Volunteer firefighters are feeling the strain as they take on more and more unpaid responsibilities that exceed their traditional tasks of battling flames and responding to medical emergencies and motor-vehicle crashes.
The Prince Rupert Fire Department read an article in FireWatch about FM Global’s grant program and successfully applied for a grant.
San Francisco’s fire chief has explicitly banned firefighters from using helmet-mounted video cameras. Chief Joanne Hayes-White said she issued the order because, “There comes a time that privacy of the individual is paramount, of greater importance than having a video,”.
Critics questioned the chief’s order and its timing due to the possibility of Fire Department liability.
FDNY officials argued that older trucks are critical response vehicles for non-fire calls. “This award will potentially endanger numerous lives by frustrating the only means of transportation available to numerous lieutenants and captains employed by the FDNY.”
If you use chemical smoke simulants during training exercises you should read this.
A student from China was still alive after the July 6 plane crash but died after suffering multiple blunt-force injuries consistent with being run over by a vehicle outside of the plane.
The Kelowna fire chief references a report published by the University of the Fraser Valley which identifies that out of 2,638 multi-residential building fires of this type, 10 per cent of them occurred on the balconies.
The Colorado Department of Corrections “SWIFT” (State Wildland Inmate Fire Team) program helps inmates learn teamwork and also provides a potential post-prison career and gives back to communities by performing an important role in a fire-prone state.
Even a 1930s fire truck, assuming it’s well cared for, shouldn’t be any more risky than any other vehicle, but it needs proper maintenance and attention by somebody who understands that technology.
Esri and the Institute of Fire Engineers—USA (IFE) have partnered to improve fire prevention planning through the use of simple risk analysis capabilities that include computer mapping and demographic analysis. The methods being developed will be made available for free to US fire departments. They will show public safety staff how to create focused fire prevention programs.
(Esri is a software development and services company providing Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase management)