• Home >
  • Back Issues >
  • Firehouse Magazine >
  • January 2014

    • January 2014

    More content from January 2014

    Photo courtesy of LVFR
    Photo taken on June 6, 1905, shows the first recorded fire in the City of Las Vegas, NV. The city had been founded just a month earlier. There was no organized fire protection at the time.
    COLON, PANAMA: JAN. 3, 1914 – The Star Theatre, a large wooden movie and vaudeville venue, caught fire and the flames spread rapidly. The theater, on Bolivar Street, was soon ...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Otjpenn 10 13 Leithsville20vol 11129727
    On Thursday, May 24, 2012, a three-alarm fire destroyed the Se-Wy-Co Fire Company’s Leithsville Station in Hellertown, PA. The fire was the result of a motor vehicle accident ...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    In April 2013, District of Columbia Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe testified before the DC Council in April that department investigators had resolved 72.7% of the city’s arson cases...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photos by Michael Wilbur
    Operating fire apparatus on a sunny day with sun glare is difficult to do safely. Texting while driving makes a bad situation worse. This is extremely dangerous.
    Michael Wilbur says emergency vehicle driving is already dangerous enough without taking unnecessary risks with mobile phones.
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Newdel 12 13 Eatontown 11 92 1 11198081
    THE EATONTOWN, NJ, FIRE DEPARTMENT has taken delivery of a Pierce Velocity 75-foot quint equipped with a 500-hp Detroit Diesel DD13 engine, 2,000-gpm Waterous pump, 500-gallon...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo by EMT-Paramedic Timothy E. Nangle/Portland FD
    High school students learn to properly don personal protective equipment (PPE) during an 'Introduction to Firefighting Fundamentals' course in cooperation with the Portland, ME, Fire Department. Engaging the community can be accomplished in many ways to help fire demonstrate the value of their services.
    This, our final question, should have been our first question, as it succinctly wraps up the essence of this series: How should we, as fire department leaders, demonstrate the...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo by EMT-Paramedic Timothy E. Nangle/Portland FD
    A Portland Fire Department instructor teaches a high school student to properly don self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) during the 'Introduction to Firefighting Fundamentals' course.
    Portland, ME, high school students are donning firefighter gear and receiving hands-on experience in searching a smoky building for victims as part of a new firefighting course...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photos by Bob Bartosz
    Red Oak units reported they could see a large column of black smoke one mile away.
    NASH COUNTY, NC, SEPT. 13,2013 – Firefighters from the Red Oak and Battleboro fire departments were dispatched to a reported truck fire on southbound Interstate 95 at the 144-...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Barry Furey 10755410
    Barry Furey explains the role of dispatchers when members of public safety are threatened with violence.
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo by Dennis Walus
    DETROIT, MI, OCT. 24, 2013
    DETROIT, MI, OCT. 24, 2013 – Companies from the 5th Battalion responded to a fire in a vacant dwelling. On arrival, a two-family flat was found heavily involved with fire extending...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Charleswernerheadshotjpg 11243335
    Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in today’s emergency service community by enhancing of roles and responsibilities in the areas of effectiveness, fiscal responsibility...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    When you are the person riding in the right-front seat, it is your job to ensure that the tasks your company is expected to perform are done correctly and in a timely manner. ...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices are transforming public safety communications. The convergence of tablets/mobile devices, broadband connectivity and applications...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    John Salka 11248000
    In the weeks and months following 9/11, many unique and motivational phrases, bumper stickers and signs began appearing around New York City and in its firehouses. One in particular...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photos by Glen E. Ellman
    Four apartments were destroyed and four others sustained smoke and or water damage.
    FORT WORTH, TX, DEC. 1, 2013 – Fort Worth firefighters responded to an apartment fire at the Hills Apartments on West Normandale in west Fort Worth at approximately 12:20 A.M....
    Jan. 1, 2014
    The Firefighter Throwdown is a national in scope invitational event that will select 100 well matched athletes, men and women, from applications submitted on www.firefighterthrowdownUSA.com.
    Firefighter Throwdown to Debut at Firehouse WorldThe Firefighter Throwdown© is a new athletic competition being introduced at Firehouse World in San Diego, CA, February 19 and...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Gary Ludwig 11259146
    A few years ago, I was hired by an attorney outside Chicago to help him defend a fire department being sued after its personnel had pronounced a man dead as a result of a car ...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Johnhays 11259173
    How often have you heard your fellow firefighters ask, “Where’s the TI?” This phrase is used far too often and too late in the firefighting process, like at the front door of ...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo courtesy of GVFD
    The 92-year-old woman was rescued out of this window in the rear of the burning home.
    Last month, we began reporting on an incident in which a fire chief arrived at a house fire with people trapped before the first apparatus could reach the scene. He had little...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo by Tom Shand
    Bay District, MD, Fire Department Engine 91 carries 1,000 feet of three-inch hose and 1,000 feet of four-inch supply line together with a three-inch leader line and two attack lines with a 750-gallon, L-shaped water tank. Note the rope lines attached to the supply line beds so that personnel do not have to climb onto the rear step.
    Tom Shand and Mike Wilbur look at design features for hose loads.
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Many fire service leaders from management and labor have strongly advocated in recent years for the importance of effectively representing our fire service-based EMS systems in...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    INDUSTRIAL SCIENTIFIC CORP. offers the Tango TX1 single-gas monitor.
    Single-Gas MonitorINDUSTRIAL SCIENTIFIC CORP. offers the Tango TX1 single-gas monitor, featuring a three-year run time and patent-pending DualSense technology that increases user...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Everyone is sitting at the kitchen table. Suddenly, the tones go off and the radio squawks, “Box 5121 for a grass fire in the median. Route 1, south of Bethany Lane. Engine 3 ...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photos by Ron Moore
    Being able to identify a safe roof pillar 'cut zone' as well as a 'no-cut zone' is important. In this case, the roof pillar has been severed even though a non-pressurized component of the undeployed roof airbag system is present. Learn to identify airbag components so you know what is safe to cut into and what isn't.
    Ron Moore outlines the areas of an airbag system that can and cannot be cut during extrication activities.
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo by Robert Burke
    Ammonium nitrate is a strong chemical oxidizer that can become an explosive under certain conditions.
    Explosives in the United States are regulated by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in fixed storage and by the U.S. Department of Transportation...
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Barry Furey 11269110
    The use of smart phones in PSAPs might not be a good thing, as Barry Furey explains.
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Matt Neimy, assistant operations manager, Emergency Apparatus Maintenance, Lino Lakes, Minn.
    Ed Ballam talked with mechanics and maintenance shop managers to get their advice on whether it is time for fire departments to repair or replace rigs.
    Jan. 1, 2014
    Photo by Gene Blevins
    Emergency responders and civilians quickly came face to face with the total destruction created by the Moore tornado.
    Editor’s note: The major storms that swept through suburban areas around Oklahoma City in May 2013 provided distinct challenges to area response officials. The storm that struck...
    Jan. 1, 2014