Firefighter Health and Safety - News

Howe & Howe Inc., a subsidiary of Textron Systems Corporation, a Textron Inc. company, announced the first domestic sale and delivery of its robotic firefighter, the Thermite RS3, to the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) through authorized sales distributor Municipal Emergency Services (MES) Fire. This acquisition by the LAFD marks the first commercial sale of a robotic firefighting vehicle in the country. Firefighters Life-Saving Capability “This is our first step in bringing...

Renowned UK manufacturer of fire safety solutions, Application Solutions (Safety and Security) Ltd (ASL), located in Lewes, East Sussex has been recruiting apprentices since early 2012, via the UK Apprenticeship Service. Working with local training provider Sigta Training (SIGTA Limited), ASL currently employs three apprentices, across engineering and business administration, at ASL’s head office in Lewes. An apprenticeship is a genuine job combining practical training, while working with...

Former Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) Director of Operations - Sean Bone-Knell and current Head of Procurement at KFRS, Tina Butler, have been recognized in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Sean Bone-Knell, who retired from KFRS in March 2020, after 33 years of service, has been awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal – a prestigious medal given to members of the fire services in the UK and Commonwealth for distinguished services or gallantry. Steering national pol...

ImageTrend, Inc. announces the release of the exposure tracking module in the free Aware™ mobile app. Users can easily document and track personal exposures throughout the entirety of their career and into retirement. The personal exposure module in Aware is available at no cost for all public safety individuals to download and use, regardless of the records management system or ePCR vendor. Promotes the health and safety Aware is designed for rapid and accurate entry on the go and allo...

Suffolk FRS was mobilized to a commercial Kitchen fire in a unit contained within a multi-occupied Shopping Centre. The BS EN 12845 sprinkler system operated via 1 quick response sprinkler head which not only suppressed but extinguished the fire prior to the arrival of operational crews. Fire/smoke damage was contained to the room of origin, operational crews assisted with salvage and worked extremely hard/well with center staff. The unit of origin was planning to reopen in the afternoon with a...

A blueprint to improve competence for those working on higher-risk buildings and drive culture change has been set out by a cross-industry group representing more than 150 organizations in the fire and built environment industries. Setting the Bar is the second and final report of the Competence Steering Group (CSG) and is an update of its Interim Report, Raising the Bar, published in August 2019. The work was initiated by the recommendations in Dame Judith Hackitt’s review Building a Saf...

American Fire Protection Group, Inc. (AFPG) is powered by APi Group, a multi-billion dollar company that has been a globally renowned player in the Construction and Life Safety industry, since 1926. APi Group operates over 200 locations in North America and continues to grow. APi Group Being a part of the APi Group family provides confidence to American Fire Protection Group’s customers who want to mitigate risk related to financial stress. Being a part of APi Group also creates opportun...

South Yorkshire’s fire service is taking its one-of-a-kind Black History Month exhibition online in October, in a bid to attract more people from BAME backgrounds to consider a fire and rescue service career. Family, which was put together to pay homage to the diverse heritage of fire service staff, features portrait photographs of 11 employees past and present. portrait exhibition The portraits were exhibited at various locations across Sheffield in October 2019 including the train sta...

Quality describes "the quality of all properties of an object". And all the individual parts together make the whole. If any of these individual parts are not up to standard or, worse, are of poor quality, it will affect the overall whole. If, for example, the leather that is used in a boot is not ok, the boot can tear or have leaks. Only when a boot is of high quality can it perform its tasks and ensure the safety and comfort of the wearer in extreme situations. This is why HAIX relies on high...

REV Fire Group, the manufacturer of pioneering fire apparatus brands including E-ONE®, KME®, Ferrara®, and Spartan Emergency Response®, announces the creation of its Dealer Development organization, a new area of focus within the group.  Company Profile & Sustainable Growth Stephen Carleton, previously Director of Sales for Spartan Emergency Response, will lead the team as Director of Dealer Development and report to Mike Virnig, REV Fire Group’s Vice President o...

When their annual stair-climb event was sidelined back in March 2020, due to the global COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic spread concerns, LION and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) didn't let that stop their event. Instead, the LLS went virtual with their annual firefighter star-climb event. The event was renamed, 'Big Virtual Climb’. Big Virtual Climb event On June 13th, 2020 rather than gathering at San Francisco's Salesforce Tower, where the climb was originally scheduled to take...

When the temperature drops and those chilly nights start to roll in, everyone looks forward to gathering around a good fire. Whether one is inside or out, there are a few fire safety tips one should know for the Fall. Fire safety tips Check the smoke detectors to make sure they are still working and replace the batteries if they have not in the last 6 months. Have the chimney inspected. The buildup of creosote is one of the top reasons for fireplace fires. If one has a gas fireplace, be sur...

For obvious health safety reasons owing to the global COVID-19 pandemic spread, the organizers and partners of the world’s renowned trade fair for fire and rescue services, civil protection, safety and security, Interschutz have decided to postpone the appointment made in June 2020 for the event to be held to June 2021. Interschutz Indeed, the health crisis, which directly affects both exhibitors and visitors, forces them to make themselves available at other sites and does not allow gat...

In their second year of partnership with the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), Anheuser-Busch has committed to donating more than 1.5 million cans of emergency drinking water in 2020 to volunteer fire departments across the country as they navigate unprecedented challenges. Summer Deliveries Over the summer, the first wave of deliveries totaling more than one million cans were delivered to 150 fire departments across 38 states to help ensure local volunteer fire departments had the resou...

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and Columbia Southern University (CSU) are pleased to award NVFC members Maggie Zimmerman of Breckenridge, MI, and Randy Cannon Jr. of St. Stephen, SC, as the recipients of CSU’s 2020 NVFC Scholarship.  Each scholarship will cover up to 60 credit hours towards one of CSU’s online degree programs. Maggie Zimmerman Comments Zimmerman volunteers with the Breckenridge Wheeler Township Fire Department and is proud to be its first female f...

Global fire systems and equipment manufacturer, Advanced, has won an award at the ESX Innovation Awards 2019 for its ground-breaking smoke control solution, DynamixSmoke. The product, launched in 2018, radically simplifies fire alarm and smoke control integration and won its award in the Fire and Life Safety category of the ESX Innovation Awards 2019, which took place on June 6 at the Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis. DynamixSmoke smoke control solution DynamixSmoke is a high-perf...

Advanced's Technical Support Manager, Paul Duffy gives his insight into the diagnostic features of fire panels that can help save time, money and hassle. Fire detection and alarm systems are increasingly complex and sophisticated, benefiting from cutting-edge digital technology. As a fire alarm engineer installing, servicing and/or commissioning such technology, it can be hard to keep on top of electrical skills and the latest regulations/local installation standards, let alone the many differe...

In 2019, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France and Italy rounded out the top five countries in Europe, in terms of their numbers of data centers. The challenge for facilities managers is to keep the critical infrastructure running, as problems can have serious consequences. On 31st October 2016, a Ford Motor Company data center in Detroit was shut down by an electrical fire. Thankfully, nobody was hurt but the whole Dearborn complex, which houses 30,000 workers, was forced to clo...

Denver-based crisis response software company, Incident Response Technologies, Inc. (IRT), also the developer of the Rhodium Incident Management platform, has received a personal investment from Chris Maloney, Founder of emergency services software giant, TriTech Software Systems (TriTech). The exact amount of the investment is not being disclosed, however, it brings Incident Response Technologies, IRT’s total capital amount raised till date to more than US $2.6 million. Maloney will also...

Bacharach, a globally renowned provider of HVAC-R gas instrumentation, has announced the appointment of Matthew Toone as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Matthew Toone joins Bacharach from Emerson, where he served as Vice President of Sales, Service and Solutions for Emerson’s Cold Chain Platform. New CEO appointed The company said Matthew Toone will be responsible for the further integration of the Parasense and Neutronics brands, and setting the company’s s...

CU First Responders Finance (CUFR) is excited to welcome Albany Firemen’s Federal Credit Union (AFFCU) to their Referral Credit Union program. AFFCU is looking forward to offering business loan services to their membership. CUFR’s business lending program CUFR’s business lending program provides the avenue for first responder credit unions to refer commercial real estate, apparatus, equipment, and other business loans for potential funding. The referring credit union gets bu...

Fire officers in Sheffield are asking local students not to cook while drunk in winter and, instead, help keep fire engines free for more serious emergencies. The plea follows the Government’s recent announcement that pubs must now close at 10 pm, which firefighters feel could prompt an increase in home drinking, cooking, and parties. increase in callouts They say that this, in turn, could lead to an increase in callouts to student accommodation across the city, something South Yorkshir...

Tickets are now on sale for ADAPT 2020, a three-day virtual summit presented by Emergency Reporting (ER), the globally renowned company in secure, cloud-based reporting and records management software (RMS) for Fire and EMS agencies. The virtual event will take place from November 17 to November 19, 2020 and will be sponsored by Microsoft. Ticket prices start at just US$ 99.00 per attendee, with group pricing available to make it easier for departments to send more of their personnel. ADAPT 20...

Avon Protection is pleased to confirm the award of a sole-source contract worth up to $93 million to develop and supply the U.S. Army with the Next-Generation Integrated Head Protection System. The contract will follow on from the existing low-rate initial production contract for the Integrated Head Protection System which comes to an end in 2021. Technological Excellence & Commitment Paul McDonald, Chief Executive Officer, said, “I am delighted that Avon Protection will continue to...

The letters ‘FR’ have many meanings, including flame resistant, flame retardant, fire resistant and fire retardant, but is there a difference? And which FR is the right FR for a particular firefighters and rescue team? The truth is, these terms are used interchangeably and there is no clear standard or definition that backs up any of these phrases. What matters when looking to choose the right FR protection for the team is understanding and specifying garments that meet the right FR...

Kind-hearted fire cadets have been showered with praise after delivering Christmas gifts to care home residents across Barnsley. 200 presents The young people, who are based out of Cudworth and Dearne fire stations, funded the gifts with £600 they raised through donations and the sale of handmade Christmas cards. They delivered around 200 presents in total to residents at four different care homes within the Barnsley district, dancing and singing along the way. Then, with their first ac...

From the structural situation to the hazards to possible reactions for care management and staff: the Joint Committee on Fire Prevention Education and Fire Safety Education of the German Fire Brigades Association (DFV) and the Association for the Promotion of German Fire Protection (vfdb) has worked up the topic of 'Behavior in case of fire in care facilities' with a technical recommendation. "Offered is an easy-to-read guide that provides the necessary background information to be able to make...

New COVID-19 restrictions have been introduced by the Government, announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.  While this does not directly affect fire safety work, BAFE would fully support the advice that the stronger requirements for face coverings should be implemented consistently within the fire safety industry. This is especially important with technicians working on-site at care facilities and other buildings where vulnerable people may be exposed to the virus. Controlling COVID-19...

Motorola Solutions has announced the launch of the APX NEXT XE, its next-generation Project 25 (P25) radio with broadband capabilities, specifically built for firefighters. APX NEXT XE The APX NEXT XE combines mission-critical voice communications with data applications that bring together radio voice control, messaging, mapping, and vital new collaboration applications that can help improve situational awareness of those in the field. APX NEXT XE, and its predecessor, APX NEXT for law enforc...

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) announces that it will be recruiting for whole time firefighters to join fire stations across the county from January 2021. Applications will open on Monday 4 January 2021, at 8am, and will close two weeks later on Sunday 17 January at 11.59pm. To give people the opportunity to find out more about the role and the recruitment process, a range of information workshops and ‘Have a Go’ days will be held over the next few months. Busting m...