Active Fire Protection (AFP) - News

West Yorkshire’s first non-binary firefighter has thanked colleagues for their acceptance as they highlight the steps being taken to fight discrimination.  Tay Stevenson recently joined West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) and says the team at Halifax station, where they are based, has embraced their status and worked hard to help them settle in. Colleagues correctly use the pronouns ‘them’ and ‘they’ when referring to them.  awareness of discr...

Mark Thompson spends every day helping others during some of their worst moments.  However, Mark, who is the Control Manager for West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS), revealed how he needed support when he and his wife struggled with their mental health, after losing two family members in a house fire. Mental Health Awareness Week This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and WYFRS is focusing on the importance of taking care of oneself and those around them. Mark Thompson r...

Congratulations to the first recipient of the 2023 MSA Cairns® XF1 Fire Helmet Giveaway, Raymond Ravare! Ravare serves his community as a Volunteer Firefighter at the Ophir Rural Fire Department in Gold Beach, Oregon, USA. The MSA Cairns® XF1 Fire Helmet Giveaway, in partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), gives volunteer responders the chance to experience the most innovative and up-to-date technology to improve health and safety. Cairns® XF1 Fire Helmet The...

On May 11, 2023, the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology’s Subcommittee on Research and Technology held a hearing regarding ‘Reauthorizing the U.S. Fire Administration and Fire Grant Programs: Evaluating Effectiveness and Preparedness for Modern Challenges’. The National Volunteer Fire Council’s (NVFC) Georgia Director, David Bullard, testified at the hearing on the behalf of the NVFC. The hearing provided a great opportunity for the NVFC...

Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) and Ann Kuster (D-NH) introduced H.R. 3104, the Helping Our Heroes Act. This bill would establish an “above the line” tax deduction for the time volunteer firefighters donate to their communities. Helping Our Heroes Act Specifically, the Helping Our Heroes Act allows volunteer emergency responders, including firefighters, ambulance services, civil air patrol, and search and rescue services, to treat each hour of service or training as a $20 charitable con...

Fire staff across West Yorkshire are putting on their running shoes to tackle the Leeds Marathon and raise vital funds for charity.  A total of 14 fire staff will be running in the race on May 14, 2023, when they will raise money for good causes including The Fire Fighter’s Charity. The Akhirah Team Another charity that will benefit is The Akhirah Team, which operates in Harehills, Leeds, and is being supported by Firefighter, Hassan Abrar. Hassan has been undertaking a difficult c...

A Cambridgeshire fire officer has celebrated four decades of dedicated service to the community. Station Commander Clive Allen, currently one of the Service’s officers working in the On-call Group, reached the milestone of 40 years as an operational firefighter and celebrated with officers and staff at Chatteris Fire Station, one of the stations he manages. He was presented with his long service certificate by Area Commander Stuart Smith. Firefighting career Clive began his firefighting...

First Response Group (FRG), a security, risk, and facilities management specialist business, has strengthened its senior leadership team with the appointment of two new positions; Mark Mansfield joins the company as a Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Sheila Sloan as the Director of Human Resources. The Leeds-headquartered firm, which employs more than 1,200 people is forecasting revenue of more than £60 million in 2023 continuing a long run of year-on-year growth. Furthermore, it is fir...

As part of the company’s commitment to continuous improvements, Nittan Europe Ltd is working on a number of Sustainability Initiatives, in an effort to reduce their overall carbon impact for the future. In part, driven by the necessity to introduce remote working during the pandemic, Nittan initiated use of a secure managed electronic signatory platform in 2021. Comprehensive training provided to all staff members Comprehensive training was provided to all members of staff, in order to...

Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro N. Mayorkas and U.S. Fire Administrator, Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell delivered remarks during the 42nd National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) Memorial Weekend on May 7, 2023, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, USA. The Homeland Security Secretary and the U.S. Fire Administrator paid tribute to the 79 firefighters who died in the line of duty in 2022 and 65 firefighters who died in previous years.  Paying tribute to fallen firefighters The emergencies to wh...

Research which surveyed more than 3,000 UK fire and rescue service (FRS) personnel has found that mental well-being across the service is being impacted by issues such as sleep disruption, occupational stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression. Carried out by Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and commissioned by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and The Fire Fighters Charity, findings also suggest that increased length of career – not related to age - is associated with experiencing...

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Positive Practice Portal has been launched at the NFCC Spring Conference 2023, taking place at St George’s Park, on 9 May and 10 May 2023. The Positive Practice Portal will share case studies and examples of positive practice captured by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), enabling fire and rescue services to learn from each other and improve their services for the benefit of the public. NFCC a...

The aim of the lokik project, whose name is a shortened form of the German for “local initial crisis management,” is to create an independent communication network and a flexible picture of the situations that arise in the acute phases of disasters. Scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing, and Ergonomics FKIE have been working to achieve this since the night in 2021 when Germany’s Ahr Valley experienced a devastating flood. In spring...

Vimpex is delighted to welcome Terry Mallarky who joins the team as Regional Key Account Manager. Terry, who brings over 30 years of experience with life safety products and customers, will be actively managing and developing OEM customers to achieve profitable growth and maintain relationships with key product, commercial and business managers. Head Of Evacuation Sales, Heath Cook, says that having worked with Terry for nearly 10 years, he is 'looking forward to an exciting futur...

The U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) announces the launch of the modernization effort to develop a new, interoperable fire information and analytics platform, known as the National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS), for the American fire and emergency services. This effort is being carried out as a partnership between USFA and the US Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate (S&T). National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS) The goal...

There a whole host of fire safety signs that people should be familiar with. Fire exit, extinguisher and alarm signs are common in a whole host of day-to-day environments, including in supermarkets, clothing stores, cinemas and more. For those own or manage a business or commercial organization, fire signage should play a crucial role in their commercial fire safety procedures. Not only can they help direct people to evacuation routes during an emergency, but they can also offer guidance on wha...

The chances are users are familiar with a whole host of fire safety signs. Fire exits, extinguishers, and alarm signs are common in a whole host of day-to-day environments, including in supermarkets, clothing stores, cinemas, and more. If users run, own, or manage a business or commercial organization, fire signage should play a crucial role in commercial fire safety procedures.  fire signage Not only can they help direct people to evacuation routes during an emergency, but they can...

A female footballer who has been catching the eye with her performances for Sunderland AFC Women is not just a hero on the pitch – as she also saves lives in her career as a firefighter. Fearless Megan Beer has been working as a firefighter for two years and responds to emergencies across Newcastle in her role with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS). The 30-year-old serves on Red Watch at Newcastle Central Community Fire Station after passing the gruelling 12-week firefighter t...

Heroic Ukrainian firefighters who continue to respond to emergencies across the war-torn country have received a haul of life-saving equipment from Tyne and Wear. Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service (TWFRS) are one of many Brigades across the country to provide support to their counterparts in Ukraine. Fire Authority and staff Ukrainian firefighters have worked on the front-line since the war with Russia began by extinguishing fires and rescuing casualties from collapsed buildings. But th...

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Authority (TWFRA) have appointed Peter Heath as their new Chief Fire Officer. Chief Fire Officer Chris Lowther announced in March this year that he intended to retire from his position with Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS). The chairperson of the Service’s Fire and Rescue Authority, Cllr Phil Tye, immediately began the task of appointing his replacement. Now, following an open and robust recruitment process, he has announced that Peter Heath will...

Europe’s most important fire safety event, taking place at ExCel London Exhibition Centre, in London, United Kingdom (UK), FIREX welcomes thousands of fire safety professionals to explore the latest innovative products and solutions and meet face-to-face with the entire fire safety community – all under one roof, over three days. FIREX offers attendees a chance to meet face-to-face with the major suppliers across passive fire protection, fire detection and alarms, emergency lighting...

Vetter, a trusted brand of IDEX Fire & Safety, has upgraded its Vetter Connectable Bags C.Tec 12 N (C-Tec), a device with toolless connection technology that ensures a high degree of stability and load capacity while lifting heavy objects in rescue operations such as collapsed buildings, trapped persons and natural disasters. “C-Tec combines requirements for lifting bags of heavy rescue and creates an innovative range of applications,” said Maria Hovanes, director of North Amer...

Akron Brass, a trusted brand of IDEX Fire & Safety, has expanded its revolutionary SAM™ automated water control offerings with SAM BOOST, a retrofitted SAM system that can add new safety and efficiency to any fire apparatus. controlling the nozzle “SAM BOOST offers a new way for firefighters at the scene to control the nozzle, different from the full SAM system,” said Jeff Van Meter, Director of Global Apparatus for IDEX Fire & Safety. “It is the most efficient...

At fire scenes, maydays are declared nearly 80 percent of the time due to a lack of firefighter situational awareness, according to Project Mayday, a collective study of mayday incidents, responses and prevention. While mayday calls are just one of many challenges facing firefighters on the fireground, MSA Safety, Inc., will showcase solutions that address these challenges at this week's Fire Department Instructor's Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.  FDIC is one of the wor...

Emergency scenes come in all sizes, but no matter how big or small, situational awareness on the scene is one key to firefighter safety. To enhance situational awareness and firefighter accountability, MSA Safety, Inc. has released FireGrid™ Map View, a software enhancement of MSA's LUNAR® Connected Device that enables tracking of a firefighter's estimated location when outside of a structure. LUNAR is a handheld device that provides search and rescue capabilities for firefighters an...

The extinguishing section of Euralarm has released another new guidance document. The "Guidance on Approved fill stations" outlines the main important subjects detailing how to ensure filling stations can perform as expected by the end user.  Clean agent systems work with gases that leave no residue and act against fires in the early stages of development. Filling and retesting of containers Filling of containers is a vital part of the quality controls in place to ensure that systems wor...

Jeff Naylor was the last firefighter to die in West Yorkshire when he ran into a burning building in a bid to save others. On the anniversary of that tragic incident, staff from the fire service came together at a special ceremony held in Keighley to remember his heroic actions, an act which will never be forgotten by the service. Jeff was part of a team that responded to a house fire in Keighley on April 27, 1983. He ran into the burning building to save children trapped inside, working a...

REV Fire Group, comprised of REV Group, Inc. fire apparatus manufacturing subsidiaries, is proud to announce that Fire Apparatus Solutions (FAS) has acquired the REV Fire California dealership and will expand its coverage as the new Ferrara™ and KME® authorized dealer for the state. acquisition by FAS “We are thrilled to have Fire Apparatus Solutions expand their operations in California with the Ferrara and KME brands. For nearly 20 years, they have been delivering unrivaled s...

Seek Thermal Inc., a renowned global provider of thermal imaging technology, has announced the launch of its latest firefighting TIC, the AttackPRO+.  Building upon the success of the AttackPRO, which offers an unmatched combination of image quality, durability, and affordability in a decision-making thermal camera, the new AttackPRO+ now provides all the same benefits with the added NFPA 1801:2021 certification. AttackPRO+ - most affordable NFPA-certified TIC The AttackPRO+ stands out i...

Tyne and Wear fire chiefs have said the future of frontline services to communities has been strengthened with the continued investment in a brand new fleet of vehicles. Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) have already been recognized as one of the fastest responding service in the entire country. Additionally, the TWFRS have confirmed that 10 brand new fire appliances will take to the streets across the region in the coming weeks. Brand new fleet of fire appliances Every vehicle is...