: Safety zone and
TRAs are present and construction features,
lack of defensible space, or other challenges require firefighters to implement
structure protection tactics during fire front
contact.
Threatened nondefensible: No safety zone
or TRAs are present. The structure has
challenges that do not allow firefighters to
commit to stay and protect the structure.
going to be nearly enough, but hes told that theres

simply no one left to send. You guys are on your
own for now. Hearing that causes an eerie feeling
to creep over me.
RELOCATING
The fire will probably just graze the homes on this
street, rushed past them by the wind. But, it will
barrel through the neighborhood our engineer and
his family have just evacuated like an out-of-control

locomotive. Its time to load up and reposition.
As we drive, I sit crammed into the back seat of
a Type 1 engine with three other firefighters. I pull
out the map and locate the street we were just on,
trying to orient myself. The path of the drainage is
marked by a thin blue line to the west of Edgecliff.
A smaller fork moves farther west; it is steeper and
directly in line with the winds that have been gusting as high as 85 miles per hour. I follow the blue
lines south to where they slam into Amador Lane
and tiny Windward Road.
As we roll into the neighborhood, the last in a
conga line of fire engines, a woman steps out of
her home to watch us go by. Its obvious she has
no intention of evacuating. So, we pull to a stop
in front of the empty lot between her house and
the next. The canyon below is already choked with
smoke, obscuring our view.
It takes much longer than it should to convince
her to leave. Ron is trying to fix the drivers window, which has come off the track again and fallen
down into the door. By the time the captain has the
woman and her things in the car, weve prepped the
house and pulled a line to the edge of the canyon.
That is where Im standing when the first blast of
hot air hits me in the face, hot enough to warn me
that the next blast might sear my lungs.
1609FR_29 29
8/22/16 8:15 AM
Wildland Urban
Interface
TIME TO MOVE
FROM
START
Suddenly, everything pivots and swings

into alignment! Now I know exactly
where we are! I can see the lines on the
topography map as if they are etched
onto the street and the homes and the
trees. I see the thin blue line of the drainages snake its way up the canyon and
dead end at my feet!
I cant see the fire below me yet. And,
oddly, I only hear wind, not the familiar
rumble of a forest fire blowing up. People
have described that sound as the rumble
of a freight train coming. But to me, it
has always sounded just like a big earthquake building up, the sound you hear
right before everything starts to shake.
Its a sound that makes your adrenaline
start to pump. It freezes you for a second.
Only on a big fire, this rumble goes on
and onloud and louder. And instead of
the ground shaking, a hot wind hits you
and embers fly past, as trees explode.
None of that is happening yet, but that
rush of heat tells me everything I need
to know. I turn to scream for T, but hes
already at my side. We have to get out of
here! he yells. We should shelter in the
house, I say, referring to the home we
just finished prepping.
Wheres Cap? We swing around,
searching the smoky air, and find him in
the driveway with the radio in his hand.
The captain decides we should try to
drive to a safer location.
NARROW ESCAPE
As we drive away with our broken
window, so much smoke fills the cab that
I can hardly see the three men sitting in
the back with me. It chokes us. Our eyes
burn. Fire acts like a blowtorch across
the road in front of us. I turn and look
out the back window as fire rushes up
the canyon behind the house and crashes
down on the homes across the street like
a wave.
Ron is driving blindly forward, through
the fire, and then though smoke so thick
we cant even see the pavement. Im not
sure how he manages to keep us on the
road.
Cap radios our group supervisor, telling
1609FR_30 30
him that our position has been overrun

and were attempting to drive out. But
there is too much radio traffic, and no
one answers us.
I think, This is how it happens. This is
how people die and no one is even aware
that theyre in trouble.
And then, were through it ....
Ron drives two more blocks before we
stop to check the engine and make sure
nothing caught fire. We drive around in
a cloud of adrenaline. Up one block and
down the other. Theres so much burningand so little we can save.
The Grass Valley Fire burned 174
homes that day, most in the first five
hours; 25 others were damaged. The
house we prepped on Windward
survived.
At 4:32 p.m., a second urban interface
fire broke out about 10 miles to the east.
It would be a very long week.
It took a few days and a few hours of
sleep for us to really grasp how close we
came to being a statistic, a sad story. For
months, Ron and I would come back to
it in the quiet moments, trying to wrap
our heads around the reality.
Ive begun to wonder what more can
be done to make WUI firefighting safer,
because the human mind can only consciously process so many things at a time.
But in a wildfire, the variables are endless!
Weather, fuels, and topography all play
a role. But, the weather is ever changing. And topography can be really tough
to read when youre standing at ground
level, everything is covered in dense vegetation, and you can barely see across the
street with all the smoke in the air. Draws
only a few inches deep can change the
course of a fire front entirely, draws that
may be completely hidden by chaparral
and duff until after the fire front passes.
As Jason Ramos wrote in his 2015 book
Smokejumper, No matter how competent
and conscientious you are on a fire, sometimes bad shit just happens, even to the
best of us. Just ask the Granite Mountain
Hot Shots. They were some of the best,
and yet ....
So, while training is essential and
experience priceless, we will never get to a
point where no one ever gets into trouble.
COMMUNICATION
Since poor communication is often
the common denominator of disaster,
8/22/16 8:15 AM
an effective procedure for making rapid

notifications when a wildland firefighter
has an emergency would help.
If an incident management team is in
place, members will have a detailed standard operating procedure for any incident
within an incident (IWI) that may arise.
But they cannot start that process until
command is notified that there is a problem, be it a burnover, a heart attack, or a
plane crash.
Brendan McDonoughs book My Lost
Brothers recounts the events surrounding the loss of 19 Granite Mountain
Hotshots. In it, he writes that as the
2013 Yarnell Hill Fire began to blow up,
Radio problems were cropping up. One
air-to-ground frequency went out ... and
the remaining channels grew thick with
competing voices. We will never know if

that contributed to their deaths.
Some agencies are beginning to issue
satellite emergency notification devices
(SEND) to wildland firefighters. These
devices are often used by backpackers.
They can transmit a distress beacon and
GPS coordinates even in areas where
radios and cell phones dont work,
and they should probably be standard
equipment.
STRUCTURAL STRATEGY
And its surprising that with all the
training and policy changes surrounding
Maydays, operational retreats, and rapid
intervention crews on structure fires,
similar policies have not been adopted
in the wildland setting. Why not adapt
the training we already have in structural
firefighting and apply it to a different
situation?
I posed this question to San Bernardino
County (CA) Fire Special Operations
Battalion Chief Michael Wakoski, who is
also incident commander of the United
States Forest Service Southern California Incident Management Team 3. His
response confirms that its past time we
did something more to ensure firefighter
safety on wildland fires. He said, I have
always wondered why on structure fires
TO
FINISH
Structure triage tags.
WICK 375
When you need to bring water

to the fire, theres no better
product on the market than the
Wick 375. Wick pumps are more
durable, efficient and downright
tough. To explore more, visit
Mercedestextiles.com
INNOVATION DELIVERED
TM
1609FR_31 31
8/22/16 8:15 AM
Wildland
Urban
Interface
there is excellent accountability, but on wildland

fires its not a priority.
Could we assign an extra radio frequency to each
wildland incident, to use only in case of emergencies? A clear channel monitored by the command
staff, including division and group supervisors,
branch directors, operations officers, safety officers,
and incident commanders?
In a situation like the one my crew and I found
ourselves in, that extra frequency could be used for
Maydays and emergency traffic. Instead of waiting
for radio traffic on the tactical frequency to clear,
the crew with the emergency could switch to that
open emergency frequency and broadcast a LUNAR
report just like they would use on a structure fire,
including the following information:
The LOCATION of the crew experiencing the
emergency.
The UNIT name or identifier.
The NAME or NUMBER of crew members.
The ACTIONS they are taking to effect their
own rescue.
Their NEEDS: rescue, water drops, line medics,
ambulance, etc.
The command staff would then be able to quickly
and efficiently monitor the situation, organize a
rescue if needed, and notify other crews working in
that area of the dangers. With extremely dry fuel
The Extra Hand in Extrication!

AIR HAMMER RESCUE KITS
Model #
911-RKM
Pneumatic Tools for:

Automobile, Bus & Big Rig Extrication, Forcible Entry,
Structural Collapse, Confned Space Rescue
www.ajaxrescuetools.com / Ph. 800-323-9129 / info@ajaxtools.com
conditions and phenomena such as area ignition

already claiming firefighter lives, rapid notifications
are imperative.
OPERATIONAL RETREAT
To further ensure the safety of crews working
on large incidents or fast-moving fires, a type of
operational retreat could be put into effect when
needed, such as when the fire hits a certain trigger
point or when a Mayday indicates a rapidly changing or dangerous fire situation. An operation retreat
signal for a specific group or division, or even for
the entire fire, could be broadcast, notifying all
companies to retreat to a predesignated safety zone,
deployment zone, area of refuge, or staging area.
Operational retreats give fire crews and incident leadership the opportunity to push the reset
button. Just as in structural firefighting where an
operational retreat is often followed by a change in
tactics, this would give strike team leaders, division
supervisors, and incident commanders the opportunity to announce and implement new strategies
and tactics.
Using operational retreats on wildland fires would
also help to reinforce the importance of establishing lookouts, communications, escape routes, and
safety zones (LCES) early in the incident and communicating those important pieces of information
to every firefighter on the incident.
The division or group supervisor, branch director, or operations officer could also do roll call,
or PAR, for each unit affected by the operational
retreat. While doing a roll call at regular intervals
on a wildland incident is obviously not practical,
it would be helpful for the command staff to have
that tool available when things really start going
sideways in the urban interface.
ADDITIONAL PROTECTION
While these ideas would by no means solve all of
the communication failures or the information
overload that plagues urban interface firefighters,
they might provide an extra layer of protection on a
rough day.
Authors note: This article is dedicated to the
memory of Engineer Ronald Scott Reed (November
17, 1960-August 18, 2011), who was diagnosed
with job-related kidney cancer just months after he
bravely fought the Grass Valley Fire. We miss you,
Ronbo.
Jennifer DeShon is a 22-year veteran of the fire service and an
engineer/paramedic with San Bernardino (CA) County Fire. She
has been a paramedic for 19 years, is a special operations flight
paramedic, and is trained in urban search and rescue and tactical combat casualty care. DeShon has an associates degree in
paramedicine.
32
1609FR_32 32
8/22/16 8:15 AM
1609FR_33 33
8/22/16 8:15 AM
Hump Day S.O.S.
Organizational and Individual Morale

Good morale is more than a picnic
ver the past 30 years, I have ridden a morale
roller coaster within several organizations.
Morale is very situational and can be one
of an organizations biggest assets, or it can be the
liability that never goes away. Individual morale and
organizational morale are separate but very much
interconnected.
There are some people who have terrible morale
all the time; this is part of their DNA. The sky
is always falling, the end is near, and we are all
doomed. Often, their emotional state is not related
to any particular situationthey are just miserable
people. Unfortunately, they are also very vocal and
elicit an almost automatic sympathetic response of
agreement from the rest of us. It is often natural
and easy to jump on board with this emotional
vampire, and pretty soon you find yourself seeing
who can outdoom the other. There isnt much you
can do about these persuasive members, so do yourself a favor and dont hire them in the first place.
By David Rhodes
tional problems that can existand can destroy the

organization.
MORALE DILEMMA
Organizational morale is usually never as bad as
the lowest morale of an individual but never as high
as some make it out to be. Ive been here ___ years
and I have never seen morale this low, is a quote
that we have all heard or said at some point in our
careers. Luckily for us, our brain has the ability to
block out many morale-killing events, and the time
and distance from them seem to shield and change
our perspective of the past situation. We will often
even refer back to that bad experience in a new
context and proclaim, I wish (so and so) was back;
it wasnt this bad back then!
The bad morale dilemma is most often attributed
to pay or benefit cost cuts and increases by the
members themselves. Again, these gains and losses
only affect the individual immediate morale and not
Most people were happiest in their career

when they were making the least amount
of moneyas they first entered the service.
There are, however, situations that cause morale
to wane in individuals. For example, when you have
someone who loves the fire service, is motivated and
dedicated, but finds himself in an assignment that
he just doesnt like. Or someone is working to get
something accomplished or implemented and gets
turned down. These temporary declines in morale
are experienced by everyone just the same as morale
highs that are the result of accomplishment or being
in the assignment you have wanted.
I have been told that morale was never an organizational problem for the chief or officers to resolve
and that bad or low morale was strictly an individuals own problem. You choose your morale,
not me, was a favorite saying of a chief I knew
who would follow up with, I got mine. This, of
course, did nothing to help the morale of those who
heard it. I dont buy that philosophy, and I think
bad morale is one of the most concerning organiza-
34
1609FR_34 34
the long-term organizational morale. In retrospect,

most people were happiest in their career when they
were making the least amount of moneyas they
first entered the service. So what happens to us, and
how do we deal with it?
Maslows hierarchy of needs is certainly a critical
factor in our morale. When we find ourselves struggling with morale issues, it is important to understand and identify the root cause of the problem
rather than mandate participation in events that
typically occur as a result of good morale; it will be
located in one of those levels of the pyramid. Usually
for our members, it falls in those middle sections of
esteem, belonging, and safety. So, when solving these
highly complex situations, think about them in terms
of how the organization creates the environment
for esteem. Are we building each others confidence,
or is it everyone for themselves? Are we providing
opportunities for advancement, or is advancement
8/22/16 8:20 AM
based on relationships? Do we respect others and

demonstrate it through our actions? Do we foster
friendships? Do we create a family environment? Do
we provide security by creating a stable employment
environment free from harassment and threats, or do
we maintain a constant uncertainty?
BEYOND A PICNIC
The answers to these questions will be different
for each person based on their current situation,
and organizational morale issues cant be solved or
destroyed by one person. The leaders must create an
environment for good morale to flourish and let the
members take control of it. Morale is part of your
emotional state based on your experiences. Having
a high-trust organization is synonymous
with high morale. Having an empowering
culture is synonymous with high morale.
If you want to improve morale and create
trust, you must make sound management
decisions based on principle and mission,
empower people, and give them freedom.
Never think that it is as easy as some trinket, event, or initiative.
If you find yourself in a meeting discussing how to improve morale, dont fall for
the We should bring back the department
picnic suggestion. The well-attended, fun,
cant-wait-for event that used to occur was
the product of trust, good decision making,
and empowerment; it was not the cause of
it. It was a bottom-up initiative supported
and funded by those at the top. If the
executive staff is the group planning and
organizing the picnic or event, then you
are trying to mandate an outcome without
addressing the tough issues facing your
organization. Putting makeup on a pale
patient doesnt cure him of his condition,
painting the station wall doesnt get rid of
the termites and water leaks, washing the
engine every day wont ensure that it will
pass the pump test, and morale cant be
mandated or fixed with a picnic.
Morale is a complex gumbo that is part
environment, part opportunity, part
leadership, and whole lot of past experiences. Focusing specifically on morale
never works and always results in some
superficial actions or material goods being
purchased that end up being resented by
those who have low morale. A much
better strategy is focusing on making the
organization great while adding value and
a true spirit of appreciation to the lives of
those in the organization. The long-term
gain of good morale cant be bought or
traded like merchandise; it is an emotional
1609FR_35 35
connection between the workers, managers, leaders,

and elected officials.
David Rhodes is a 30-year fire service veteran and a battalion chief
in an urban fire department in Georgia. He is a chief elder for the
Georgia Smoke Diver Program, a member of the Fire Department
Instructors Conference (FDIC) International Executive Advisory
Board, a hands-on training coordinator for FDIC, an editorial advisor for Fire Engineering and the UL Fire Safety Research Institute,
and an adjunct instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy. He is a Type
III incident commander for the Georgia Emergency ManagementMetro Atlanta All Hazards Incident Management Team and is a
task force leader for the Georgia Search and Rescue Team. He is
president of Rhodes Consultants, Inc., which provides public safety
training, consulting, and promotional assessment centers.
Be SAFER & More EFFICIENT

Drain & Roll ALL HOSE
Customized for YOUR NEEDS
Put a Power Roller on your crew
262.363.2030
262
363 2030 email:
il info@rollnrack.com
i f @ ll
k
rollnrack.com
8/22/16 8:20 AM
Distant Fires
September 1916 Fires

A look at fires that made history
By Paul Hashagen
n this months column, I present historic fires or

significant events in the fire service from September 1916. A reminder: Readers are encouraged to share information from their departments.
September 2, 1916: Harlem, New York: Hundreds of people watched as two members of Ladder
40, Firefighters Bowler and Boldauf, mounted the
aerial ladder even before the hook and ladder apparatus had come to a stop. Using the spring-loaded
aspect of the ladder, their comrades feverishly
worked to position and extend the ladder. Flames
poured from the first-floor tailor shop, shooting
up an airshaft and the interior stairs, flooding each
floor with waves of fire.
On the fourth floor, a 48-year-old woman and
her 26-year-old son were cut off by the flames and
driven to the front windows crying for help. As the
ladder reached the fourth floor, flames burst out
the window over their heads, showering them all
with broken glass. Bowler reached in and pulled
the woman clear, quickly handing her to Boldauf. Two other firefighters, Kruger and Walker,
climbed over the first team as they began to slide
the burned woman down the ladder. Kruger and
Walker then pulled the son to safety as the crowd
below cheered.
September 4, 1916: Staten Island, New York:
It was just after 6:00 p.m. when a fire broke out
in the kitchen of Michaels Restaurant, located at
the extreme southern end of the beach. The flames
spread quickly from an overturned pot of grease.
The alarm was raised, and a bucket brigade was
started by bathers before the fire apparatus arrived.
Driven by a strong sea breeze, the fire in the fully
involved building showered nearby bungalows with
flaming embers as the first engines arrived. They
promptly sunk into the sand and were rendered
useless.
The flames continued. Two cottages were also
aflame as a chemical engine rolled in. This too
proved ineffective, as the body of fire was far
greater than the stream the rig could develop.
In all, the two-hour battle left the restaurant, a
bowling alley, two bungalows, and numerous tents
destroyed by the flames.
September 5, 1916: Oak Park, Illinois: It was
36
1609FR_36 36
5:45 a.m. when lightning struck the First Congressional Church. At 6:00, the motorman on a passing
street car noticed smoke and sent in the alarm. The
department responded with an American LaFrance
motorized pumping engine and a Thomas motorized pumping engine, finding the steeple and upper
parts of the church in flames. Aid was requested
from Chicago. Two engines responded to the
scene. Firefighters worked skillfully for two hours.
They were able to extinguish the fire and protect
the adjoining parish house. In all, six streams were
played on the fire.
September 13, 1916: Waterbury, Connecticut:
Eight unconscious firefighters were removed and
rushed to local hospitals after they were injured
battling a difficult hotel fire. The old hotel housed
more than 100 people, many of whom worked in
local munitions factories. These tenants, of several
nationalities, spoke a variety of languages, prompting the hotels local nickname, The Tower of
Babel. The cellar fire proved extremely difficult,
as a broken illuminating gas pipe fed gas into the
already heavy smoke.
September 14, 1916: Verdi, Nevada: Four automobiles filled with cross-country tourists traveling on the Lincoln Highway stopped when the
occupants saw a large fire raging out of control in
a lumber yard situated at the foot of the Sierras.
Several million feet of lumber were ablaze,
igniting a nearby school and threatening other
buildings when the Good Samaritans stopped
and joined local firefighters struggling to hold the
flames attacking the freshly burning high school.
While firefighters concentrated their efforts
on the blazing lumber yard, the vacationers took
charge of protecting the school and a bridge, both
of which they saved. Carrying buckets and bags of
water from the Truckee River, they doused flames
and wet threatened surfaces. Two of the travelers spent the night extinguishing embers as they
landed on the schools roof.
September 15, 1916: Carneys Point, New
Jersey: Six workers were seriously injured by an
explosion in the DuPont Plant. Flames, possibly
caused by a piece of metal falling into the smokeless powder in a mixing tower, caused an explosion
8/22/16 8:20 AM
that spread the fire. While working in

the tower, 13 other workers were also
injured by the blast. They exited the
blazing tower by sliding down chutes.
Local firefighters arrived to find the
tower engulfed in flames, with secondary explosions of stored powder sending
flaming debris arcing through the air.
September 17, 1916: Paterson, New
Jersey: Shortly after midnight, an explosion tore through the chemical plant of a
silk drying company. The one-story brick
100- 300-foot building was quickly in
flames. Firefighters were able to protect
two nearby barns and a home despite the
intense radiant heat. The huge plant, said
to be the largest skein silk dyeing concern
in the world, employed 6,000 people.
September 24, 1916: Phoenix, New
York: It was just after 11:00 p.m. when
sparks from a generator ignited a fire in
a chair factory in the business section of
the village. The fire spread to the pump
house next door, as the fire department
responded to the scene. Within minutes,
the flames put the pumps out of service,
thereby effectively eliminating any
source of firefighting water.
Mutual aid was requested from the
Syracuse Fire Department, 16 miles away.
Moments later, all communication to the
outside world was lost as telegraph and
telephone lines went down. Flames,
driven by strong winds, leaped from
building to building and even jumped a
canal, until 20 were burning at the same
time. Firefighters continued trying to
save whatever they could, with several
getting burn injuries in the process. In
all, 80 building were destroyed.

Custom Build Your
Own Dump Valve
Features:
1080 Newton Kwik Dump Valve
4036 Extension Chute
Stainless steel
Maximum Flow Rate of set up is 2,777 GPM
Fits on most new and existing...
Extends up to...
ISO Certified 9001:2008 Registered
!! !

! !

Call for more information
Worlds Largest Manufacturer of 10x10 Dump Valves
TM
First Floor ACCESS

PWL-06 with safety shoes
n Fits in the same space as a
backboard.
n Perfect size for accessing
first floor windows.
n Shoes on one end and butt
spurs on the other so you
would always have the
correct footing.
n Ideal for vent, enter and
search techniques.
Paul Hashagen is a 40-year veteran of the fire

service. He retired from the Fire Department of
New York (FDNY) after 25 years of service, with 20
of those years in Rescue Company 1. Hashagen
is a former chief of the Freeport (NY) Fire Department and is still a member of Truck Company
1. He has written several books and numerous
stories on the history of the fire service including
Fire Department City of New York: The Bravest; An
Illustrated History 1865-2002; and One Hundred
Years of Valor: Rescue Company 1 New York City
Fire Department Rescue 1915-2015. Visit his
Facebook page at Paul Hashagen-author.
Supplied by
To read more from Paul Hashagen, visit

www.firefighternation.com/author/
paul-hashagen.
For more information, call
1.800.948.7750
or visit
www.FireLadder.com
1609FR_37 37
8/22/16 8:20 AM
From the Chiefs Desk
Your Selfie for Success

Self-assessment and the answers it can provide
By Ronny J. Coleman
t is interesting how one kind of change in our life

results in a significant change in other aspects of our
life. Lets use cell phones, for example. Originally,
cell phones were meant to give mobility to telephones.
But today, cell phones have become the most ubiquitous form of photography. One of the best examples
of this is commonly called the selfie. In addition, cell
phone video is creating a social phenomenon of monumental proportion by recording events and encounters
that previously were never documented.
In social psychology, self-assessment is the process of
looking at ones self to assess aspects that are important
to ones identity. It is one of the motives that drives
self-evaluation, along with self-verification and selfenhancement. The self-assessment motive will prompt
people to seek information to confirm their uncertainty self-concept rather than their certain self-concept and, at the same time, people use self-assessment
to enhance their certainty of their own self-knowledge.
However, the self-assessment motive could be seen
as quite different from the other two self-evaluation
motives. Unlike the other two motives, through selfassessment people are interested in the accuracy of
their current self-view rather than in improving their
self-view. This makes self-assessment the only selfevaluative motive that may cause a persons self-esteem
to be damaged.
There are many varieties of assessment tools, each
designed to measure a particular facet of you, such as
your interests, your skills, your personality, or your
values. Each of these self-assessment tools falls into
one of two major categories: self-directed or requiring
interpretive assistance.
Self-directed means the tool is designed so you can
use it and review your results without a licensed or
trained professional interpreting the data for you.
Tools requiring interpretive assistance mean your
results will have to be discussed with a person licensed
or trained in this particular tool so you can understand
what the data are saying.
One of the most frequently used instruments for
self-evaluation is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
(MBTI). This instrument identifies 16 types of Jungian personality types and has been employed in many
leadership programs to improve on an understanding
of strengths and weaknesses of some of our behavioral
traits. MBTI is an introspective self-report questionnaire designed to categorize preferences on how people
38
1609FR_38 38
perceive the world and make their decisions.

The most important part of this discussion is the
fact that this is an introspective instrument that results
when a person is honest responding to the questions
and is a reflection of you and who you are. The best
part of MBTI is it forms a discussion of how a person
sees the world and is a good topic for group dynamics. At its worst, MBTI has been used to categorize
people to make judgments about how these strengths
and weaknesses affect interaction at the organizational
level. Go online and you will find a range of materials that you can access for free. The period of time to
complete most of these instruments is 15-30 minutes.
Another instrument commonly found in leadership
or management classes is called fundamental interpersonal relations orientation, element B (FIRO-B). This
particular instrument looks at the way small groups
interact among themselves and addresses such things
as inclusion, control, and openness. FIRO-B also helps
identify the difference between expressed behavior and
wanted behavior. FIRO-B is also available online.
Why would you even want to know the answer to
all these questions? The reasons are basically very selfish. The more you know about yourself, the better you
can capitalize on your strengths and minimize your
weaknesses. The more you understand the way other
people behave, the more likely you are to be able to
lead and manage them in a positive fashion.
So, in a sense, conducting self-evaluation is in your
best interest. It gives you an advantage in dealing with
other human beings. If you conduct research on the
types of self-evaluation forms that are available, you will
find an extensive inventory on the Internet. No one
needs to take them all, but not taking any is a limitation
for your own growth and development. Another aspect
of taking these instruments is that it improves your ability to create a better evaluation of your subordinates.
So dont just take snapshots of yourself as a selfie.
Look into your behavior and your preferences, and
become more effective as an individual in dealing with
others.
Ronny J. Coleman is a retired state fire marshal for the State of
California. He has achieved chief officer designation at both the
state and national levels. Coleman has a master of arts degree
in vocational education, a bachelor of science degree in political
science, and an associate of arts degree in fire science. He is
president of Fireforceone, a consulting firm in California.
8/22/16 8:25 AM
ROOKIE to CHIEF
. . . WE MEET ALL YOUR TRAINING NEEDS
FIREFIGHTER
FIRE OFFICER
FIRE CHIEF
Face-to-Face Traditional Recruit Academy

FirefghterAcademy.com (Blended Learning Recruit Academy)
Fire Instructor I-III

Fire Service Chief Executive Ofcer (FSCEO)

Leadership Development Symposium
Fire Ofcer I
Fire Ofcer II
Fire Ofcer III
Fire Ofcer IV
Emergency Services Training Institute
Visit www.teex.org/esti or call 866.878.8900 for more information.

C13.6526.11
1609FR_39 39
8/22/16 8:25 AM
Thermal Imaging
Training Is Key to Staying Safe

Train on basics before an emergency
By Carl Nix
irefighters spend hours training. Our training

includes pump and aerial operations, donning turnout gear, hose extending and pulling
drills, ceiling breach exercises, forcible entry drills,
and victim drags and carries. My 30 years in the
fire service have taught me how critical firefighter
training is. Quite simply, our lives depend on it. All
of us have stories of battling a fire where we feared
we might not make it home safely. Thats when you
know the training youve had made a difference.
I didnt mention thermal imaging training on my
list, but it needs to be there. All too often, departments
forget how important thermal imaging training is to
a firefighter. Training on a thermal imaging camera
(TIC) shouldnt just be about observing fire behavior
and how it looks on the TICs display. It must also
include training on the basic functions of the TIC so
firefighters develop a solid understanding of the tool.
incident. You grabbed the TIC and attached it to

your gear and are now heading toward the structure,
where you see smoke billowing from the windows.
You put on your gloves. Now you have to operate
the TIC with your gloves on. It sounds easy, but it
can be challenging during an emergency situation.
Firefighters often use the TIC during nonemergency
situations without wearing gloves. It becomes more
difficult to operate a TIC in an emergency. Firefighters need to become familiar with where the TICs
power button is and practice finding it with a gloved
hand in the dark while wearing an SCBA face piece.
This helps firefighters learn to capably turn the TIC
on in a blind situation when the unit either has been
inadvertently powered off or needs a battery change.
Be sure to include training on all of the TIC buttons,
not just the power button. This will help firefighters
develop a familiarity with the TICs buttons, their
How many times have you exited

your apparatus and forgotten the TIC?
Firefighters who, hopefully, are deploying this technology during emergency operations can overlook or not
be aware of some of the basic TIC capabilities.
The biggest obstacle to effectively using the TIC is
getting it where it needs to be. Deployment of the TIC
is key but often overlooked during training exercises.
Think about whats required of you when you answer a
call. Everyone is moving fast and the action around you
can seem chaotic. How many times have you exited
your apparatus and forgotten the TIC? How many
times have you had to go back to the apparatus to get
the TIC? It happens to all us, but if we train to always
grab the TIC when getting off the truck, it becomes
second nature. Firefighters should practice removing
the TIC from their apparatus or directly from their
apparatus charger, if they have one, while wearing
the gear they would have on when exiting the truck.
Then, they can practice attaching the TIC to their gear
or self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). When
attaching the TIC to their gear, firefighters should find
a place that keeps the TIC within easy reach but does
not interfere with performing basic tasks.
Keep thinking about approaching your emergency
40
1609FR_40 40
locations, and their functions.

When training with a gloved hand, dont forget
to also train on changing the TICs battery. Replacing the battery on a TIC can be a challenging task
depending on the TIC, size of the battery, and
where the spare battery is carried. Often firefighters
overlook this task or practice it at the firehouse with
no gloves or gear. Practice this too with gloved hands
in the dark while wearing a face piece to simulate
completing this task in dark or smoky conditions.
Overhaul is a good time to train with a TIC as well;
use a TIC to find hidden fires or smoldering materials
that could cause the fire to reignite. Firefighters using
the TIC can watch how pulling down sections of ceiling or removing portions of walls alters heat signatures.
This training exposure will help firefighters better
understand the real benefits of using a TIC.
Firefighter training is critical to our survival.
Knowing the basics of using a TIC can help keep
you and your fellow firefighters safe when time is
against you. If you have training tips that you
would like to share, please e-mail them to me and
Ill put them in future columns.
8/22/16 8:25 AM
All Husky Folding Frame Tanks/Liners

come STANDARD with our patented
EASY LIFT HANDLES.
(US Patent No. 8,746,478 and other patents pending)
Firefighters #1 Choice for

FOLDING FRAME TANKS
Portable Water Tanks

Easy Lift Handles mounted to the floor of the tank (Patent No.
8,746,478 and other patents pending)
Quick Dump (optional feature) (Patent No. 8,733,579)

Pro500 (Patent Pending) Liner/Tank with added
bladders for more capacity
Registered, exclusive Exlon material
Lifetime warranty on welds & welded seams

Pinch-free design
Laser-cut hinge design
Superior heavy duty
Folding Frame Tanks Self-Supporting Tanks

Salvage Covers Cargo Netting Portable Tank Racks
918-333-2000 800-260-9950 www.HuskyPortable.com

When You Go In,

We Are Right There
With You.
We at Boston Leather support those who serve.
Let us serve you with only the best quality leather products.
RADIO HOLDERS | RADIO STRAPS | ANTI-SWAY STRAPS | BELTS | BADGE CASES
SUSPENDERS | AXE SHEATHS | GLOVE STRAPS | EMT SCISSOR HOLDERS | & MORE
Fine Leather Belts and Accessories
CRAFTED WITH PRIDE

IN THE USA
1609FR_41 41
8/22/16 8:25 AM
We look to Underwriters Laboratories Firefighter

Safety Research Institute to shed some light on PPA.
(Photos by UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute.)
UL FSRI experiments
reveal the value of ventilation
BY NICK LEDIN
ositive pressure attack (PPA) has been used by the fire
service for more than 30 years, but many still have
questions regarding its value on the fireground. While
almost every apparatus has a fan on it, PPA is still a
very polarizing tactic. Some see it as dangerous to add thousands
of cubic feet per minute (cfm) of air into a potentially occupied
fire building, while others see it as negligent not to attempt to
control the flow path inside a fire building by keeping a fan at
your back. While both of these views are a little nearsighted, they
speak to the fact that we need more information on PPA.
So, as has become customary in recent years, we look to the
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Firefighter Safety Research
Institute (FSRI) to shed some light on PPA. With the release of
UL FSRIs latest fire service summary report and online training
module on PPA and positive pressure ventilation (PPV), the fire
service now has the data needed to enhance our understanding of
the fire dynamics of using a fan on the fireground. Now, before
we get too far into this article, lets clarify the distinction between
PPA and PPV: PPA is defined as using a fan to pressurize a
42
1609FR_42 42
building before the fire is knocked down, while PPV uses a fan to
pressurize a building after the fire is knocked down.
This study is the third, and (seemingly) final, installment in
UL FSRIs ventilation trilogy although ventilation will still be a
large component of many future studies since its so important to
understanding the fireground. Officially called the Study of the
Effectiveness of Fire Service Positive Pressure Ventilation During Fire Attack in Single-Family Homes Incorporating Modern
Construction Practices, the PPA study will undoubtedly lead to
more informed, more efficient, and ultimately safer firefighters
and firegrounds.
VENTILATION EXPERIMENTS
This is a certainly groundbreaking study as it comes to ventilation research, says Robin Zevotek, UL FSRI lead engineer. UL
FSRI and the technical panel designed 25 experiments to try to
better understand the benefits and limitations of PPA and PPV.
The experiments were done using the same one-story and twostory houses, with similar fuel loads that were used in the two
8/22/16 8:24 AM
previous ventilation study experiments (horizontal ventilation and

vertical ventilation). By controlling the conditions throughout the
experiments and bounding numerous variables, they empirically
quantified the impact of the following:
Exhaust location.
Exhaust size.
Multiple exhaust openings.
Fire location.
Compartmentation vs. open concept floor plan.
Open vs. closed doors.
Systematic vs. multiple openings during PPV.
After all of the experiments were complete and the lab in
Northbrook (IL) was cleaned and emptied, the real work began.
It was then time to take the millions of data points and hours and
hours of video and turn them into something usable for the fire
service. Dissecting the data takes countless man-hours (and pots
of coffee) to make sense of the numerous graphs and videos. After
seemingly infinite discussions and rewrites, the 25-member technical panel and UL FSRI staff finally landed on 16 important,
actionable, Tactical Considerations for the global fire service.
ALL-TERRAIN
PPA/PPV FANS
TACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The UL FSRI staff then produced an 875-page technical
report, a condensed fire service summary report, and an online
training module. The goals of the fire service summary report and
the online training module are to make the information easy to
understand and apply to your drill ground and, eventually, your
fireground. The online training module, as usual, is dynamic
In conclusion, this fan is lighter,

more stable, more efficient,
more versatile, safer and offers
a better warranty
than the others.
~Donnie
Sattler, Captain
Sedalia, MO
Above: The fire service now has the data needed to enhance our understanding of
the fire dynamics of using a fan on the fireground.
Below: UL FSRI and the technical panel designed 25 experiments to try to better
understand the benefits and limitations of PPA and PPV.
Fail-safe Ventry Safety

Propellers and other
major advantages of
Ventry Fans are
demonstrated at
ventry.com
TM
ER -
F AM
IL
FIREFIG
HT
Y- &
YEARS
Ventry Solutions, Inc. ventry.com

(888) 257-8967 | info@ventry.com
1609FR_43 43
8/22/16 8:24 AM
The basic concept of PPA is to first create an exhaust as close to the fire as possible, which will reduce the pressure inside the fire room.
and engaging and can act as ready-made department-level

training. This easily digestible material focuses on 16 Tactical
Considerations:
Understanding the basics of PPA and PPV.
Horizontal, vertical, and PPA are different tactics.
Exhaust size is more important than fan location.
An ongoing assessment is imperative.
PPA is exhaust dependent.
Exhaust size and location are important.
Creating additional exhausts not in the fire room.
PPA safety decreased when fire size and location are unknown.
Compartmentation is essential.
If there was one finding from the experiments that will surprise the fire service,
its that compartmentation is essential to effective PPA.
Water application increases chances for success.

Use the reach of your hose stream.
Void space extension is exhaust dependent.
Open vs. closed door.
Multiple openings aid PPV.
Assess for extension post fire control.
With PPV, start the fan immediately.
Throughout the experiments, much of our current best
practices of PPA were reinforced
by the data, but there was also new
CALL TODAY TO
Connect with us on
REQUEST A
information gleaned and, as youd
nationalfirefighter
@nationalfire
nationalfire
FREE CATALOG
expect, new questions also arose. So
800-423-8347
what did we learn after deconstructing PPA and PPV? For an in-depth
WILDLAND GEAR
SKID UNITS
EQUIPMENT
analysis, check out the fire service
AND POLY TANKS
summary report and online training
module at ulfirefightersafety.com.
If youre going to use PPA, when
they train on it, these concepts will
make them more effective, Zevotek
adds.
Here are some of the big take800- 423-8347
nationalfirefighter.com
aways
from the study.
BACK TO SCHOOL
44
1609FR_44 44
To understand how PPA works,

we need to first briefly revisit our
high school physics class. Fire flows
(smoke, air, heat, and flames/products of combustion/fire gases) always
flow from an area of higher pressure
to an area of lower pressure, and the
larger the pressure differential, the
greater the velocity of the fire flows.
While this is pretty basic science, we
also need to understand that having a
fire inside a building alters the pressures inside; so, too, does turning a
fan into a building.
8/22/16 8:24 AM
The basic concept of PPA is to first create an exhaust as close to the fire as possible, which will reduce the pressure inside
the fire room. Then the fan is turned into
the building to increase the pressure in
adjacent rooms while decreasing the pressure in the fire room. Therefore, after the
exhaust is made and the fan turned inside,
in theory the vast majority of the products
of combustion will exit the building
through the exhaust and not flow into
the adjacent spaces. Ideally, this will
reduce temperatures and increase visibility
between the attack entrance and the fire
while increasing temperatures between the
fire and the exhaust.
UNIT 131
UNIT 146
$690
.......
.
.
.
.
s
er
Reclin nd
065
a
s
a
f
... $1
So
s .....
t
a
e
s
Love
THE SENTRY
THE IMPORTANCE OF EXHAUST

Its crucial to understand that certain
conditions must be met to increase the
likelihood of a successful PPA, and this
starts with the exhaust. Its pretty obvious
by looking at the titles of the Tactical
Considerations that exhaust plays a vital
role in the success of PPA.
All too often, PPA is taught as a Set it,
and forget it tactic, but this is myopic
and potentially dangerous. While it has
been proven that, under certain circumstances, PPA can enhance fire attack,
search, and ventilation, its also true that
PPA can lead to rapid fire progression and
a rapid decrease in the survivable space
inside a fire building if conditions are not
ideal. To gauge whether PPA is improving
the intake side of the flow path and working as designed, an ongoing assessment of
the attack entrance, exhaust, and interior
is needed.
Its a common misunderstanding that
the attack entrance will become a unidirectional intake because of the cone of
air completely covering the door, but the
experiments demonstrated that this is simply not true. There will be flow (backflow)
out the top of the attack entrance, and
this shouldnt surprise us. Whats important is that the backflow should diminish
over time. If the backflow is increasing,
then the firefighter monitoring the intake
will need to attempt to troubleshoot
the problem by either creating another
exhaust or decreasing the throttle.
While a unidirectional intake is not possible, a unidirectional exhaust is the goal.
Assessing the neutral plane at the exhaust
can tell you whether PPA is working as
1609FR_45 45
UNIT 144
AMERICA
AM
A
MERICA STR
MERICA
S
STRONG
RON
RO
R
ONG
ONG
Call Toll Free:
Visit Our
Website To See
Our Full Line Of
Sofas, Loveseats
& Chairs
888-380-2345
88
firestationoutfitters.com
For more information contact dave@firestationoutfitters.com
Furniture for all Firehouse & EMS applications:
recliners, day rooms, administration areas, equipment
8/22/16 8:24 AM
anticipated. If the neutral plane is at or

below the windowsill, then the exhaust is
unidirectional. If the neutral plane stays
above the sill, then theres a problem, and
we need to attempt to identify and fix the
problem (increase the flow or remove an
obstruction); stop the fan; or, better yet,
flow some water on the fire.
Having an ongoing assessment during
PPA is essential since were adding thousands of cfm to a probable vent-limited
fire, which will increase the energy and
power produced by the fire. If this energy
isnt following the intended flow path out
the exhaust and away from any firefight-
exhaust opening outside of the fire room

can cause the smoke, air, heat, and flames
to spread to adjacent spaces. This could
obviously decrease the survivability of the
adjacent spaces and put civilians and firefighters at greater risk. When it comes to
the exhaust, location, size, and an ongoing
assessment are crucial to achieve PPA
success. This reinforces what weve learned
from the first two ventilation studies
coordinated ventilation is critical.
The last piece of the PPA puzzle related
to the exhaust is the finding that void space
extension is exhaust dependent. In the
experiments, the void space examined was
Aluminum Construction
Although PPA is an obviously polarizing

tactic, PPV is widely accepted and
practiced as a safe and efficient means
to ventilate a building post knockdown.
Light Weight ( < 7 oz )

Replaceable Steel Tips
Saddle Slot for Lanyard
Hitching Loop
TALON
UL CERTIFIED
NFPA ESCAPE ANCHOR
Fire Innovations TALON Hook is
an advanced anchoring option
for emergency escape. Precision
machined from 7000 series
aluminum, and replaceable steel tips,
it provides secure remote anchoring
through the hitching slot, or can be
used as a hook anchor at the sill.
Weighing less than 7 ounces, the
TALON minimizes the weight of the
entire escape system.
When paired with the CORE device
and TSAFE Escape Rope, it creates
the most versatile firefighter escape
system available.
Patent pending. Made in the USA.
Toll Free
866.347.3466
email
info@fireinnovations.com
ers and civilians, then the fireground can

get very badvery fast. While having
someone monitoring the attack entrance
and the exhaust will require more personnel than PPA has traditionally required,
having multiple personnel assessing the
effectiveness of PPA could decrease the
customary 30 to 60 seconds, depending
on conditions, that the attack team typically waits between turning the fan into
the building and making entry.
While many different variables (fan size,
setback distance, angle, intake, exhaust,
etc.) can affect the pressures created by a
fan, the exhaust is the most critical to PPA
success. Again, the fan needs to produce
more pressure than the fire, and having
an exhaust to inlet ratio of 2:1 is more
effective than 1:1 or <1:1. It needs to be
clarified that the inlet is not necessarily
the attack entrance door but rather the
door/opening to the fire room. While this
2:1 ratio was possible in the experiments,
many buildings make this exhaust:inlet
ratio difficult or even impossible to recreate. If the building isnt cooperating, just
add water. Applying water to the fire will
reduce the pressure (and the temperature,
energy, and power) inside the fire room,
which will allow PPA to be more effective.
Probably common sense, and definitely a current best practice, we also
now empirically know that making an
a stud bay accessed (inlet) by an electrical

outlet or light switch. Even with products
of combustion entering and filling a void
space, with no exhaust, the oxygen level
will predictably decrease, thus not support
combustion. This means that even if fire
flows can find their way into a void, if
there isnt also an exhaust in the void the
fire wont readily spread.
FAST FIRES NEED FAST WATER

We inherently know that water wins.
Our experience also backs this up and,
to no ones surprise, these experiments
implicitly proved this fact. Although
the current Fire Attack Study will go
much more in depth about the differences between interior and exterior water
application, from the data we examined
(temperature, heat flux, gas concentrations, pressure, and gas velocity) it was
pretty clear that water wins.
I know its blasphemy in some circles
to say that transitional attack coupled
with PPA can be effective. The data
showed that, regardless of where the
water was applied from, conditions inside
improved. It should be noted that the
water was applied with a tight stream at a
steep, static angle. As already mentioned,
applying water to the fire will reduce the
pressure inside the fire room, making
PPA more effective. This coupling of two
Website
fireinnovations.com
Additional Information
1609FR_46 46
8/22/16 8:24 AM
distinct fire-attack tactics hopefully leads

to the realization that different tactics
(interior attack, exterior attack, PPA, door
control, etc.) are not mutually exclusive
but rather are all options that should be
chosen, and potentially combined, based
on the conditions found and resources
available. If conditions and resources
dictate tactics, then shouldnt there be
more than one way to fight fire. There is
never one answer, says Steve Kerber, UL
FSRI director.
It has been shown time and time again,
both in the lab and on the streets, that
with the continued evolution of the fireground, todays fires are faster than ever
before. This emphasizes the importance
of quickly stretching, advancing, and
flowing. Fast fires need fast water. To put
this information into practice means that
we should use the reach of our stream and
apply water to the seat as soon as possible.
This is nothing new, but it drives home
the importance of training on a smooth,
fast, and efficient fire attackPPA or not.
IMPACT OF THE BUILDING

Now that the fire has been deconstructed,
we can look at the buildings impact
on PPA. With all the attention that fire
behavior has received in years past, its easy
to forget about the importance of building
construction on fire dynamics. If there was
one finding from the experiments that will
surprise the fire service, its that compartmentation is essential to effective PPA.
While PPA worked very well on bedroom fires in the one-story ranch house,
it was much less successful on fires in
the family room of the two-story house.
Findings showed that PPA will not be
effective on fires in the open areas of an
open space floor plan, especially areas
with high ceilings. This is because when
the fire is in an open area, the inlet size
is increased (remember that the inlet is
not the front door but the opening to
the room), and therefore the fan becomes
incapable of increasing the pressure in the
adjacent rooms. High ceilings also create
another problem by effectively churning
the products of combustion in the room.
In the experiments, a fire in an open
area combined with a high ceiling led to
increased temperatures, decreased visibility, and fire spread into adjacent areas.
Thus, the importance of knowing whether
or not the fire room is compartmentalized

cannot be overstated.
PPV
Although PPA is an obviously polarizing tactic, PPV is widely accepted and
practiced as a safe and efficient means
to ventilate a building post knockdown.
While only three of the Tactical Considerations are related to PPV, there were still
some important findings, specifically that
multiple exhausts increase the effectiveness
of PPV. There has been debate for decades
on the most efficient method of PPV:
systematically opening windows and doors
to exhaust smoke one room at a time or
opening multiple windows and/or doors
at once. The experiments found that systematic PPV causes smoke to be entrained
from adjacent spaces, leading to inefficient
PPV. With the power of todays fans, it
was found that the more openings that are
made, the more efficient PPV will be.
If your goal is to change all the air out
within a structure, the fastest way youre
going to do that is by flowing more air
through the front door; and the more
openings you have in the structure, the
more air comes in through the front
door, Zevotek says.
EDUCATION AND APPLICATION

While this study was never intended to
end the debate on PPA, it was intended to
make the debate more educated. Ive only
briefly touched on PPA and PPV in this
article, but hopefully youre encouraged to
dig deeper. While Ive discussed some of
the important findings from the experiments, there are still many more Tactical
Considerations hidden in the data. If your
department uses PPA and/or PPV, you owe
it to yourself, your crews, and your citizens
to know all you can about it by taking the
online training module and reading the fire
service summary report. And after you do
that, go out and train on ita lot.
Nick Ledin is a firefighter paramedic with the Eau
Claire (WI) Fire Department, assigned to Truck 9. Hes
a member of the Fire Engineering Blog Talk Network
and a technical panel member for UL FSRIs PPA
study. Ledin has been working in emergency services
for 12 years, is a fire service instructor with Chippewa
Valley Technical College, and is president of the
Northland FOOLS. He has a bachelors degree from
Iowa State University.
Aluminum Construction
Hands-free exit
Intuitive use
No mechanical parts
Deploys over a window sill
Effortless payout (<4lbs)
CORE
7.5
UL CERTIFIED NFPA
DESCENT CONTROL DEVICE
The CORE is an Escape Class Descent
Control Device as specified by NFPA
1983-2012. It has been tested and
certified with 7.5mm escape ropes,
such as Sterling Ropes FireTech,
EscapeTech and TSAFE.
Constructed from highest grade
aluminum, and intuitive design, this
descent device is the CORE of any
bailout system.
Its use of advance physics, eliminates
the need for cams, levers, or moving
parts. Consistent deployments and
safe descents are its genesis.
Patent pending. Made in the USA.
Toll Free
866.347.3466
email
info@fireinnovations.com
Website
fireinnovations.com
1609FR_47 47
Additional Information
8/22/16 8:24 AM
FEBRUARY 23 25, 2017
CALVIN L. RAMPTON SALT PALACE CONVENTION CENTER

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH
LEARN
EXCEL
NETWORK
REGISTER NOW and Save Up To $100 Off Registration!

OWNED &
PRODUCED BY
OFFICIAL PUBLICATION
OF EMS TODAY
www.EMSToday.com
1609FR_48 48
8/22/16 8:24 AM
Part 3
Cutting roll-down
gates
BY PAUL DeBA
RTOLOMEO
n the third installment of this three-part series, I will
discuss some of the determining factors firefighters can
use to decide on the appropriate entry tactics for
roll-down security gates and will focus on the various
techniques used for cutting the different style gates.
Firefighters typically arrive on scene at commercial building
fires during the overnight, nonbusiness hours. These occupancies are usually equipped with roll-down gates secured with
high-security padlocks. The focal point of initial fire department operations is centered on entry, and all other fireground
functions hinge on it being effective and efficient. In determining the best method to gain entry, firefighters must make
a rapid but thorough size-up of the entry challenge prior to
selecting their tactical means of operation. In conducting their
size-up, firefighters should consider the style and type of gate
present, the number and type of locks securing the gates, and
the fire conditions potentially impacting the gate. Based on
their findings, firefighters can then determine whether it is
quicker to attack the locks, attack the gate, or jump the gate
in the case of an electronic roll down.
1: An American Series 2000

with shields. (Photos by aut
hor
unless otherwise noted.)
2
2: Heavy fire impinging on the
gate, causing the gate to war
p.
DETERMINING FACTORS
A significant determining factor is the type and number of
locks securing the gate. If a gate is secured with two American
Series 700 padlocks, it may be quicker to attack the locks.
Conversely, if a gate is secured with several American Series
2000 hockey puck style locks guarded with a shield, it may
be quicker and more efficient to attack the gate (photo 1).
This size-up is predicated on knowing your equipment and
understanding its capabilities and limitations. In the case of
a gate secured with several hockey puck locks, the type of
blade you are running will play a role in this decision. If you
are running an abrasive disc on your forcible entry saw, it will
likely be worn down significantly after cutting a couple of
shielded hockey pucks. On the other hand, if you are running
an all-purpose diamond blade, you are more likely going to
complete the task without issue.
Another determining factor in deciding whether to attack
the locks vs. the gates is the fire conditions present within
1609FR_49 49
the occupancy. If there is a heavy fire condition within the

occupancy that is exposing the roll-down curtain, you are
likely going to have to attack the gate (photo 2). If the curtain
is being exposed to high heat, it will begin to warp. Warping will impact the ability to retract the gate properly, which
negates your option of attacking the locks. If you arrive on
scene and there are indications of a well-advanced fire, you
should consider the possibility of the gates being warped and
plan your entry accordingly.
WHERE TO CUT
Once it has been determined that you are going to gain
entry by attacking the gates, you must decide where you are
going to begin your cuts and what type of cut you are going
to use. Where to begin your cutting operation is going to be
largely predicated on your size-up skills and your fireground
observations.
49
8/22/16 8:25 AM
3: A store with
. 5: A commercial
multiple large gates
h
wit
re
sto
A
4:
te.
a single ga
If the fire occupancy is small and only has one

6
gate, then the answer is fairly obvious, and you
are going to start working on the lone gate (photo
3). If the fire occupancy is large with multiple
gates, you need to determine which gate covers the
main access to the occupancy (photo 4). On some
occupancies, you can determine the main access
point based on the size of the gates. In photo five,
two larger gates cover the display windows, with
a smaller gate in the middle covering the entryway. In this instance, you would likely attack the entryway
gate first and then proceed to the larger gates covering the
windows.
On larger occupancies, the main entryway may not be
clearly defined from the exterior when all the gates are down
and locked. Some firefighters will survey their area during
normal business hours to ascertain this information. They can
make a mental note of where the main entryway is located
or develop a reference point using numbers or letters on
the storefront awning that line up with the entry door. For
example, in photo 6 the main entry door is located under the
A in Pizza on the awning sign. Making a mental note of that
and using it as a point of reference will assist in identifying the
entry door when the gates are down, as in photo 7. Another
indicator may be the presence of a concrete ramp or a saddle
on the sidewalk leading to the entry door (photos 6, 7, and 8).
TYPES OF CUTS
The type of cut you make is determined by the style of gate
you have, the size of the gate, and the extent of fire conditions. Identifying the style of gate (solid or open) will help
in determining how best to cut it. For a solid gate, there
are numerous cutting options such as the slash cut, the box
cut, and the inverted V. Conversely, the rod and link style,
because of its unique construction features, requires a specific
cut, which I will describe later in this article.
Smaller gates: When faced with a solid gate, firefighters must
consider its overall size in selecting the type of cut they are
going to use. For smaller gates, 12 feet wide or less, the slash
50
1609FR_50 50
building with a small
main entry gate.
6: Sizing up a commercial occupancy during business hours.

7: Using a reference point in a sign to locate the main entry gate.
cut is probably the quickest and most efficient. For larger

gates, greater than 12 feet wide, the box cut or the inverted V
cut would be indicated. Fire conditions must also be considered in this process, especially on larger gates. If conditions
indicate a heavy body of fire in the occupancy, the inverted V
would be indicated because it allows for rapid water application following the second cut (photo 9).
The slash cut is a single cut made in the middle of a smaller
gate with a maximum width of 10 to 12 feet. The benefits
of the slash cut are that it is easy to do and results in rapid
entry. The key is to make the cut in the middle of the gate,
starting as high as you can reach, and bringing it as close to
the ground as you can (photo 10). Once the cut is finished,
the slats can be pulled toward the center from each side of the
cut, which results in a large rectangular opening. To pull the
slat, you must drive the point of the halligan into the metal
to pierce the slat (photo 11). Once the halligan is set, you can
pull the slat toward the cut or drive it with the ax if resistance
is met (photo 12.) One key point to remember with the slash
cut is that the slats attached to the locking pins will remain
engaged. The slat above and below the locking pin will have
to be pulled individually, and the remaining slat can then be
cut with the saw or bent out of the way.
Larger gates: On larger gates, in excess of 12 feet wide,
firefighters have two options: They can use the box cut or the
8/22/16 8:25 AM
12
13
8: A ramp on the
sidewalk identifying
the main entry door.
firefighter mak
the gate. 13: A
f
of
ts
e
pl
sla
tri
e
e
th
th
al using
e ax to drive
itate slat remov
halligan with th
gate rail to facil
e
scue Co. 1.)
12: Striking the
th
Re
m
t
en
fro
in
rtm
ot
pa
t one fo
Seattle Fire De
ri,
te
Ma
ing a vertical cu
sh
Jo
cut). (Photo by
slash (aka 111
ick
9: A line applies qu
water through
an inverted V cut.
10
10: A slash cut on

a smaller gate.
11
11: Using a halligan

to pull the slats.
1609FR_51 51
inverted V. The box cut (aka the triple slash or 111 cut) is a
variation of the slash cut suitable for larger gates. Essentially, it
consists of three slash cuts spaced evenly along the width of the
gate. The first cut is made in the middle of the gate, starting
high and brought to the ground. The two outside cuts are made
in a similar fashion at least one foot in from the guide rails for
the slats to pull freely (photo 13). When done properly, the
slats are much more manageable when removing, and you end
up with a large rectangular opening.
The inverted V is another option when dealing with larger
gates. As mentioned earlier, this cut allows for immediate water
application through the open triangle following the second cut.
The inverted V consists of two overlapping angled cuts, which
results in a large triangular opening in the middle of the gate.
Begin your first cut in the middle of the gate as high as you
can reach, and bring it down on an angle toward the corner of
the gate (photo 14). Start the second cut on the opposite angle
about one foot below the initial cut, leaving a small portion of
gate intact (photo 15). Bring this cut down toward the opposite
corner. Once this cut is complete, you can return to the top and
cut the remaining portion. If the second cut intersects the first
cut at the onset, the gate will begin to fall as the cut is being
made. This may cause the saw to bind and potentially expose
the operator to heat and flames. Once the cuts are completed,
you can pull the slats on both sides into the middle to expand
the triangular opening into a large rectangle.
The construction features of the open grille gates known as
rod and link style will require you to use a variation of the box
cut known as the curtain cut. The traditional box cut and the
inverted V will be ineffective because of the lack of removable
slats. Strictly vertical or angled cuts will not sever all of the aluminum links connecting the rods, which will leave portions of
the gate intact. With the curtain cut, you start with two vertical
cuts on each end of the gate about 12 inches in from the guide
rails. These cuts should extend as high as you can reach and
continue as low as possible. The third cut is a horizontal cut
made at the top of the gate that connects the two vertical cuts
and severs the aluminum links, resulting in a large rectangular
opening (photo 16).
51
8/22/16 8:25 AM
BEST ENTRY METHOD
the style
r
e
id
s
n
o
c
t
mus
Firefighters
number and
e
h
t
,
e
t
a
g
f
g
and type o
he prevailin
t
d
n
a
,
s
k
c
types of lo
ct the best
le
e
s
o
t
s
n
io
fire condit
it attacking
e
b
y
r
t
n
e
method of
the gate.
g
in
t
t
u
c
r
o
the locks
14
the triangle
14: The first leg of erted V).
cut (aka inv
15
t of the
15: The second cu
b one
ta
e
th
g
vin
lea
triangle
l cut.
tia
ini
e
foot from th
16
t on
16: A horizontal cu
te.
the rod and link ga
52
1609FR_52 52
As you can see, there are several factors

to consider in determining the best method
of entry when dealing with roll-down gates
secured with high-security padlocks. Firefighters must consider the style and type of
gate, the number and types of locks, and the
prevailing fire conditions to select the best
method of entrybe it attacking the locks
or cutting the gate. An additional point to
consider when you decide to cut the gate
is the loss of control in terms of horizontal
ventilation. Once the gate is cut and the slats
are pulled, you have a large horizontal opening that can no longer be secured, potentially
accelerating fire conditions. It is therefore
imperative to coordinate this operation with
the engine company to have the appropriately sized handline stretched and charged
prior to completing the cuts.
Another point to consider when cutting the
gates is to ensure you cut high enough on the
gate to allow for clearance of the main entry
door in the event that the upper curtain fails to
recoil. If the upper portion of the gate is not cut
high enough and it fails to recoil because of
warping, it could very well block the main
access door from opening, thus further delaying
entry. In strip malls or taxpayers with multiple
occupancies, consider cutting the locks or gates
of the adjoining occupancies in addition to the
fire occupancy in anticipation of lateral fire
spread. Its best to be proactive and open the
exposures early on rather than trying to play
catch up while the fire is extending laterally via
the common cockloft. Lastly, understand that
by cutting the gates you negate your ability to
resecure the occupancy following your operations, which may reflect negatively in the eyes
of the public if fire conditions were not
consistent with the extent of the damage
incurred.
Paul DeBartolomeo has been a member of the fire
service for more than 20 years in both the career and
volunteer ranks. He is an 18-year veteran of the Fire
Department of New York (FDNY), where he is assigned
to Ladder Company 28 in Harlem. DeBartolomeo is a
nationally certified Pro-Board instructor and an adjunct
instructor for the Connecticut Fire Academy and provides
lectures and hands-on training nationwide. He was a
lead instructor for an FDIC H.O.T. evolution as well as a
classroom presenter.
8/22/16 8:25 AM
WE SPECIALIZE IN
FULL BODY
HARNESSES
THAT HELP YOU DO MORE.
E.
ADVANTAGE
NTAGETM
CLIK
Our new ADVANTAGETM and

ADVANTAGETM CLIK harnesses
utilize our new waist pad design.
Fully adjustable features padded
waist, legs, and shoulders. Unique
ADVANTAGETM
shaped shoulder pad system makes the

ADVANTAGETM super-comfortable. Suitable for
Work and Rescue, Fall Arrest, Work Positioning,

HIGH QUALITY GEAR THAT HELPS YOUR TEAM DO MORE.


!

1609FR_53 53

8/22/16 8:25 AM
A look at some of the apparatus

and products at FDIC 2016
BY BOB VACCARO
ew apparatus technology and new apparatus were not
scarce at Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC)
International 2016. All of the manufacturers had plenty to
unveil for 2016. If you had a chance to attend, then you will know
what I mean. For those of you who werent able to attend, I will
highlight some of the apparatus and related products.
E-ONE
The Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District of Breckenridge, Colorado, will receive delivery on its all-new eMAX
Cyclone II pumper, made by E-ONE. E-ONEs newest eMAX
pairs a 550-hp Cummins ISX15 engine, an Allison EVS4000P
transmission, a Dana Spicer 27,000-pound rear axle with a power
divider, and a Meritor 22,800-pound front-drive axle. With all
of this unbridled power, the 30-foot-long eMAX has no trouble

toting a 780-gallon UPF Poly III tank and providing up to a
1,500-gpm flow from the split-shaft midship pump.
E-ONE also showcased its HPS 100 steel platform. This steel
platform boasts the same 2.5:1 structural safety factor as other
E-ONE aerials. The HPS 100 platform meets the demand of
steel-preferring departments with its 100-foot vertical reach and
1,305-pound platform capacity. The HPS 100 platform features
innovative technologies to keep crews safe while the crisscross,
under-slung outriggers deploy to a tight 15-foot, six-inch spread
in less than 45 seconds, allowing it to go where other aerials cant
in industry-leading record time.
E-ONE showcased its latest Advanced Aerial Control System
(AACS). Featured on a CR 100 Cyclone II aerial truck, the
Left: A 75-foot Rosenbauer Commander with a midmount platform. (Photo by Rosenbauer.) Right: A Ferrara SKYFLOW aerial built on an Inferno chassis. (Photo by Ferrara.)
54
1609FR_54 54
8/22/16 8:25 AM
Left: A Seagrave FDNY 100-foot TDA built on a Marauder II chassis. (Photo by Seagrave.) Right: A Pierce Arrow XT Ascendant 107-foot aerial with no pump. (Photo by Pierce.)
AACS will be available on all E-ONE aerial and platform products in basic and deluxe versions. It features electric/hydraulic
controls for smooth operation, including control from the aerials
tip and pump panel. Meanwhile, E-ONEs Deluxe AACS features
a full-color aerial information system display, wireless aerial and
outrigger controls, body protection and cradle assist, as well as a
feature that allows the operator to select from one of three ramp
settings (, , and seconds), plus many other upgrades.
with a flat roof; a 206-inch wheelbase; an 11-foot, nine-inch

travel height; a 38-foot, three-inch travel length; a four-door,
six-person cab; a stainless steel body; and a 24-inch bumper. Powered by a 400-hp Cummins ISL 9 engine with an Allison Gen
5 EVS3000 automatic transmission, additional features include
a Hale Qmax 1,500-gpm pump; a 300-gallon tank; 222 cubic
feet of compartment space; a Seon 360-degree camera system; a
10-kW Smart Power generator; and body chute ladder storage.
SUTPHEN
LTC/SMEAL
Sutphen was likely the only manufacturer to showcase a totally

new apparatus this year, which is a change from its lineup of
midmount aerials. It is now offering its first ever rearmount aerial
ladder. The SLR 75 is the first in a new line of rearmounts that
will be introduced in the near future.
Specs for the SLR 75 include a Sutphen 62-inch extended cab
LTC, a part of Smeal, reintroduced the Snorkel this year. If

you attended FDIC in 2015, the Telesqurt was reintroduced and
delivered to Medina, Ohio. This year, the Snorkel was built for
the Frankfort (IL) Fire Protection District. Also reintroduced was
a Squrt for the Prospect Heights (NJ) Volunteer Fire Company.
The Squrt features a 1,000-gpm articulating boom; 750 gal-
1609FR_55 55
55
8/22/16 8:25 AM
An LTC/Smeal Squrt for Prospect Heights, New Jersey, built on a Smeal Sirius
chassis. (Photo by Smeal.)
An E-ONE 4 4 built on an eMAX Cyclone II chassis. (Photo by E-ONE.)
lons of water; a 30-gallon Class B foam cell;

based on Spartans extensive database of
and a 2,000-gpm Waterous pump. It has a low
customer-specific configurations and includes
overall travel height of 10 feet, eight inches
those options found in 80 percent of fire
and a narrow 11-foot, nine-inch stabilizer
department orders. Spartans new configuraspread for fast, easy setup on scene. The Squrt
tions give fire departments the confidence that
Articulating Water Tower can easily be added
the cab and chassis they order will meet their
to a traditional pumper configuration to prorequirements at a preferential price point.
vide aerial capability with only a small increase
Beginning with the building blocks of these
in overall vehicle length.
most optimal specifications, departments will
The Snorkel was the first elevated firestill have the flexibility to add or subtract
fighting platform to be deployed in the fire
custom features to satisfy their specific requireservice. When it was first introduced in 1958,
ments and best meet their and their customers
it revolutionized firefighting and the ability
needs.
to reach out, over, and up to place firefightSpartan also featured the Gladiator and
ers and a master stream for rescue and aerial
Metro Star chassis, the two models available
attack. The Frankfort Fire Protection District
in Spartan Select, at FDIC 2016. This was the
in Illinois owned a Snorkel for many years
first time in the companys history that Spartan
An LTC/Smeal Snorkel for the Frankfort
and purchased this first new Snorkel to
displayed chassis built specifically for custom(IL) Fire Protection District, built on a
replace an eight-year-old, 100-foot rearmount Smeal Sirius chassis. (Photo by Smeal.)
ers of its OEM partners. It featured a Metro
platform. Frankforts new Snorkel rides on a
Star chassis sold by partner Toyne, Inc. to the
Sirius II chassis with a 450-horsepower Cummins ISL9 engine.
Tully (NY) Fire Department and a Gladiator chassis sold by partIt is equipped with a 1,500-gpm Waterous pump and a 500-gal- ner 4 Guys Fire Trucks to the Wilkesboro (NC) Fire Department.
lon water tank.
The cab and chassis on display included Spartans Advanced Protection System, a bundle of safety features that protect firefighters
SPARTAN ERV
while they travel to and from the emergency scene.
At FDIC 2016, we are showcasing Spartans 180 Truck Program,
which enables an unprecedented order-to-delivery cycle times as
PIERCE
short as 180 days, says John Slawson, division president of Spartan
As always, Pierce had a large contingent of apparatus on
Emergency Response. Helping ensure fire departments can remain display18 in three different locations to be exact. Pierce
laser-focused on rescues is mission critical to Spartan.
maintained its central hub location at the entrance of Lucas Oil
Combining decades of fire industry knowledge with the
Stadium where it featured 11 vehicles, including a wide range
significant manufacturing and engineering talent the company
of pumper, aerial, and rescue apparatus. A second Pierce booth
added over the past year, the 180 Truck Program represents a
showcased five apparatus in the Indianapolis Convention Center.
new way of manufacturing custom fire trucks. By getting a head
Two additional apparatus were on display outdoors between the
start on full-featured custom production, Spartan can complete a
convention center and stadium.
fully engineered, built-to-order apparatus in six months without
Other highlights at the Pierce booth included all-new configucompromising quality. The company will initially offer more than rations of the Pierce Ascendant 107-foot heavy-duty ladder
a dozen pumper and aerial models under the program.
(built on a single rear axle chassis) including the PUC pump,
Another new program called Spartan Select was also introduced Texas Chute Out body (side stack hosebed), and no pump/
at the show. The Spartan Select will offer Spartan OEM partners
no tank body. The Pierce Ascendant has garnered more than
with two new base configurations in SPARcon, the companys
60 orders in less than a year. In addition, Pierce engineers were
configuration and order entry system, for the Gladiator and
on hand to conduct live demonstrations and gather firefighter
Metro Star cab and chassis models, aimed at simplifying and
feedback on Pierces new Command Zone advanced electronics
expediting the ordering process. Individual features were chosen
and controls system.
56
1609FR_56 56
8/22/16 8:25 AM
FERRARA
Ferrara showcased its new SKYFLOW aerial. The new midmount
aerial is built on a Ferrara Inferno chassis and features a 600-hp
Cummins ISX engine. The aerial comprises four sections and features a brand new structure to accommodate the high 5,000-gpm
flow through a hydraulically controlled monitor. Primarily designed
for industrial fires, the aerial features a 1,250-pound dry tip load.
There are two eight-inch rear intakes and six-inch discharges. The
wheelbase on the aerial is 258 inches, and the overall length is
51 feet, seven inches. Also on display was an MVP pumper that
featured a variety of Class 1/Hale electronic controls.
In 2012, Rosenbauer rolled out the companys flagship product

Commander, sporting a 99-foot-wide cab providing maximum
interior room for crew members. In 2014, seeing the need in
certain markets where access roadways were narrower, Rosenbauer
launched a project team to engineer the 96-foot Warrior.
Subsequently, it has fielded multiple requests to shorten
the wheelbase while keeping the cab a four-door. The model
displayed at FDIC 2016 was the first Warrior that featured a
96-inch cab width and a limited 45-inch cab length custom
pumper by Rosenbauer Motors.
SEAGRAVE
ROSENBAUER
Nine fire apparatus were on display. Four aerials were shown
at the outside area on South Street doing product demonstrations. One of Rosenbauers offerings was the Raptor. Rosenbauers
articulating fly section allows the Raptor XS to get up and over a
structure, allowing the rescue cage to set down on a safe walking
structure. The Raptor XS is based on the very popular 102-foot
Raptor aerial model, which features a removable rescue cage to
convert into a standard straight stick. The Raptor and Raptor XS
are built on a single-axle chassis for the best maneuverability.
Targeted for regions whose public roadways are narrower and
more congested, the new Cobra product will allow departments
to run a tower company in some of their hardest areas to serve.
The first unit produced sports a distinctive graphics package
borrowed from the Rosenbauer Groups flagship product, the
Panther, rolled out at last summers Interschutz show.
Seagrave introduced a 95-foot Aerialscope quint as well as

had on display a rearmount for Albuquerque, New Mexico; a
Marauder rescue pumper for Greentown, Indiana; and a TDA for
FDNY lettered for Ladder 175.
NUMEROUS APPARATUS
While this was by no means everything on display apparatus
wise, it gives you a sample of what to look for if you are in the
market for anything new in the future. Investigate some of the
apparatus manufacturers Web sites and attend next years show to
see new offerings.
Bob Vaccaro has more than 40 years of fire service experience. He is a former chief
of the Deer Park (NY) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance
Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol, and several major commercial insurance
companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life member of the IAFC.
100-400 Gallon
50-75 Gallon
High Pressure / Low Volume

Greater Reach, Better Penetration
Call us for more info on
the Unruh Fire FireCracker
skid units at
1-888-505-5262
Stokes Basket Carrier
1609FR_57 57
57
8/22/16 8:25 AM
Poland
s Big
58
1609FR_58 58
A variety of sources of financing allow the countrys

fire services to modernize their gear and purchase
new vehicles and equipment despite Polands
budget cuts. (Photo by Kwidzyn municipality.)
Invest
ment
8/22/16 8:25 AM
fter years of underinvestment, the Polish authorities

recently intensified efforts to overhaul the countrys
fire services. Among other measures, the government is
aiming to raise the salaries of firefighters, purchase new
gear, and build new fire stations. The reform is carried out with
the use of funds provided to Poland from the European Union
(EU), which, since 2005, has allowed the country to upgrade its
infrastructure.
Polands Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Jaroslaw Zielinski
said on March 4, 2016, that the countrys firefighters will obtain
a pay raise of about five percent this year. Moreover, the Polish
authorities are currently implementing a number of investments
to bolster the countrys fire services. The announcement was
made at a meeting between the deputy minister and the representatives of the ZZS Florian, the countrys leading fire service trade
union.
During the meeting, some of the discussed topics included the
government program to overhaul the law enforcement and emergency services, said Krzysztof Oleksak, the trade unions chairman. The deputy minister informed us that the program is to be
INCREASED SPENDING ON FIREFIGHTERS

On a related note, the planned pay raise for firefighters is
accompanied by increased spending by both Polands central
government and regional authorities on purchasing new gear
and vehicles for the fire service, as well as major infrastructural
investments. Only in the past few months, a string of projects to
build new fire stations throughout the country was announced in
Poland.
In Zukowo, in the countrys northern part, a new fire station
was to be opened by June 2016 under an investment worth some
PLN 6 million ($1.5 million US). Construction work on the fire
station began in late 2014 and the project was in its final phase
(at press time) with local firefighters awaiting the delivery of
equipment to the built facility, as reported by local broadcaster
Radio Gdansk. The fire station was fitted with a total surface of
1,000 square meters (10,764 square feet) and was expected to be
launched in the second quarter of this year.
The investment was financed by funds provided from the
municipal budget, which represents a rare case in which such an
investment was not carried out with the use of funds acquired
Country invests in new gear and fire stations,

raises firefighters salaries
BY JAROSLAW ADAMOWSKI
launched on January 1, 2017. It will have a four-year perspective,
and its scope, in addition to the pay increase, will include various
projects related to improving the conditions of service, modernizing the infrastructure and equipment [of firefighters].
NEW POLISH GOVERNMENT

The latest move follows Polands change in government, which
took place in late 2015. As a result of the October 25 parliamentary election, Prime Minister Beata Szydlo from the conservative
Law and Justice (PiS) party formed a new cabinet that aims to,
among its other priorities, increase the salaries of public servants,
law enforcement and emergency services personnel, and other
employees of state-run institutions.
During the prime ministers recent visit to a fire station in
Uniecko, in Polands central part, Szydlo told local firefighters
that their salaries will also be raised this year. We will implement
these raises because we believe it is necessary to appreciate and
reward those who are at our service and who had not been sufficiently compensated and appreciated. We will change this, and
this year their salaries will be raised, the prime minister said on
February 26, 2016, as reported by local news agency PAP.
In addition to this, Szydlo said that her government will bolster
its efforts to develop the voluntary fire service whose activities
complement the state-run fire service in less-populated parts of
the country. We need to introduce programs which will allow
these stations [run by voluntary firefighters] to develop, Szydlo
said. The prime minister added that such stations should be
provided with adequate amounts of gear to ensure that voluntary
firefighters can protect local communities.
1609FR_59 59
from the EU or the regional budget.

Under a separate project worth about PLN 1 million ($250,000
US), local firefighters in the neighboring Stezyca municipality
will obtain three Ford Transit FED V363 vehicles, fitted with 2.2liter engines.
Gdansk, the largest port city on the Polish Baltic Sea shore, will
also obtain a new fire station. The facility, worth about PLN 5.4
million ($1.35 million US), is currently under construction on a
land plot of 10,000 square meters.
Meanwhile, a further PLN 10.5 million ($2.75 million US)
was allocated by local authorities to purchase new gear for the fire
service of Silesia, Polands southwestern region, including 18 new
vehicles for local firefighters.
Owing to this, four Scania four-wheel-drive vehicles that can
Among other measures, the government is aiming to raise the salaries of firefighters,
purchase new gear, and build new fire stations. (Photo by State Fire Department.)
59
8/22/16 8:25 AM
POLANDS BIG INVESTMENT
The services National Headquarters says that it aims to ensure equal treatment
for all firefighters in line with its gender equality policy. (Photo by Polish Ministry
of the Interior and Administration.)
carry a crew of six will be allocated to the fire stations in the

municipalities of Cieszyn, Zywiec, Tychy, and Gliwice. The fire
stations in Czestochowa will obtain a Renault 4 2 vehicle, and
the fire stations in Katowice are to acquire a Renault Midlum
four-wheel-drive vehicle and a Ssangyong Rexton environmentalchemical rescue vehicle. Moreover, the firefighters in BielskoBiala and Wodzislaw Slaski will be provided with three Renault
D 4 2 vehicles. In Jastrzebie-Zdroj, the citys fire station will be
allocated a new pumping unit.
The procurements were jointly funded by the National Fund
for Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOSiGW), a state-run institution that is largely financed by funds
obtained from the EU, and local governments from the southwestern Silesia region. The new vehicles and gear were delivered
to the fire stations on February 26, 2016, at an official ceremony
with the participation of local authorities.
Furthermore, local authorities plan to spend some PLN 9.5
million ($2.375 million US) with the aim to acquire new gear
and vehicles for the fire stations in Silesia by the end of 2016, of
which about PLN 8 million ($2 million US) is to be spent on
acquisitions of new vehicles for the regions fire stations, and the
remaining PLN 1.5 million ($375,000 US) on procurements of
other gear for firefighters, the NFOSiGW said in a statement.
The variety of sources of financing allows the countrys fire
services to modernize their gear and purchase new vehicles and
equipment despite Polands budget cuts. In 2015, the Polish
fire services were allocated a some PLN 176.7 million ($44.2
million US) from the state budget. If local firefighters were
deprived of funds obtained from other sources, such as the
regional and municipal authorities and the NFOSiGW, they
would most likely not be able to upgrade their gear and purchase new vehicles.
INTERVENTIONS ON THE RISE

What is noteworthy is that the latest data from the Polish
fire service suggest that the country is increasingly in need of a
well-equipped and organized firefighting force. In 2015, Polish firefighters took part in 489,881 interventions, including
184,817 fires, 276,211 incidents, and 28,853 false alarms. A year
earlier, there were 419,265 interventions, which were comprised
60
1609FR_60 60
After years of underinvestment, the Polish authorities recently intensified efforts

to overhaul the countrys fire services. (Photo by State Fire Department.)
of 145,237 fires, 249,472 incidents, as well as 24,556 false

alarms. This also represented a considerable increase compared
with 2013, in which the Polish fire service carried out 397,650
interventions throughout the country.
Polish firefighters were poised to be involved in securing a
major event with the participation of some of the top world leaders, as Polands capital Warsaw hosted the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization summit on July 89, 2016 (after press time). Preparations ahead of the event were a key priority for the countrys law
enforcement and emergency services. They also served as a test for
whether the Polish fire service was capable of effectively using its
newly acquired equipment and capabilities
Because of the limited funds provided by the Polish state,
Polands 16 regional fire departments, 335 municipal fire stations,
and 515 units located throughout the country are mostly dependent on funds from the regional and municipal authorities. Their
activities are complemented by the voluntary fire services, which
are scattered across Polands less populated municipalities, ensuring
the countrys entire surface is ensured a minimum level of protection. In total, there are close to 4,100 fire stations operated by
volunteers in all of Polands regions, according to data from 2014.
FOCUS ON FEMALE FIREFIGHTERS

The countrys professional firefighting force totals 29,955, of
which 1,197 are female firefighters, according to the latest data
from the National Headquarters of the State Fire Service (KG
PSP). Female firefighters represent slightly less than four percent
of the countrys fire service, but they have a considerable share
of the services civilian workforce, with 1,434 employees out of
a total of 2076, or more than 69 percent. However, regarding
managing positions in the Polish fire service, only 2.09 percent of
them are held by female firefighters.
The services National Headquarters says that it aims to ensure
equal treatment for all firefighters in line with its gender equality
policy. As a result, on January 8, 2016, the headquarters established
a special working group, which is to cooperate with the services
authorities to analyze the existing legislation and procedures and
ensure that they are implemented to secure equal treatment for all
male and female firefighters, according to the KG PSP.
Jaroslaw Adamowski is a freelance journalist based in Warsaw, Poland.
8/22/16 8:25 AM
Ethical leadership is critical to developing

strong organizations that are responsive to the
needs of the community and can be trusted to
do the right thing. (Photo by Bill Tompkins.)
Ethical
Leadership
Promoting shared values based on ethical beliefs
BY DAVE DONOHUE
cenario: While placing your gear on the apparatus, you

find gear left by a member who has departed for the
day. This member often forgets to put his gear away and
now it is in your way. You pull the gear off the truck and fling the
helmet across the bay, striking and denting the ladder truck. You
pick up the gear and throw it in a storage room.
During the morning truck check, the dent is noticed and
documented with the off-going ladder truck operator saying that
he did not see the dent. Later in the day, you find a couple of
members engaging in prohibited behavior in the station and write
them up.
Typically, the promotion and advancement process focuses on
technical proficiency, training, and education; however, leadership is not tied to rank and is strongly dependent on the individual. Ethical leadership is an intentional process where leaders
live out a set of shared values that carry through their activities
and actions and often require a high degree of courage to carry
out. Ethical leadership is defined by a respect for ethical beliefs
and values and preserving the rights and dignity of others. Ethical
leadership is tied to values, including honesty, trust, consideration, charisma, and fairness.
1609FR_61 61
ETHICALLY CONSISTENT
Leaders are measured by their ability to influence others to
achieve common goals. They can use their leadership abilities
for either good or bad, and the level of trust that they receive is
directly linked to their ethical decision making and actions. Both
Hitler and Gandhi were able to influence othersand so meet
the definition of effective leaders. However, their goalsand their
ethical corediffered dramatically.
Being in a leadership position, especially in a position of public
trust, brings with it a series of ethical burdens requiring that
the leader consistently demonstrate ethical behavior and readily
recognize and take responsibility when crossing ethical boundaries.
Susan Mullane believes that the ethical leader will act in plain view,
stating that, leaders must do ethical things on a consistent basis in
plain and full view for their constituents to see.1 Gandhi believed
that the ethical person will think, say, and do the same thing. In
short, ethical behavior is intertwined in their daily lives and actions.
SIX PILLARS OF CHARACTER

In an effort to define ethical behavior, the Josephson Institute
has developed the Six Pillars of Character. These pillars serve as
61
8/22/16 8:25 AM
the foundation for a common core of beliefs that are expected

of leaders. Many public institutions, most notably schools, have
incorporated the pillars as core values in an effort to create an
ethical environment within the organization.
The Six Pillars of Character are as follows:
Trustworthiness: honesty, integrity, reliability, loyalty, keeping
promises, not deceiving others.
Respect: following the Golden Rule, courtesy, listening,
accepting individual differences.
Fairness: playing by the rules, not taking advantage of others,
making informed judgments without favoritism or prejudice,
not blaming others.
Caring: kindness, compassion and altruism, acting to minimize hardship, helping others when possible.
Citizenship: working to make ones community better, protecting the environment, making our democratic institutions
work, and operating within the law.
Responsibility: accountability, pursuit of excellence, selfrestraint, think before you act, and consider the consequences.
situation that requires moral courage, where the application of

values results in individual hardship and risk, including retaliation from superiors or the organization. In fact, whistleblowing
demonstrates moral courage in that the whistleblower is bringing information into the public, making it part of the public
record, and allowing the issue to be discussed openly.
Ethical leaders have a strong influence on their organization,
its behavior, and what it is able to accomplish. Leaders who are
effective will focus on what is right, helping and demonstrating that they will not exploit the weaknesses of others. When
they do, their organizations will likely mirror their behavior and
reflect the desire to serve others, making a positive impact.
SEVEN LENSES
Enduring Hardship
In 7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical Leadership, Linda Fisher Thornton identifies seven things that leaders
can do to bring ethical conduct into their organizations.3 These
include the following:
1. Willingly face complexities involved in ethical decision
making. This includes discussing gray areas and conflicts,
ETHICAL DILEMMAS
acknowledging the complexity of the decision-making proEthical dilemmas arise when there is a conflict between values
cess, and involving others in the process. Leaders also take
(right vs. right) or when violating ethical values (right vs. wrong).
responsibility for their decisions, including decisions that
Often, the most difficult dilemmas facing leaders are when ethical
may have been unethical.
values are in conflict with each other and the leader must make a
2. Include ethics in day-to-day activities. Ensure that every
values-based judgment centered on ethical priorities.
member of the organization understands the actions taken
In Moral Courage, Rushworth Kidder identifies four ethical
and the ethical principles that support those decisions.
paradigms of conflicting values.2 The first is the conflict between
3. Ensure that negative interpersonal behaviors do not erode
loyalty, honesty, or integrity vs. commitment, responsibility, or
trust. Trust should be continually built and supported;
promise keepingfor example, allowing a member to work while
communication should be free flowing and open without
hung over. In this example, loyalty to a member of the team is in
attribution or punishment for the sharing of honest opinconflict with responsibility to the public.
ions. Embrace honest disagreements of opinion, and share
The second conflict is between justice and mercy and balances
ownership of the organizational values.
fairness, equity, and equal application of the rules against com4. Remember that ethics is not the same as simply following
passion and care. This conflict is often seen when disciplining a
the rules. Ethics is a commitment to doing the right thing,
high-performing member and a marginal member for the same
even when it is uncomfortable or unpopular.
infraction. Should each member receive discipline based on their
5. No one is exempt from meeting ethical expectations. This is
performance, the action, or some other measure?
especially true of senior leadership. Everyone is responsible for
The third conflict is balancing
their behavior and is held to account
the individual and the comfor any behavior or actions that do
munity, or us vs. them. This
not meet the ethical standard.
is often seen in how we treat
6. Celebrate positive ethical
Ap
s
ply
isk
R
community members who
moments. Individuals
ing
g
Va
izin
fall into differing ecowho demonstrate moral
lue
n
s
cog
Re
nomic, social, or racial classes.
courage should be
Although not always intentional, it
rewarded and their
Moral
is not uncommon for disadvantaged or
actions shared with others
Courage
minority individuals to receive a different level
as examples of expected
of service from those of higher economic standing.
behavior and decision
Finally, there is the conflict between long- and shortmaking, even when their
term gains. This is most evidently seen in the debate
actions are unpopular.
over residential fire sprinkler systems where short-term
7. Remember that ethics is an ongoing journey that
gain, namely lower housing cost, is compared to the
should be discussed and challenged continually.
long-term economic and life-safety gains from installEthical leadership is critical to developing strong
ing residential sprinkler systems.
Ethical dilemmas occur when values conflict with
Ethical leadership can require great courage.
(Image by author.)
each other and leaders may find themselves in a
62
1609FR_62 62
8/22/16 8:25 AM
organizations that are responsive to the needs of the community

and can be trusted to do the right thing. Organizations and
individuals, whether in emergency services, business, schools, or
churches, that do not follow ethical guidelines are likely to fail
dramatically when those lapses become public, ensuring damage
to their reputation and an inability to continue to carry out their
mission. Ethical leadership is the cornerstone on which trust and
organizational stability are built, and all parties must develop and
follow a core set of ethical values that can be discussed and which
are incorporated into daily activities.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
getting harder to breathe. You are about three minutes from

the doors of the ER. What actions do you take?
ENDNOTES
1. Mullane, Susan, Ethics and Leadership, University of Miami, 2009.
2. Kidder, Rushworth, Moral Courage, William Morrow Paperbacks, 2006.
3. Thornton, Linda Fisher, 7 Lenses: Learning the Principles and Practices of Ethical
Leadership, Leading in Context LLC, 2013.
Dave Donohue, MA, CEM, EMT-P, MEP, has been active in the emergency services
field for more than 35 years, serving with several departments in Florida, West
Virginia, and Maryland, and as a federal emergency responder. He is the owner of
Mid-Atlantic Emergency and Safety Consultants, LLC. He can be reached at dave@
mid-atlanticemergency.biz.
Use the following to begin the ethical discussion.

1. You are a member of a volunteer department. The department is funded by donations from
the community. Several members
of the organization would like to
use department funds to hold an
annual banquet. The banquet will be
held at a local hotel and include an
open bar. The department has also
been soliciting funds to purchase
a new engine to replace a 30-yearold engine that has started to break
down. Should the department fund
the banquet using donated funds?
Are there other options for funding
the banquet?
2. It is cold (34F) with light rain and
snow. You are dispatched to a homeless encampment, with three tents
where the homeless stay, where they
have a smoldering warming fire in a
barrel. The chief orders that the deck
gun be deployed from an overpass
above the camp to extinguish the
fire. Do you deploy the deck gun? Is
there another action you can take?
customizable
3. Several firefighters arrive for shift
/kstmazbl/
after an evening of heavy drinking.
adjective
While they are not intoxicated, they
ll used to describe something l
are hung over. It is Sunday, and holithat you can change accordingl
day routine is on the agenda once
to a customers or users l
the vehicles are checked out. As the
particular needs
shift leader, what actions, if any, are
you going to take?
4. You are frequently called to a corner
lot where many homeless congregate. One of your regular customers
is requesting transportation to the
hospital for shortness of breath. You
take his vital signs and walk him
into the ambulance. You withhold
oxygen, do not perform an assessment on him, and complete your
report from memory. About halfway
to the hospital, he states that it is
The Flow Starts Here

Powerful, Portable, Pumps
1609FR_63 63
Buy any CET Model Skid Unit

With Foam System and Get a
Foam Cell (#5, #8, or #10)
for FREE! ($750 value) *
*Available July, August, September, 2016
Call Your Local CET Dealer

or Call us at 800-567-2719
to Find a Dealer
PROMO CODE # 789 FR
Call us Today at 800-567-2719

or view our website at fire-pump.com
8/22/16 8:25 AM
A fire station in the Moscow

region. (Photo by the press
service of the Moscow region.)
Working
to improve
operations
and optimize
the internal
structure
BY
EUGENE
GERDEN
64
1609FR_64 64
he Russian government has finally approved a concept for the reform of the
national system of firefighting, successful implementation of which should
significantly improve operations of the system and optimize its internal
structure. The planned reform involves liquidation of the units with the
secondary, redundant, and auxiliary functions and redirection of their funding to other
departments of the service.
According to an official representative of the press service of the Russian Firefighting
Service, the released funds will mainly be used for the provision of addition social and
financial support to personnel of the service who are directly involved in firefighting
activities, as well as for the training of new staff.
PERSONNEL CUTS
As part of these plans, the Russian Firefighting Service (which is part of the Russian
Ministry of Emergency Situations) plans to cut up to 20 percent of the existing personnel of the service, while the majority of cuts will account for civilian staff as well as
workers of supervisory departments.
According to Vladimir Puchkov, the minister of emergency situations, the budget of
the Russian Federal Firefighting Service designed for the period of 2016-2017 will be
adjusted because of the current difficulties in the Russian economy. At the same time,
the minister promised to provide support to those Russian firefighters who have taken
different loans, including mortgage, but because of the economic crisis are unable to
continue regular payments.
Puchkov has also imposed a ban on hiring for the heads of the regional offices of the
Russian Federal Firefighting Service as well requiring heads of territorial departments to
conduct cuts in the main offices of the national firefighting service (except supervisory
units) as well as the cutting of personnel of the combat and rescue units of the Federal
8/22/16 8:25 AM
Firefighting Service. It is also prohibited to hire employees of

these units to perform noncore tasks.
SPENDING REDUCTION
In addition to personnel cuts, the reform also involves a significant reduction of spending on the implementation of some crucial
industry programs. For example, because of the current economic
crisis, the Russian government has recently decided to cut the
volume of funding of the recently approved federal target program
(FTP), known as Of emergency call systems, which involved the
creation of a single 112 number for emergency services. Budgets
were also cut for firefighting from the initially planned 40 billion
rubles (RUB) ($600 million US) to 25 billion RUB.
Significant cuts will also affect industry research and development activities. As part of these plans is liquidation of the specialized scientific units of the Federal Firefighting Service, and in
particular the Russian Research Institute for Fire Protection and
the All-Russian Research Institute for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The latter decision, however, has already been criticized by
some leading Russian experts in the field of firefighting, according to whom this will negatively affect the overall performance of
the Russian national system of firefighting and will significantly
reduce its potential for fire extinction.
Andrey Koshkin, a senior analyst of the Russian Academy of
Civil Protection of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, a Russian higher education institution in the field of Emergency Situations and firefighting, believes the planned cuts will also apply to
those departments that are responsible for preventive work, which

looks illogical as it will significantly reduce Russian potential in
the field of firefighting.
According to Koshkin, there is a need to use the experience of
Japan and some other Asia Pacific states, which spent huge funds
on the education of people and implementation of other preventive measures in the field of firefighting.
Koshkin has also added that the reduction of funding of the
industrys research and development activities will inevitably lead
to a shortage of new technologies and modern equipment for
the industrys needs, the design of which has become one of the
priorities for Russia in the field of firefighting in recent years; this
is because of existing Western sanctions.
FUND REALLOCATION
The released funds will be reinvested in the implementation of
other industry plans and projects. As part of these plans, particular attention will be paid to the establishment of voluntary fire
guards in different parts of the country that will be focused on
the operations in sparsely populated areas of Russia.
At present, the Russian Firefighting Service is comprised of
more than 85,000 garrisons that employ 220,000 people. The
system includes 13,600 buildings and structures, including 4,000
fire stations. The fleet service has more than 18,000 special
vehicles and 49 fire boats. The annual number of fire calls in Russia is two million.
In the fall of 2013, the Russian government announced for the first
time its plans to conduct a reform of the national system of firefight-
1609FR_65 65
8/22/16 8:25 AM
WITH NAFI, THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

OF FIRE INVESTIGATORS
ing. At that time, there were

plans to cut about 20 percent of
the positions of the service,
mainly senior officers; however,
the beginning of the economic
recession in Russia, caused by
Western sanctions, forced the government to revise these plans.
A similar structure optimization is being held in the Russian
Interior Ministry and the Federal Service for Drug Control.
In the meantime, some leading Russian experts in the field of
firefighting have already criticized the planned reform, associated
with it massive cuts of personnel.
CRITICISM
According to Anatoly Tsyganok, retired colonel and professor of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, one of
Russias leading research institutions in the field of military
sciences, instead of any cuts, the Russian government should
pay more attention to the rise of the domestic fire protection.
Tsyganok believes that, as part of these plans, the Russian
Firefighting Service should be removed from the structure of
the Ministry of Emergency to be separated in an independent
structure. He comments: Ideally, the firefighting service
Serving our members since 1961
Give your career a boostt with

ith
h
top-notch training and certications
Education is the heart and soul of NAFI, and our
seminars are second to none taught by industry
leaders with science-based classes and plenty of
student participation. From exam prep courses to
online programs to networking opportunities, we
give you the tools and information you need to not
only do your job, but to build a successful career.
NAFI offers:
Quality training programs and certications
Expert instructors and hands-on learning
A professional and responsive staff
A network of valuable resources
An established name that you can trust
Join NAFI today!

Visit NAFI.org for more information.
Calling International Investigators!

Do your investigations take you into other countries
or around the world? You may qualify for membership
in the International Association of Fire Investigators
(IAFI). As our sister organization, IAFI is designed
to meet the specic needs of globally-focused
investigators. Learn more and submit your application
at InternationalAssociationofFireInvestigators.com
Despite a shortage of funds,

the government plans
to continue to actively
purchase new firefighting
equipment and vehicles
for the needs of the national
system of firefighting.
should be removed out of the structure of the Ministry of
Emergency Situations. In the majority of countries throughout the world, the firefighting service is an independent unit,
which is not part of any other service or the ministry.
However, it turned out that Sergey Shoigu, the former head
of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations and the
national Firefighting Service (who is currently the Russian
Minister of Defense), made several mistakes in the command
of Russian firefighting, while the current minister, Vladimir
Puchkov, to date has been unable to eliminate these errors. The
biggest mistake of Shoigu was his decision to start the process
of optimization of the Russian firefighting service, which takes
place through the massive cuts of the services personnel.
EXPANDED PROTECTION
The reform will also focus on an increase in the level of fire
protection and firefighting in the vast Russian province and
regions of the country. This has also been significantly lower
than that in the largest cities of the country, in particular Moscow and St. Petersburg, where the performance of the national
firefighting service is personally controlled by the Russian gov-
66
1609FR_66 66
8/22/16 8:25 AM
A wildfire in the Yakutia

Republic (Russias Siberia).
(Photo by the press service of
the Yakutia government.)
ernment, and in particular the Minister of Emergency Situations,

However, according to some sources close to the Russian Ministry
and where the number of firefighting units is three to four times
of Emergency Situations, among them are expected to be some of
higher than in any other region of the country.
Russias largest machine-building enterprises.
Particular attention will be paid to the restoration of the
national system of aviation protection of forests, which was one
Eugene Gerden is an international freelance writer who specializes in covering the
of the worlds strongest during the Soviet times but which almost
global firefighting industry. He worked for numerous industry publications and can
ceased to exist after the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and is
be reached at gerden.eug@gmail.com.
associated with this series of economic and
political crises in Russia.
As part of the Russian governments
plans, they are conducting the indexation
of the salaries of national firefighters; however, this will take place no sooner than in
JSA-200-B
the second half of 2017 because, based on
Break-Away Plastic Stretcher
the current economic crisis in the country,
the Russian government is experiencing
an acute shortage of funds that could be
provided for these needs.
Still, despite a shortage of funds, the
government plans to continue to actively
JSA-200-B
purchase new firefighting equipment
and vehicles for the needs of the national
system of firefighting. This will take place
in accordance with the recent order of
Specifcations
Designed to rescue injured persons from locations where lengthy foot
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, accordDimensions:
84 " L x 24" W x 7 " H
travel
is
mandatory.
The
Junkin
JSA-200-B
Break-Away
Plastic
Stretcher
ing to which technical reequipment of
Load Capacity: 1200 lbs.
breaks into two halves which can be back-packed to the point of rescue
Shipping Weight: 32 lbs.
the national system of firefighting should
and assembled in seconds.
become one of the priority goals for the
state during the next several years.
Currently, Russia is almost unable to
PROUDLY MANUFACTURED IN THE USA
purchase new types of firefighting equipment and techniques abroad, which may
force the local government to place orders
for that equipment with some domestic
888-458-6546
enterprises. The names of the enterprises,

S A F E T Y A P P L I A N C E CO M PA N Y

which may be involved in the execution of
www.junkinsafety.com
these state orders, are not disclosed.
1609FR_67 67
67
8/22/16 8:25 AM
Health and Wellness
Transforming Your Health!

Conducting scene size-up
and establishing goals for health
By Jordan Ponder
ransformation is so evident in firefighting.

We can look at any successful firefight and
see the transformation from chaos, disorientation, and uncertainty into order, control, and
safety. Your actions bring these results. The same
principles of transforming a fire scene can be
directly applied to transforming your health. Like
firefighting, transforming your health begins with
intentional, purposeful action, which in turn begins
with conducting a scene size-up; establishing goals;
and implementing small, consistent changes for
dramatic results.
SCENE SIZE-UP
When you arrive on scene at a fire, do you jump
right into a firefight? No! You conduct a 360
walk-around; talk with occupants; and observe
the building construction, floor layout, fire and
smoke behavior, and much more with a thorough
size-up. You identify concerns that will dictate your
actions. If you fail to do this, you risk making the
wrong strategic and tactical decisions. But a scene
size-up needs to be done efficiently; if you take too
much time, the scene will get worse. It is the bal-
ance between gathering essential information and

responding quickly that is so vital.
When you are preparing to transform your
health, you want to gather the right information
within an appropriate timeframe. This will set you
up for success without delaying the impact you will
make on your health. So how can you gather the
right information without taking too much time
contemplating your actions? There are number of
different ways you can do this. I will share a few
simple ones here.
SELF-SURVEY
Asking yourself questions is a great way to
really assess where your health is at. There are lots
of questions you can ask in this self-survey, but
below are a few questions that you can ask yourself
quickly and honestly. Answer the questions on a
scale of one to five, using the description to dictate
the numerical value.
What is my daily activity level? (1=very inactive;
5=extremely active)
How often do I exercise? (1=0 times a week;
5=5 times a week)
To transform your health, you need to establish goals immediately after your scene size-up! (Photo by author.)
68
1609FR_68 68
8/22/16 8:26 AM
How often do I eat fast food? (1=3 to 4 days a

week; 5=2 times a month)
How many caloric beverages do I drink (soda,
alcohol, juice, etc.)? (1=3 drinks a day; 5=1
drink a week)
How much rest do I get when I am able? (1=4
to 5 hours; 5=8 to 9 hours)
TAKE PICTURES OF YOUR FOOD

Eat as you normally would. This means meals,
snacks, drinks, etc. There should be no change
except that you are going to take a picture of
whatever it is youre are eating or drinking before
you consume it. Do this consistently for three days.
Doing this will give you a visual representation of your dietary habits, including
what foods youre eating and when you
tend to eat. Not only does this gather
information but it encourages you to
pause for a moment and reflect on what
you are eating before you eat it.
Mindful eating is essential for transforming your health. It means you are
intentionally and purposefully consuming
calories. It doesnt mean that you are eating only health foods. It means that you
are aware of your eating habits. It is this
mindset that allows you to make decisions
rather than have impulse control you.
ing out more or eating better. These are not

goals! These are opportunities for failure! Your
goals need to be the right ones. They need to be
S.M.A.R.T.
S.M.A.R.T is an acronym used within the professional world and other emergency management
fields to decide how to act. S.M.A.R.T stands for
the following:
S: specific: Your goals need to be hard focused.
Examples are eating fast food only one time a week,
exercising three times a week, going to bed at 2000
hours every night, only drinking one soda a day,
and losing 20 pounds. A helpful tip is for you to
establish a numerical value to the goal to help you
YndWbld
MARK THE DAYS YOU EXERCISE

Go to your calendar and place an X on
all the days over the past month that you
intentionally exercised. This will allow you
to see how conscious you are about your
exercise. If you are doing it casually, you
may think of a few days; if you are doing
it intentionally, you will most likely recall
lots of days. If you are exercising very little
or not at all, then you will find it hard to
recall. From there, you can reflect on your
activity level in an unbiased way.
ESTABLISH S.M.A.R.T GOALS

After you complete your scene size-up
at a fire, you establish goals. Every fire
scene has the goals of life safety, incident
stabilization, and property conservation,
but where these goals align needs to be
established early for a proper risk vs. benefit
analysis. Failure to operate with the proper
goals will lead to an unfavorable outcome.
To transform your health, you need
to establish goals immediately after your
scene size-up! This cant be stated enough.
If you dont have goals, you wont have
a positive outcome. Sadly, when people
establish goals, they often settle on work-
1609FR_69 69
Houston Fire Department

HFDhfhlgdpnnhUnd,ng
hn2llnpplAnfhlgdpnn
hny,HnnnllylnVITpd
hng,lblpplblfh
SVI Trucks | 32RdnD|FClln,CO052||1--7-1112

8/22/16 8:26 AM
Health and
Wellness
have something to strive toward.

M: measurable: Your goal needs a means to be
gauged. This will allow you to determine if you are
succeeding or failing. As I mentioned previously,
this can come from a numerical value or some other
way that can be externally verified. If it can be
noticed or tracked, then it is measurable.
A: action oriented: Transforming your health
requires intentional action. This means that your
goal needs to require you to have direct input into
the achievement of that goal. Transforming your
health requires your direct input. For that, your
input needs to be in action.
R: realistic: Being realistic means having a goal
that is obtainable and appropriately challenging.
tain for a long duration to prevent reversion. Changes

that you make now may not seem significant but, over
time, you make them progressive and manageable as
you adapt and transform.
Lets take the not-so-specific goal of losing 10
pounds. Some small changes you could consider
would be decreasing your soda from five times a
day to three times a day, adjusting your exercising
from walking three times a week for 20 minutes to
jogging/walking three times a week for 22 minutes,
or reducing eating out from four times a week to
two times a week. These changes may not seem significant but, over the course of two to three weeks,
they will have an impact. Just as important, these
changes are ones you can keep up with as you make
Transforming your health begins with

intentional, purposeful action, which in turn
begins with conducting a scene size-up;
establishing goals; and implementing
small, consistent changes for dramatic results.
If your goal is unobtainable, you become frustrated, discouraged, and disinterested. If your goal
is too easy, you will not reach your full potential.
Being able to operate within the balance of these
two extremes is where you will find a goal that is
realistic.
T: timeframe: Having a timeframe creates a sense
of urgency that provides accountability. A timeframe also gives you a sense of accomplishment.
When a goal doesnt have a timeframe, there is no
feeling of completion or opportunity to reflect on
your successes.
Using S.M.A.R.T goals is the next step after you
have gathered appropriate information to decide
what it is you are going to do. After the decision is
made, you can begin to act.
SMALL, CONSISTENT CHANGES

PRODUCE DRAMATIC RESULTS
No firefight happens instantaneously. It is the
culmination of mounting actions that add together
toward a successful outcome. Line stretching,
charging, positioning, and extinguishing are some
of the many things that happen at a fire to bring
control. The same things need to happen to transform your health.
If there is one thing you ever remember, let it be that
small, consistent changes produce dramatic results.
Too often, people want to transform their health with
drastic measures that they cannot sustain. Drastic
changes rarely lead to sustainable transformations. The
changes you make need to be ones that you can main-
70
1609FR_70 70
new changes after the two to three weeks. These

new changes could then be soda one time a day,
jogging for 20 minutes, and eating out one time a
week. Its not the drastic adjustments that have the
greatest transformationits the ones that continue
to grow and develop from humble beginnings to
long-term transformations!
The principles of transforming a fire scene and
the principles of transforming your health are the
same. If you conduct a scene size-up; establish
S.M.A.R.T goals; and create small, consistent
changes you can manage and sustain, you will
transform your health!
Authors note: It is always a pleasure of mine to
help firefighters dig deeper in their transformations
by helping them identify patterned behaviors and
habits that can be modestly adjusted to provide a
successful outcome. To receive more personal assistance, contact me at jponder@fd-pt.com.
Jordan Ponder is a captain with the Milwaukee (WI) Fire Department, assigned to Engine 30. As an ACE certified trainer, he is the
lead peer fitness trainer for the Milwaukee Fire Department and has
several functional fitness certifications. Along with being a professional bodybuilder for the World National Bodybuilding Federation, Ponder is also the head of Firefighter Dynamic Performance
Training, the firefighter safety campaign that awards departments
with free emergency safety training equipment and free safety
classes just for participating. To learn how your department can be
awarded free equipment and classes, connect with Jordan Ponder
via firefighternation.com or jponder@fd-pt.com.
8/22/16 8:26 AM
Community Risk Reduction
Smoke Alarms
Nuisance alarms and photoelectric
and multicriteria alarm solutions
INACCURATE DATA
There is growing evidence that previous surveys
indicating that 96 percent of homes have smoke
alarms are inaccurate. The last time a national
census on the actual number of homes with working smoke alarms was done was about 25 years
ago by the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC). But qualitative evidence from home safety
visits conducted by fire departments across the
nation indicates far lower percentages of homes that
have working smoke alarms. In one high-risk area
of Tucson (AZ), as few as 10 percent of homes had
one working smoke alarm when actually visited.
That meant that 90 percent of high-risk homes had
no working smoke alarms.
But heres what I think I know, based on national
efforts to increase the number of homes with an
adequate number of working smoke alarms. That
includes a national summit on smoke alarms
1609FR_71 71
conducted by Johns Hopkins University and the

Vision 20/20 Project in 2015. That is where subject
matter experts from national agencies with a stake
in this area, as well as public safety practitioners
from the field, came together to identify barriers
for working smoke alarms in peoples homes and
how to overcome them. Industry representatives
and market researchers studying peoples attitudes
toward smoke alarms also contributed to this report
and subsequent follow-up work (the report can be
found at www.strategicfire.org).
So what do I believe is true? Nuisance alarms are
a significant factor in people not wanting alarms in
the first place or disabling them because they are a
pain in the biscuits. There is some evidence from
the NFPA indicating this is true. Additionally, some
market research tells us that (surprise) people dont
think they need smoke alarms because they dont
think a fire will happen to them.
By Jim Crawford
t is critical that local authorities pay attention to

what is going on with smoke alarms. How much
do we really know about the state of developments relative to these life saving devices?
First, smoke alarms do save lives. The National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) reports that the
death rate per 100 reported fires is more than twice
as high in homes that did not have working smoke
alarms compared to homes with working alarms. If
you want real-world examples, Tennessee is reporting more than 100 lives saved since it began an
aggressive smoke alarm awareness and installation
campaign some years ago. There are many other
examples, but you get the point.
But there are many problems we are collectively
facing here, both the fire service and the general
public too. The NFPA and the United States Fire
Administration both report that roughly two-thirds
of people dying in fires are doing so in homes that
either dont have any smoke alarms or have alarms
that are not working. That absolutely begs the question: Why?
The honest answer is: Im not sure. There is
clearly a need for more research on smoke alarm
performance and peoples attitudes relative to smoke
alarms.
DEVICE CONCERNS
No product is perfect, of course, so we have an
obligation to pay continual attention to the quality
of smoke alarms. Sometimes they just dont work.
Pick any manufacturing brand. How do we know
that? Well we get reports from the field when we are
distributing alarms for local installation programs.
The alarm is fresh out of the box and wont function properly. It doesnt happen often, but to get a
handle on how often, local authorities should be
reporting all malfunctioning alarms to the CPSC
via its Web site (www.cpsc.gov). In the Report an
Unsafe Product section, click on the Consumer
button, and the first question allows you to identify
yourself as a Public Safety Entity.
Then there are problems with some manufacturers that produce potentially faulty products
to begin with. The process of listing a smoke
alarm that meets national standards [in this case
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) 217, standard
for smoke alarms testing criteria] involves testing
a sufficient number of alarms to that specific
standard, which outlines the performance criteria an alarm must meet to be deemed effective.
Youve no doubt followed debates about which
alarms perform best in which types of fires
To read more
from Jim Crawford,
com/author/jim-crawford.
71
8/22/16 8:26 AM
Community
Risk
Reduction
(ionization or photoelectric technologies). But

what about alarms that havent been tested by a
nationally recognized testing laboratory?
Recently, I learned that Amazon was selling
smoke alarms that were not listed as meeting the
requirements of UL 217. That would make them
illegal for installation per the International Fire
Code, NFPA 1, or the international residential
construction code. However, that doesnt make
them illegal to sell. As far as I can tell, only NFPA
1 provides language that regulates the sale of smoke
alarms that are not listed, which would make selling
them illegal and providing local authority to deal
with it. California has its own licensing requirements that are also based on UL 217, so it could
bar these alarms from being shipped to that state,
but many others have a potential gap that allows
unlisted and potentially faulty alarms to be sold but
not to be installed.
And, some years ago, the Atlanta (GA) Fire
Department acquired some counterfeit smoke
alarms that had a listing label but were not
actually tested. It ended up replacing thousands of
alarms it had installed because it was not verifying
the authenticity of the alarms it had purchased for
a very important public safety effort in its community. Thats not a slam of Atlanta; I wasnt thinking
about authenticity back then either. It was a problem I hadnt considered until it actually happened.
NUISANCE ALARMS
And what can we do about the nuisance factor? Well, some anecdotal evidence points toward
photoelectric sensing technology reacting less
frequently to cooking practices than do ionization
alarms. Both meet UL 217 testing criteria and the
accompanying installation requirements found in
NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code.
But some in the field are beginning to use a combination of alarm installation practices, installing
photoelectric alarms when they are near a kitchen
and ionization alarms elsewhere to meet the code
requirements for one in every bedroom and one for
every level of the home.
But the issue of nuisance alarms is stirring
changes in NFPA 72 and UL 217 to produce
alarms that nuisance less often. The challenge is
producing smoke alarms that react quickly enough
to give people a reasonable time to escape a fire
scenario while not producing unwanted alarms
from things like cooking. Ultimately, it may lead to
new technology (multisensing criteria alarms) that
meets the proposed changes in both NFPA 72 and
UL 217.
And now there are new debates arising over
whether or not to reenergize our efforts to tell
people they should be sleeping with their doors
closed. Weve always done so, but it takes on new
72
1609FR_72 72
importance with modern construction practices

that produce even faster developing fire scenarios in
the home. The question is: Can people hear their
smoke alarms through a closed door, and what
should be done about that? The current construction codes require hardwired and interconnected
alarms so people would get that early alert and
compartmentalization of fire spread. But what
about all the people who dont have these smoke
alarm systems? There are a lot of homes that dont
have them because the code did not require them at
the time of construction.
EFFORTS FOR CHANGE

So what does all this mean? You cant take smoke
alarm technology for granted. The CPSC is poised
to conduct another national survey of actual
smoke alarm distribution in homes throughout
the United States so well have a clearer picture
of how far from adequate protection we really
are. Changes occurring in UL 217 and NFPA 72
must be monitored so that we know where the
national standards are headedand can help them
get where they need to be. We need to watch the
quality of the alarms we recommend the public
purchase and install or that we install ourselves.
We need to push for more research on smoke
alarm performance and overcoming the barriers
(perceived or real) that people have toward installing and maintaining them. We need to push for
better technologies that can increase the performance of alarms while reducing the tendency to
produce unwanted alarms.
And we all should be doing a better job of inputting data in our fire reports, via the National Fire
Incident Reporting System, so that we get a more
accurate portrayal of what is happening in the field.
In shortpay attention. There is more going on
in this area, and I bet that fewer homes in your
community have an adequate number of working
smoke alarms than you think.
Jim Crawford, FIFireE, is project manager for Vision 20/20 and
a retired fire marshal and deputy chief of the Vancouver (WA)
Fire Department. He is a member of the NFPA technical committee on professional qualifications for fire marshals, a former member of the Standards Council for the NFPA, a fellow of
the Institution of Fire Engineers, a life member of the IAFC, and
past president of the International Fire Marshals Association.
Crawford is the author of Fire Prevention Organization and
Management and is an editorial board member of FireRescue.
He has received the R. Wayne Powell Excellence in Fire Prevention Award, the Dr. Anne Phillips award for leadership in fire
and life safety education from the Congressional Fire Services
Institute and the International Fire Service Training Association, the Fire Protection Person of the Year from the Society
of Fire Protection Engineers, and the Percy Bugby Award from
the International Fire Marshals Association.
8/22/16 8:26 AM
New Deliveries
New Products
By John M. Malecky
The Kitzmiller (MD) Fire Department uses its 4 Guys pumper for
water supply and backup fire attack. It has a Freightliner M2 106
chassis powered by a 450-hp Detroit DD13 diesel engine. The
Hale Q-Pak 1,000-gpm pump has two 1-inch crosslays. The UPF
water tank is 1,700 gallons with a 10-inch rear Newton dump valve
and 180 degree swivel. Because of station height restrictions, 4 Guys
fabricated a custom light bar over the windshield.
4 Guys Fire Trucks

814-634-8373; www.4guysfire.com
The Turkey Creek (IN) Fire Territory placed in service this 1st
Attack Engineering brush truck on a Ford F-550 4 4 chassis
with a Power Stroke 6.7L diesel engine. Specs include a Darley
2BE 390-gpm pump with a Briggs & Stratton engine, an APR
250-gallon water tank, two man wells with handlines, one hose
reel, four ground sweep nozzles, and a removable snow blade.
1st Attack Engineering

260-925-1951; www.1stattack.com
The Solomons (MD) Rescue Squad Fire Department uses this

Rescue 3 primarily for extrications and EMS support. The
Rosenbauer Commander R718 chassis has a 450-hp Cummins
ISL9 diesel engine. Specs include a Hale RSD 1,500-gpm rearmount pump, UPF 750-gallon water and 30-gallon foam tanks,
a Rosenbauer EZ Foam System, an Akron DeckMaster monitor,
a Ramsey 10-ton winch, an air cascade system, Holmatro tools, a
Harrison 20-kW generator, and a Will Burt Night Scan.
Rosenbauer America
605-543-5591; www.rosenbaueramerica.com
1609FR_73 73
Drager PSS 5000

The Drager PSS 5000 is an ergonomically
advanced SCBA that has a wide range of
configurable featuressuch as bilateral hose
routing and quick cylinder connection.
The harness is made of a tough chloroprene rubber material that performs for the
long term. A heavy-duty stainless steel buckle
and long-life Aramid blend webbing make this
harness ideally suited for extended wear and frequent use. For outstanding comfort, the flexible harness
connects to a lightweight, stable backplate, while a pivoting waist
belt helps reduce pressure on the wearer.
Drager
800-858-1737; www.draeger.com
Scott Safety Service

and Asset Management
The Service and Asset Management solution (SAM) from Scott
Safety utilizes mobile devices and tablets to perform and record
inspection and testing of Scott Safety SCBA,
cylinders, and face pieces, enabling seamless
data collection. For the firefighter, inspections are quicker and easier; for the fire
officer, all records are stored electronically and one click away. The software
maintains compliance to NFPA
1852 and OSHA 1910.134 regulatory
standards and is cloud-based, meaning the data is
stored online and notifications are instantly sent to an authorized
service center.
Scott Safety
800-247-7257; www.scottsafety.com
Motorola Solutions APX 8000XE

Motorola Solutions APX 8000XE features allband functionality and is a rugged P25 two-way
radio that can be used in either analog or digital
mode across 700/800MHz, VHF, and UHF
bands. Time is of the essence for firefighters, and they can be ready in moments by
programming the radio remotely via Wi-Fi
and radio management software to
operate securely on different radio
networks, allowing them to quickly
help neighboring counties during
large-scale emergencies.
Motorola Solutions
888-325-9336; www.motorolasolutions.com
73
8/22/16 8:29 AM
FeB&V
MANAGE RISKS
ASSOCIATED WITH
APU / Diesel GenerAtor
ENCLOSED
STRUCTURE FIRES
APU Systems:
Reduce fuel costs
Reduce maintenance costs
Run lighting, HVAC, & more
Custom configurations
Sizes from 5.5kW to 26kW
Idle down technology
Its Quiet. Its Compact. It Saves Fuel.
www.XRTpowersystems.com
Contact Us at (781) 631-3282 for more information.
www.FireEngineeringBooks.com
1.800.752.9764
FEATURES INCLUDE:
The Non-Destructive
W-Tool
One Person: Total Control
Hydraulic Breaching Tool and
Battering Ram
Multiple Quick-Change Heads
eqUiPment
Built-In LED Light
FORCIBLE ENTRY
Understanding the benefits

associated with dual pumping
at the scene, the relevance of
the angle of the smoke plume,
and the unknownknown (UK)
method of decision making
One Person: Multiple Jobs
4.5 LB. Solid Bronze Slide Hammer

Compact Design easily fits all Fire,
Rescue and EMS vehicles
American MadeLifetime Warranty
Proudly Made
in the USA
1609FR_74 74
Learning to increase
fireground safety using
enclosed structure tactics
The Whacker Tool

Works on Doors, Windows, Padlocks,
Vehicle Extrication and More
74
Identifying the degrees of

danger associated with opened
and unprotected enclosed
structure fires
877.799.8665
sales@weddletoolco.com
www.weddletoolco.com
FIND US!
SAVE 10%!
Use code PFD13 at checkout only at

www.FireEngineeringBooks.com
FireFighterNatioN . com
8/22/16 8:29 AM
monitoring systems
CommuniCations
Finally, HCN, Carbon Monoxide and

Gas Detectors you can afford to own!
TM
AGS Solid State CO and

Flammable Gas Monitors
Five Year Warranty

No Calibration
No Equipment Charge
No Dispatch Involvement
Works With All Style Phones
No Routine
Bump Testing
NEW
EMS, Emergency Response,

CO Alarm Calls, Post Fire
HCN
Free 30 Day Trial
Detection
Never Miss A Call!
Finally, its affordable for everyone to be safe.

888 654 5126 www.airspaceinc.com
Ad Direct
YOUR SOURCE FOR IMMEDIATE INFORMATION ON ADVERTISERS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Advertiser
A.H. Stock Manufacturing Corp.

Ajax Tool Works
Alsea Geospatial, Inc.
American Fire Training Systems, Inc.
Boston Leather, Inc.
Bullard
CET Fire Pumps
Command Light
Cruise Master Engraving
E-ONE, Inc.
EMS Today 2017
Ferrara Fire Apparatus
Fire Innovations
Fire Station Outfitters
Firovac
First Tactical
Fol-Da-Tank
Globe Manufacturing
Holmatro, Inc.
Honeywell First Responder/Dupont FDIC Scholarship
Hot Shield USA
Hurst Jaws of Life
Husky Portable Containment
Junkin Safety
Page
37
32
44
24
41
21
63
69
24
C4
48
C2-1
46-47
45
45
19
33
3
5
27
33
17
41
67
Advertiser
Key Fire Hose Corp.

Kussmaul Electronics Co., Inc.
Mercedes Textiles Ltd.
NAFI
National Firefighter Corp.
OHD Occupational Health Dynamics
OnSpot of North
Petzl America
PPG Commerical Coatings
Rescue Technology
RolllNRack
Sam Carbis Solutions Group, LLC
Savatech Corp.
Sensible Products
Streamlight, Inc.
Task Force Tips
Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service
Unruh Fire
USSC Group
Ventry Solutions
Western Shelter Systems
Witmer Public Safety Group
WS Darley and Company
Zoll Medical
Page
29
55
30-31
66
44
65
55
9
C3
53
35
37
53
20
19
25
39
57
23
43
7
39
13
15
FireRescue (ISSN 1094-0529, USPS 858-060). FireRescue is published 12 times per year, monthly, by PennWell Corporation, 1421 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK 74112. Periodicals postage paid at Tulsa, OK 74112 and at additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION PRICES: Send $24 for one year (12 issues) or $44 for two years (24 issues) to FireRescue, P.O. Box 3425,
Northbrook, IL 60065-9912, or call 888-456-5367. Canada: please add $25 per year for postage. All other foreign subscriptions: please add $35 per year for surface and $75 per year for
airmail postage. Send $20 for one year (12 issues) or $35 for two years (24 issues) of digital edition. Single copy: $10.00. POSTMASTER: Send address corrections to FireRescue, P.O. Box
3425, Northbrook, IL 60065-9912. FireRescue is a registered trademark. PennWell Corporation 2016. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Permission, however, is granted for employees of corporations licensed under the Annual Authorization Service offered by the Copyright Clearance Center Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood
Drive, Danvers, Mass. 01923, or by calling CCCs Customer Relations Department at 978-750-8400 prior to copying. We make portions of our subscriber list available to carefully screened
companies that offer products and services that may be important for your work. If you do not want to receive those offers and/or information via direct mail, please let us know by contacting
us at List Services FireRescue, 1421 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK 74112. Printed in the USA. GST No. 1268113153.
1609FR_75 75
8/22/16 8:29 AM
The Backstep
Remembering the Forgotten

Honoring those who died in 2001
who did not perish on September 11
By Matthew Tobia
To read more
from Matt Tobia,

com/author/matthew-tobia.
76
sk firefighters where they were on September

11, and the answer will be instantaneous. In
the 15 years since the single deadliest day in
the American fire service, we continue to do everything we can to keep our promise to never forget
just as we remember Pearl Harbor Day, Veterans Day,
and Memorial Day. Honoring our fallen brethren
from 9/11 is, in reality, not the hardest thing we do.
Often, the hardest thing we do is convincing others
of the need to always remember and helping children
who were not even alive in 2001 to understand the
tremendous sacrifice that was made on that day.
Ask your firefighters to remember where they were
on February 17, 2001. March 18. April 8. June 17.
July 10. August 27. These are all dates of multiple
line-of-duty deaths (LODDs) that also occurred in
2001. As we appropriately take the time to stop what
we are doing and reflect on those who made the ultimate sacrifice on 9/11, let us also pause to remember
the other firefighters who died in 2001.
The lost brothers and sisters are Gilmore W. Stitley;
Richard D. Buongiorne; Andrew J. White; William
Willie L. Thompson; Donald Franklin; Christopher
D. Towne; James H. Haigler; Jack K. Barker; Johnny
McKinley; Cecil F. Smith; Gregg J. McLoughlin;
Kenneth J. Frayne; Jay P. Jahnke; Robert H. Marsh;
Michael G. Elliott; James T. Smith; James H. Hanson;
Hairold J. Strode; Clifford A. White; Dennis A. Dart;
Paula J. Varble; Gary L. Cruise; George Danielson;
Debra Sinard ; Ralph E. Vance; David Butler; Clint
A. Talley; Mike L. McKean; Barry Wollman; Lloyd
E. Curtis; Donald L. Nester; James I. Isberner; Dana
Johnson; Matthew D. Smith; Mary L. Waite; Carl W.
Shoemaker; Ray W. Lloyd; Gerald W. Fields; Bret R.
Tarver; William James; Robert J. Winner; Jay A. Shaffer;
David Mullaney; Frank Whitby; William A. Ellison;
James T. Heenan; Christopher D. Kobierowski; Brian
Reed; Woodrow W. Poland; Dale F. Simpson; James A.
Rupkey; Brian S. Richter; Scott B. Wilson; Anthony V.
Murdick; Richard Canouse; Willard Christoffer; Ritchie
Eutsler; Lawrence J. Webb; Donald E. Souza; Alberto
Tirado; Carl V. Cook; John J. Downing; Brian D.
Fahey; Harry S. Ford; Jeremy D. Chandler; Willard B.
Paul; Travis L. Brown; Jim Clingenpeel; Jack H. Fowler;
Thomas A. Johnson; Joe M. Vargason; Marcus A. Walters; Douglas W. Gilbert; Cynthia J. Verburg; Tom L.
Craven; Karen L. Fitzpatrick; Jessica L. Johnson; Devin
1609FR_76 76
A. Weaver; Jeffrey V. Chavis; Eddie D. Mathis; Donald

D. Myrick; Kirk J. Schafer; Lazaro Martinez; Ralph W.
Blackmar; James M. Pelton; Ronald T. Kreamer; Richard D. Shoaf; John R. Hazlett; Lars Stratte; Lawrence
L. Groff; Michael J. Gorumba; Darryl Dzugen; Charles
R. Drennan; Willie Barns; Linda Hernandez; Clarence
Kreitzer; Bradley P. Golden; Wayne A. Steen; Daniel
N. Woodward; David R. Rendek; William E. Bennett;
Robert A. Augustyn; and Allan Marriott.
REMEMBERING ALL
Between January 10, 2001, and December 24,
2001, the men and women listed above gave their
lives in service to others. Although their sacrifice was
no less important than those who died on September
11, it is safe to say that their deaths were eclipsed by
the circumstances of that day. But they do not need
to be forgotten. As we remember our brothers from
9/11, let us take a moment to learn about these heroes
who also gave the last full measure of devotion to their
communities. Company officers looking to teach the
brotherhood to a new generation of millennials:
Direct them to research the men and women listed
on this page, one at a time, and report on them. Your
probies or booters can report their findings during
morning roll call, a weekly training night, at mealtime,
or on the anniversary of the firefighters death.
September 11 taught us that we are vulnerable to
attack. Today, we remain susceptible as the events in
Orlando, Nice, San Bernardino, and other locations
demonstrate. These events prove that there is likely no
way to stop a single individual bent on destroying others. But, there is much that we can control, and one
of the things we are most in control of is learning the
lessons from past LODDs to avoid the same road.
By remembering all of our fallen brothers and
sisters, we honor their lives and their sacrifice. One
hundred threethats the number of firefighters who
died in 2001 who are not connected to the events of
9/11. As we remember the 343 who died on that day,
and the numerous others who have died since, let us
never forget all of those who died in 2001.
Matthew Tobia is an assistant chief with the Loudoun County (VA)
Department of Fire, Rescue,and Emergency Management and is
a 27-year veteran of emergency services. He can be reached at
matthew.tobia@loudoun.gov.
8/22/16 8:29 AM
1609FR_C3 3
8/22/16 8:29 AM
1305 LB DRY PLATFORM CAPACITY

The HP 100 Platform has a rated load
of 1000 lbs of firefighters and 305 lbs
of equipment.
PLATFORM CONFIGURATION
Angled front corners and perimeter step

provides easier access to structures.
2.5 TO 1 STRUCTURAL SAFETY FACTOR
Exceeds NFPA requirements, contributing

to E-ONEs proven safety record for over
35 years.
STRONGEST CAB IN THE INDUSTRY
Keep your crew safe with the cab that

withstands over 5x the static roof load
and over twice the frontal impact
required by NFPA.
UNMATCHED STABILITY
Rock solid stability, even when
tested to one and a half times
the rated load over the front
with tires off the ground.
PROTECH
Enhanced safety features such as

rear camera, ESC, OnGuard collision
mitigation, front and side air bag options.
INTEGRAL TORQUE BOX CHASSIS
Manufactured from the ground up.

A unique design that combines the
chassis frame and aerial torque box
to provide a solid foundation.
MORE STORAGE SPACE
Rescue style compartments on each

side and up to 182 of ground ladder
storage with tank and pump.
JACK DEPLOYMENT IN UNDER 45 SECONDS

When time is vital and space is limited, the
criss-cross underslung outriggers deploy to a
tight 156 spread in under 45 seconds.
INSTEAD OF BUILDING STANDARD AERIALS,
WE BUILD REVOLUTIONARY ONES.

The E-ONE HP 100 Platform looks like a rock solid beast. And it acts like one too.
It has the muscle to hoist 1,000 lbs of firefighters plus 305 lbs of equipment 100 feet
into the air. It also has the toughest cab in the business withstanding over twice the
frontal impact required by NFPA and over five times the static roof load. But the HP
100 Platform isnt just a powerhouse, its also versatile. With criss-cross underslung
outriggers that deploy to a tight 156 spread, the HP 100 Platform can go where
other aerials cant. Its also quick with jacks that set up in under 45 seconds and
variable speed control system that gets the platform into position fast. Whatever
e-one-aerials.com
the job calls for, the E-ONE HP 100 Platform is up to the task!
1609FR_C4 4
8/22/16 8:29 AM

Firerescue201609 DL

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Firerescue201609 DL

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Devoted to the Interests of Firefighters Worldwide

September 2016 Connect with us at FirefighterNation.com

LEARN MORE ONLINE

Price and details online

Price and details online

Price and details online

Price and details online

Price and details online

Price and details online

What UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute experiments reveal about ventilation.

Recently intensified efforts to overhaul the countrys fire services result

49 Roll-Down Security Gates, Part 3

64 Russian Fire Service Reform

What the apparatus manufacturers unveiled at FDIC International 2016

Reform aims to significantly improve firefighting operations and systems.

F ire r escue M agazine September 2016

THE EVOLUTION OF TURNOUT GEAR CONTINUES.

NOMEX NANO thermal barrier

Lower collar, deeper neck opening, and

The only turnout

Fires of note from September 1916.

38 From the Chiefs Desk

The most recent NFPA LODD report.

Use self-assessment to capitalize on strengths.

Of booth babes and calendar girls.

Training on camera basics.

26 Wildland Urban Interface

34 Hump Day S.O.S.

F ire r escue M agazine September 2016

68 Health and Wellness

71 Community Risk Reduction

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/GROUP PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Eric Schlett - erics@pennwell.com

Ted Billick; tedb@pennwell.com; 801-262-1871

Bobby Halton - roberth@pennwell.com

Erich Roden - erichr@pennwell.com

Diane Rothschild - dianer@pennwell.com

Kindra Sclar - kindras@pennwell.com

MEDIA SALES CONSULTANT, WESTERN REGION

Erin Moriarty; emoriarty@pennwell.com; 208-309-2747

Anthony Maglionico; anthonym@pennwell.com; 973-251-5073

Ted Billick; tedb@pennwell.com; 801-262-1871

Tim Tolton; ttolton@pennwell.com; 678-974-2472

ONLINE NEWS/BLOG MANAGER

Bill Carey - billc@pennwell.com

Les Baker, Jim Crawford, Billy Goldfeder,

Josh Troutman - josht@pennwell.com

Rae Lynn Cooper - raec@pennwell.com

FOR ASSISTANCE WITH MARKETING STRATEGY

Vice President Paul Andrews

James O. Page, 19362004

Amanda Landsaw - amandal@pennwell.com

Scott Nelson - scottn@pennwell.com

Phone 847-763-9540 / fr@halldata.com

DIGITAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR

REPRINTS, EPRINTS & LICENSING

Erin Northrop - erinn@pennwell.com

Rae Lynn Cooper

F ire r escue M agazine September 2016

From the Editor

Managing Your Operational Capital

Connect with Erich!

very municipality has some type of human