FE Volume 145 Issue 3

The Latest

STAIRWELL MARKING SYSTEM

The Overland Park (KS) engine and ladder company responded to an alarm in a high-rise office building. The captain reported that there was nothing visible from its six stories and they would investigate. Since it was a weekend, there were no maintenance personnel to guide them to the source of the automatic alarm.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

CALL THE HAZ-MAT EXPERTS

Many transportation accidents involve cargo tanks or tank ears with complicated valving and safety relief features. In a hazardous-materials transportation accident, your knowledge of the container's characteristics and your experience in dealing with it can be critical.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
PREFIRE PLANNING: ANYTHING BUT ROUTINE

PREFIRE PLANNING: ANYTHING BUT ROUTINE

While the value of prefire planning is widely recognized in the fire service, we sometimes tend to do our preplanning in a hurried manner and with a “get-the-form-completed” mentality. Or, we discuss preplanning primarily with regard to the results achieved at a particular incident (it was preplanned or it wasn’t preplanned).
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
ETHICS AN ISSUE FOR THE ’90s

ETHICS AN ISSUE FOR THE ’90s

Hardly a day goes by that ethics involving some aspect of government is not highlighted in the news. Ethics in government, consequently, has become an important issue for the 1990s. The fallout from the nation’s growing concern about the behavior of public officials has encompassed the fire service as well.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

More FE Volume 145 Issue 3

DENVER’S POLO CLUB CONDO FIRE: ATRIUM TURNS HIGH-RISE CHIMNEY

On October 31, 1991, the Denver Fire Department responded to an unusual and challenging fire in a residential high-rise building that yielded significant lessons, particularly about fighting fires in buildings constructed with large, open atrium spaces. At 0805 hours that day, the DFD communications center received a report from a central station monitoring agency of a fire alarm activation at The Polo Club condominiums at 3131 East Alameda Avenue in South Denver. With no additional calls confirming a fire, a reduced response of one engine company, one truck company, and the district chief was dispatched.
Fire Apparatus
FIRE PUMP TESTING USING A FLOW METER

FIRE PUMP TESTING USING A FLOW METER

Flow meters are used to measure fluid or gas flows in piping systems as well as to balance such systems. Flow meters have been an accepted method of testing fire pumps since the 1974 edition of NFPA 20, Installation of Centrifugal Fire Pumps. Flow meters also have been tested and approved by Factory Mutual since 1974.
Firefighting EquipmentHoselines
MANUFACTURERS’ LITERATURE

MANUFACTURERS’ LITERATURE

Grote Manufacturing Co. offers a products catalog describing its line of mirror, lighting, wiring, and safety systems for trucks, vans, recreational vehicles, and cars. The 172-page catalog separates safety system products into 13 categories, including mirrors, reflective accessories, emergency warning equipment, and flashers and turn signal switches.
Firefighting Equipment

SOPs: KEY TO GOOD LEADERSHIP

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are among the fire officer’s greatest tools. A functional definition of an SOP was developed by Chief Alan Brunacini in his book Fire Command (published by the National Fire Protection Association). According to Brunacini, standard operating procedures are “a set of organizational directives that establish a standard course of action on the emergency scene to increase the effectiveness of the firefighting or rescue team.” Analyzing this definition part by part reveals some general characteristics of SOPs.
Firefighter ToolsFirefighting Equipment

REALISTIC TRAINING EXERCISES

It is a beautiful sunrise as you and other firefighters drink warm coffee and eat jelly donuts. There is no hose to pick up and no overhaul to do, and the attic and the basement are not in the same place. Today, you face a different challenge: You are conducting a realistic training exercise.
Firefighter Training
COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS

ROBERT BARRACLOUGH. vice president of emergency products for SPAN INSTRUMENTS in Plano, Texas, has been elected president of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers' Association (FAMA), in Potomac, Maryland. A volunteer firefighter for 25 years, Barraclough had served as a fire marshal on the USS Enterprise and taught firefighting at the Naval Damage Control Training Center in Philadelphia.
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

CHEMICAL DATA NOTEBOOK SERIES #70: HYDRAZINE

Hydrazine is an extremely reactive, corrosive, flammable, toxic, oily, fuming liquid with an odor similar to ammonia. One of the most hazardous chemicals in use today, it is used in the manufacture of antioxidants, explosives, medicines, pesticides, plastics, and other chemicals.
HazmatTechnical Rescue
OSHA COMPLIANCE: WORD TO THE WISE

OSHA COMPLIANCE: WORD TO THE WISE

In the early morning hours of September 16, 1991, the Windsor Locks (CT) Fire Department responded to a challenging incident involving an overturned tractor trailer on a major interstate highway, a trapped driver, and leaking formaldehyde (36-percent solution).
Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

TRUCK COMPANY DRILLS AT ACQUIRED STRUCTURES

Firefighter DrillsFirefighter Training

DIESEL SOOT: AN EXHAUSTING PROBLEM

Fire PPEFirefighting Equipment

RAPID-DEPLOY AND STORAGE MECHANISM FOR AIRBAG AND TOOL-SUPPLY HOSES

Firefighting EquipmentHoselines

COMING EVENTS

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

The Politics of Incident Management

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

UNDERSTANDING DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FIRE SYMBOLS

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

EQUIPMENT DIGEST

Fire EMSFirefighting

REGULATING THE RESCUE

Technical Rescue

SEARCH AND RESCUE MAZE

Firefighter TrainingSearch Operations

I Was Born For This Job

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

INSPECTING AND WORKING PLACES OF PUBLIC ASSEMBLY

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting

CROWD CRUSH INCIDENTS

Fire Department LeadershipFirefighting
1 2