Fire Industry News for April 2021

Jacksonville’s Argyle/Oakleaf community has a new and welcome neighbor, the JFRD Fire Station 61. Located at 7965 Old Middleburg Road South, next to the Argyle Branch Library, Station 61 will protect the rapidly growing region on Jacksonville’s Westside. JFRD Fire Station 61 will serve more than 200 businesses, approximately 14,300 residences and four schools. The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department officially opened the station on March 6, 2020. JFRD Fire Station 61 The addit...

Erickson Incorporated, the foremost operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft announced FAA approval of its next-generation composite main rotor blades. After many years of manufacturing metal blades, Erickson has invested in the future of the S-64 rotorcraft by designing, certifying, and building composite main rotor blades that will bring many dramatic benefits. Design, Collaboration, Manufacture, & Approval Erickson began the process of designing the new blades in 2008...

California’s seventh-largest fire agency, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, has taken delivery of two Toyne Pumper Tankers. These two trucks are the district’s first Toyne-built apparatus. Both pumper tankers will replace older engines, enhancing their capacity to fight fires. For twenty years, the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District (Metro Fire) has kept a watchful eye over a 359 square mile territory, which encompasses 23 communities and nearly 745,000 residents. To cov...

Erickson Incorporated, an operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, and manufacturer and developer of rotorcraft and autonomy solutions have signed a development agreement aimed at tackling the future of firefighting in the 21st century. Erickson will work to develop the next generation of pilot optional nighttime firefighting solutions, integrating Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ Technology into a digitally enabled fire management syste...

Erickson Incorporated, a foremost operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, and Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin Company, and premier manufacturer and developer of rotorcraft and autonomy solutions have signed a development agreement aimed at tackling the future of firefighting in the 21st century. Erickson will work to develop the next generation of pilot optional nighttime firefighting solutions, integrating Sikorsky’s MATRIX™ Technology into a digitally enabled fire...

Erickson Incorporated, a worldwide renowned operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, announces new aircraft orders to be delivered in 2020 and 2021, demonstrating further commitment by global customers to the platform. S-64 Air Crane helicopters delivery Korea Forest Service (KFS) purchased another S-64 Air Crane helicopter, which will add the K9 S-64 to their fleet. Recently, Erickson announced the delivery of K7 and K8 S-64 Air Crane helicopters to the KFS. With the delive...

PACCAR is participating in the CES 2020 show in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES is one of the world’s largest showcases for technological innovation. Powertrain commercial vehicle PACCAR is an autonomous and alternative powertrain commercial vehicle and is exhibiting three vehicles with these technologies at the show: a Level 4 autonomous Kenworth T680; a battery-electric Peterbilt Model 520EV; and a battery-electric Kenworth K270E. Peterbilt and Kenworth designed these trucks for a range of cus...

Erickson Incorporated, an operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, announces new aircraft orders to be delivered in 2020 and 2021, demonstrating further commitment by global customers to the platform. Korea Forest Service (KFS) purchased another S-64 Air Crane® helicopter, which will add the K9 S-64 to their fleet. Recently, Erickson announced the delivery of K7 and K8 S-64 Air Crane® helicopters to KFS. With the delivery of K9 set for 2020, this will bring KFS operat...

Erickson Incorporated, an operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, is continuing to fight the devastating Australian bushfires into the new year armed with six S-64 Air Crane® helicopters. As of Thursday, January 2nd, New South Wales declared a 7-day state of emergency as Australia’s deadly bushfires rage. This is the third time in 3 months that Australia has declared a state of emergency. Wind is expected to get stronger over the next couple of days — expecti...

Erickson Incorporated, an operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft announce the delivery of K8 to the Korean Forest Service (KFS), completing the delivery of their 2019, two aircraft order. This brings KFS operational fleet up to 6x S-64 Air Crane® helicopters. Provides a complete response KFS and Erickson share nearly a 20-year relationship, with developing model firefighting and emergency response program complete with by-the-hour maintenance services, pilot training, a...

Due to climate change, wildfires will increase in violence and occurrence every year. As energy will continue to be stored in the atmosphere, extreme weather phenomenon like droughts and heatwaves will be more frequent, at the same time the increasing temperature will decrease the moisture in biomass. As such, the high-risk days of wildfire, in North America alone, will increase from 37 in 2009 to 59 in 2050. Two months, where North America is burning. Emergency response personnel, across the g...

Erickson Incorporated, a worldwide renowned operator, maintainer and manufacturer of utility aircrafts, has announced the delivery of the K7 S-64 Air Crane helicopter to the Korean Forest Service (KFS). On Friday, November 22, 2019, the K7 aircraft was loaded onto the Antonov An-124 strategic airlift aircraft, out of Medford, Oregon, Erickson’s manufacturing facility. The K7 S-64 helicopter is well-known in Korea, with a strong reputation for being the best firefighting aircraft available...

Under the motto ‘Space for Innovation’, Techtextil, the globally renowned international trade fair for technical textiles and non-wovens, presented the entire spectrum of technical textiles, functional apparel textiles, and textile technologies and their potential applications, earlier this year, from the 14th to 17th May 2019. Techtextil 2019 As one of the long-term international exhibitors, Lenzing participated in the event and introduced their LENZING fibers and products to the...

Erickson Incorporated, a worldwide renowned operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, has been recognized as a Top 10 Defense Manufacturing Provider for 2019. Defense manufacturing “We are an aircraft OEM that has much of the same capabilities of the larger OEMs, such as Lockheed and Boeing, when it comes to defense manufacturing and MRO capabilities (maintenance, repair, and overhauling), yet with the agility of a small business,” said Kevin Cochie, Vice Presiden...

As a continued effort to strengthen industry engagement with the bioeconomy sector, Lenzing participated at the World BioEconomy Forum for its first time, which was held from September 9th to 12th in Ruka, northern Finland. The event brought together major think tanks, regulators and operators from 22 different countries from 6 continents to exchange views on various subjects, such as biostrategies, forest bioeconomy, climate change and circular bioeconomy. Bringing positive impact There are...

The Dornbirn GFC Innovation Congress expanded to hosting a startup event on 11-12 September this year, providing a platform for 25 startups and partners worldwide. The event allowed participants to refresh their understanding of the industry and effectively network with other companies. The startups were selected around the world based on their unique technology, innovative products, and services as well as their commitment to inspire the movement in the industry. Wearables and sustainable clo...

Erickson Incorporated, a worldwide renowned operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircrafts, has been awarded a seat on the U.S. Transportation Command’s (TRANSCOM) US$ 5.7 billion contract, to perform airlift services for the United States Armed Forces (USAF). TRANSCOM contract The TRANSCOM contract provides Federal Aviation Regulation Part 135 airlift services for fixed and rotary-wing aircrafts, used to transfer Department of Defense and Federal personnel, cargo for domest...

LENZING™ Lyocell and LENZING™ Modal fibers are highly suitable for use in a wide variety of coated fabric applications. Due to their versatility as blending partners, LENZING™ branded lyocell and modal fibers are incorporated in flexible abrasive cloths as well as in reinforcement fabrics for mechanical rubber goods. Moreover, they already have proved their versatility and performance of coated fabrics. The strength, reliability, and thermal stability of LENZING™ Lyocell...

Erickson Incorporated, a worldwide pioneering operator, maintainer, and manufacturer of utility aircraft, was awarded a seat on the Special Operations Forces/Personnel Recovery (SOF/PR) Multiple Award Contract for Modifications (MACM). It’s a seven-year, $996M contract vehicle that provides modifications for the Air Force Materiel Command, Life Cycle Management Center for Fixed and Rotary Wing platforms. The rotary-wing platforms consist of the HH-60G, TH-1H, and UH-1H helicopters. Ericks...

It’s only been in the past several years that thermal imaging cameras (TIC) have moved up in the firefighting equipment hierarchy from “nice to have” to “must-have” status. Two big factors in this greater acceptance of TICs are a lower cost per unit and growing support for TICs as life-safety equipment on the same level as SCBA and PPE. Cost-effective cameras More fire departments were able to buy thermal imaging cameras due to the low cost and use on a regular b...

The Lenzing Group (Lenzing) unveiled new plans to enhance its LENZING™ Lyocell Shortcut fiber offerings with the introduction of new grades, namely LENZING™ Lyocell EF fibers, and LENZING™ Lyocell Fibrillated fibers, within its range of fibers and to triple LENZING™ Lyocell Shortcut fiber production capacity at its Lenzing Fibers Grimsby Factory in the UK from early 2020. These milestones are testaments to Lenzing’s commitment to enhancing product offerings of the...

Authorized dealers, vendors, and sales team members of Toyne, Inc., a fire apparatus manufacturer, descended upon the communities of Breda and Carroll to attend Toyne’s annual dealer summit on September 8th through September 10th. The focus of the Dealer Summit is to educate attendees on new products and training, celebrate the past year’s successes, and discuss company innovations. Toyne team members, dealers, and vendors began the event with the time-honored tradition of golf in B...

The Cherry Valley Joint Fire District (CVJFD) has taken delivery of its first Toyne Apparatus, a fully customized pumper tanker. This apparatus will replace an older pumper tanker and enhance the response capabilities for a fire department that has protected countless generations of community members in Cherry Valley, New York. Established over two hundred years ago in 1813, Cherry Valley Joint Fire District is the 10th oldest continuously operating fire department in the United States. The dep...

Fire Safety & Protection, LLC (“FSP”), a portfolio company of Sunny River Management, LLC (“SRM”), is pleased to announce the acquisition of Georgian Bay Fire & Safety, Ltd. (“Georgian Bay”), one of Ontario’s largest life safety and property protection companies. Georgian Bay is known throughout the region for its high level of customer service and technical expertise. The acquisition of Georgian Bay is an exciting addition to the Fire Safety &a...

Back in the day, buying firefighting gear was simple. A salesman would show up at the department and show one kind of boot (usual rubber), one kind of helmet, one kind of glove. Maybe if one were lucky and there was a store nearby that sold the needed gear, but the options were limited. Internet and e-commerce The advent of the internet and e-commerce changed everything when it came to buying fire gear. Suddenly, firefighters had options. For example, need a new pair of boots? They chose from...

Erickson Incorporated has added the Airbus H225 Super Puma helicopter to its fleet of rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft. The company announced its first flight with the Super Puma on June 28. Purchased on the used market, it has been configured for Erickson’s mission profile, specifically in support of Department of Defense customers including the U.S. Navy. Erickson currently has a $28.4 million contract supplying aircraft to the U.S. Pacific Command area of responsibility. Enhancing cust...

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department recently broke ground on Fire Station 61 and then opened Fire Station 73 three days later. In late June, Interim Director/Fire Chief Keith Powers joined City of Jacksonville officials in grabbing a golden shovel and ceremoniously digging into the soil on which Station 61 will stand early next year. Three days later, Powers used oversized, gold-handled scissors alongside Station 73’s Captain Kenny Keene and city officials as they cut through a br...

The Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association recently voted to endorse a school safety application known as Rave Mobile Safety. The Rave Panic Button would be deployed to all K-12 public schools across Oklahoma according to OSA executive director Ray McNair. “The Oklahoma Sheriffs’ Association recently became aware of the Rave Panic Button school safety program via Arkansas, where it is deployed statewide to over 1,000 schools, and recently won a legislative policy award by the Sou...

Lenzing Group, which launched TENCEL™ and VEOCEL™, the sustainable textile and nonwoven fiber brands in 2018, has committed to drastically reduce its CO2 footprint and achieve carbon-neutral status in coming years. With an investment of EUR 100 million, the first milestone is set to reduce almost 50%of CO2 emissions per ton of product by 2030 (compared to a 2017 baseline). The company will also work with customers and partners in the textile and nonwoven industry ecosystem to transi...

The Lenzing Group, a global company in specialty fibers based on the renewable material wood introduced the botanic solution for marine application, in particular for aquatic farming, to the public at the Techtextil Frankfurt Fair. The wood-based LENZING™ branded lyocell fibers are used for the construction of ropes and nets in order to support the cultivation of marine cultures such as mollusks, mussels, and edible seaweed to reduce plastic in the sea. Plastic: a serious problem ...