For the Record 6/15

Firehouse Founder Featured in New York Daily News

Dennis Smith, Firehouse Magazine founder and retired FDNY member, recently had an article featured in a New York Daily News Sunday special insert for the FDNY 150-year anniversary. In the article, Smith says that firefighting is built on trust and teamwork. Following is an excerpt:

“What I found matters more than any story, and mythology, and any rule or regulation is: Can you trust the person next to you, or the one in the street wearing the white helmet? Will they find a way to get you out when you find yourself, as you surely will, in an untenable situation? Fire often doubles itself every minute, and so you know there will not be much time. I found myself with others in my company in such situations more than a few times, and we never gave a second’s thought about finding a ladder suddenly appearing at a window’s ledge or a hose line crashing through a wall.”

Smith goes on to talk about the severity of the fire environment and the faith that those in charge will keep you safe:

“I wish people could see the interior firefighting action, to be there in the middle of the chaos of chemical reactions, to feel the smoke rushing past you, to realize that the temperature is getting higher by the second, to experience the total blackness. There is also an unexpected quiet as firefighters are alone with their thoughts. Ninety percent of the danger of the job resides in not knowing in real time, ever, the full consequence of a fire. But you know that the chief out in the street knows what is happening, and what could happen, on all four sides of the building. And so, on your stomach with your hand on a hose line or a forcible entry tool, you listen to the quiet in between the crackling of the flames and the occasional supportive voice, “That’s it. Get in there. Good job.”

Read the full article at http://nydn.us/1Do5wwl.

Streamlight Donates Proceeds to NFFF

Streamlight, Inc. donated $30,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF), including $20,000 in proceeds from sales of the company’s specially marked NFFF Red Nano Light and Red Vantage helmet light. Streamlight earmarks $1 and $3, respectively, from the sale of each light for the NFFF. The company also contributed $10,000 for renewal of its “Bronze Helmet” NFFF sponsorship. 

Both donations will assist the nonprofit organization in commemorating the lives of firefighters who have died in the line of duty, and supporting their families and co-workers.

“We are humbled by the risks that firefighters take every day to do their jobs,” said Streamlight President and Chief Executive Officer Ray Sharrah. “Streamlight is honored to support the families and surviving colleagues of fallen firefighters through our sponsorship of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation’s programs.”

Streamlight’s sponsorship helps fund various initiatives, including the organization's National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Weekend, which will be held at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, MD, Oct. 3-4, 2015. A plaque with the names of firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2014 will be added to the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial during the tribute. 

Streamlight’s sponsorship support also helps fund scholarships awarded to spouses and children of fallen firefighters, and counseling programs for agencies that have lost colleagues in the line of duty.

For more information about the organization, visit www.firehero.org.

NFPA Campaign Urges Participation 

The NFPA has launched a new campaign, “NFPA Standards In Action: Your Voice Matters,” which actively works to increase fire service participation in its standards-making process. While the initiative emphasizes the importance of firefighters’ input on the 100-plus codes and standards that directly affect them, NFPA has created an online platform that makes involvement in its standards-making process quicker and easier than ever; and participation is completely free.

“NFPA’s standards directly impact the way firefighters do their jobs each and every day, from the equipment and apparatus they use and wear on the fireground to the procedures they follow when fighting a fire,” said Ken Willette, NFPA’s divisional manager of public fire protection. “That’s why their input and feedback is so important.”

NFPA’s Standards in Action campaign largely comes as the result of an NFPA survey, which showed that most firefighters either don’t know how to get involved in NFPA’s standards-making process or don’t think their voices will be heard. According to the survey results, 86 percent of the respondents had never participated in NFPA’s codes and standards process. Meanwhile, 75 percent said they’d like to know more about how the standards process works, while 81 percent said they’d like to be notified on deadlines for input and comments.

“Letting the fire service know that we truly want their input and feedback on our standards is a priority, and we need to make the process as easy and straightforward for them as possible,” said Willette. “That’s what the Standards in Action campaign is all about.”

For more information on “NFPA Standards in Action: Your Voice Matters,” visit www.nfpa.org/standards-in-action. 

Union Pacific Railroad Conducts Training Course for Emergency Responders

Union Pacific Railroad recently conducted training for 80 emergency response personnel from 17 states. The training focused on sharpening the emergency responders’ skills to better prepare them in the unlikely event of a crude-by-rail incident in or near their respective communities.

Union Pacific proactively reaches out to fire departments as well as other emergency responders along its lines to offer comprehensive classroom and hands-on training to first responders in communities where the railroad operates. The company annually trains approximately 2,500 local, state and federal first-responders on ways to minimize the impact of a potential derailment. Union Pacific has trained nearly 38,000 public responders and almost 7,500 private responders (shippers and contractors) since 2003. In 2014, the railroad trained 314 emergency responders specifically on crude-by-rail transportation.

The recently completed training covered a variety of safety subjects, including identification of tank car types that transport crude; tank car fittings; tank car construction; chemical and physical properties of the different types of crude oil; and crude oil response precautions. Participants received hands-on experience in assessing tank car damage; making certain on-site repairs; controlling the release of crude oil from damaged rail cars; and crude oil fire suppression techniques.

Class members participated in a simulated crude oil fire. The simulation helped students understand how the railroad would work with them in an emergency, and how to work safely while on railroad property.

The three-day, 24-hour courses were held at the Association of American Railroad’s Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo, CO.

Line-of-Duty-Deaths

11 U.S. emergency service personnel have recently died in the line of duty. Three career personnel and eight volunteer personnel died in 11 separate incidents. Seven deaths were health related, three deaths were the result of accidents and one death was the result of fireground operations.

Firefighter Steven Ackerman, 38, of the Valley Springs, SD, Fire and Rescue Department died on April 12. While operating at the scene of a mutual aid residential structure fire, Ackerman was determined to be missing after firefighters were ordered to evacuate the structure due to worsening fire conditions. Due to structural collapse concerns, it took rescuers several hours to locate Ackerman in the basement of the house. The homeowner of the house was rescued from the house, but later died at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. Ackerman was a 13 year veteran of the fire service.

Inmate Firefighter Raymond Araujo, 37, of CAL FIRE located in Sacramento, CA, died on April 13. While participating in a training exercise on the Morongo Indian Reservation near Banning, Araujo suffered a heart attack. He was transported to a base camp by helicopter where he was treated by CAL FIRE and Riverside County Fire Department medics. Araujo was a one-year veteran of the fire service.

Captain Andrew Zalme, 42, of the Dakota City, NE, Fire Department died on April 16. While preparing to leave the scene of a vehicle fire on Highway 35, Zalme collapsed. Despite fellow firefighters’ efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Zalme was an 8-year veteran of the fire service.

Fire Police Lieutenant Curtis E. Nordsick, 71, of the Wrightsville, PA, Steam Engine & Hose Company Number One died on April 19. After returning to the fire station from operating at the scene of a homicide, providing traffic control and scene safety, Nordsick complained of not feeling well and collapsed. Immediate care was provided and he was transported to Memorial Hospital where he died. Nordsick was a 48-year veteran of the fire service.

Rescue Squad member Vicky Ryan, 46, of the Etowah County, AL, Rescue Squad died on April 25. The Rescue Squad had been dispatched to search for a missing kayaker in Big Wills Creek. Two rescue boats with nine squad members were launched. Both boats became too close to a dam and were swept over the dam ejecting the rescuers into the water. Ryan was recovered from the water and transported to Riverview Regional Medical Center where she died. At least three other members were injured and transported to hospitals. The Gadsden Fire Department and the Etowah County Sheriff's Office assisted in rescue efforts.

Training Officer/Firefighter Mike Corn, 68, of the Conway Springs, KS, Fire Department died on April 27. After responding to the fire station for a call, Corn collapsed while putting on his gear. Corn was a 35-year veteran of the fire service.

Registered Nurse Kristin McLain, 46, of STAR Flight based in Austin, TX, died on April 27. A STAR Flight Eurocopter EC 145 and crew was performing a rescue operation of a woman who had fallen in the Barton Creek Greenbelt area of Austin. While the patient was being hoisted into the helicopter, McLain fell from the helicopter's hoist. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. McLain was a 7-year veteran of STAR Flight.

Firefighter Timothy T. Peters, 46, of the Pine Grove, PA, Hose, Hook and Ladder Fire Company Number One died on April 30. After returning home from responding to an emergency medical call, Peters suffered a heart attack. Emergency responders provided aid and transported him to a hospital where he later died. Peters was a 23-year veteran of the fire service.

Firefighter Christopher Michael Blankenship, 41, of the Madison County Fire Department located in Jackson, TN, died on May 3. While operating at the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving a fire on Highway 18 and Medon-Malesus Road, Blankenship was severely injured when a tree broke and fell on him. Firefighters pulled the tree off of him and provided immediate aid. He was transported to Jackson-Madison County General Hospital where he died. Blankenship was a 10-year veteran of the fire service.

Engineer-Firefighter Larry Wayne Lawhorn, 60, of the Orchard Farm Fire Protection District located in St. Charles, MO, died on May 3. Lawhorn was operating the fire department tanker responding to a mutual aid structure fire when the vehicle left the roadway and came to rest in a field. He was alone in the vehicle and was found by fellow firefighters returning from the fire call. Aid was provided, but Lawhorn was pronounced dead at the scene. Lawhorn was a 35-year veteran of the fire service.

Lieutenant Ricky Thurman, 54, of the Swainsboro, GA, Fire Department died on May 4. On April 24, Thurman suffered cardiac arrest while operating at the scene of a structure fire. He was revived at the scene and airlifted to Regents University Hospital in Augusta where he later died. Thurman was a 27-year veteran of the fire service.

—Jay K. Bradish