Fire and Rescue news

The City of Isle of Palms, South Carolina, has been without a fire chief for more than eight months, a situation that has damaged morale among firefighters and continues to threaten fire department operations. Isle of Palms Local 3967 says the city has thoroughly botched efforts to find a new fire chief, ignoring qualified candidates and offering the position to others who ultimately declined the job offer. Instead, the city has temporarily placed the fire department under the control of the ch...

HURST Jaws of Life has been nominated for the NC Chamber’s Coolest Thing Made in N” competition, a contest that allows the public to both nominate and vote for their favorite North Carolina-manufactured product. “We’re proud to call Shelby, North Carolina, home, and we’re honored to have HURST Jaws of Life recognized as one of the ‘coolest things’ made in North Carolina,” said Britt Hawkins, Manager, Marketing Services, for the rescue tool whose n...

The Scottish Government has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of new fire safety laws that mean all homes must have interlinked smoke alarms from February 2022. The Building and Fire Safety Ministerial Working Group was established after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 to review Scotland’s existing building and fire safety regulatory frameworks. Their work has resulted in several changes in Scotland including this new approach to smoke alarms. New regulations New regulations un...

HURST Jaws of Life® has been nominated for the NC Chamber’s Coolest Thing Made in N” competition, a contest that allows the public to both nominate and vote for their favorite North Carolina-manufactured product. “We’re proud to call Shelby, North Carolina, home, and we’re honored to have HURST Jaws of Life recognized as one of the ‘coolest things’ made in North Carolina,” said Britt Hawkins, manager, marketing services, for the rescue to...

E-ONE®, a subsidiary of REV Group® and a manufacturer of fire apparatus announces the delivery of four (4) TITAN® 4×4 Air Transportable (AT) ARFF vehicles for Public Works and Government Services Canada on behalf of the Department of National Defense Canada (DND). The TITAN AT meets all the performance requirements of NFPA 414 and is specifically designed to fit on a C-130 Hercules aircraft, allowing the vehicles to be deployed by air through...

Jo Bird and company are one of the very limited numbers of UK companies who have signed up to a pledge to halve the company’s CO2 emissions by 2030. Being heavily involved in the offshore wind sector may have been one of the reasons for being shortlisted by SWMAS and it has been audited by Ashley Webber at Balanced energy to measure CO2 levels with suggestions as to how this could be reduced to help achieve this ambitious goal. This was a very detailed report looking at estimating the le...

KME Fire Apparatus, a subsidiary of REV Group®, and a foremost manufacturer of fire apparatus is pleased to announce that San Bernardino County (California) Fire Department has recently taken delivery of a new KME Tractor-Drawn AerialCat™ (TDA) and a Commercial Water Tender joining more than 50 other KME units currently in service within San Bernardino County. The Tractor-Drawn AerialCat™ Features KME Severe Service™ cab Hendrickson STEERTEK™ front axle Cum...

Fire and rescue services across the UK worked with partners to respond to the impact of COVID-19. Making a difference provides a series of short case studies to show the range of activities that services did over the last 18 months; it recognizes that the pandemic is not over and services continue to help communities in many different ways.  Phil Garrigan is the NFCC lead for the COVID-19 response. He said: “The pandemic was unlike anything else we have...

Safety reporting body - CROSS-UK published a report earlier this month highlighting the fire risks from poorly maintained green walls, as changes to fire safety law mean that the external walls will become part of fire risk assessments.  Green walls have been a popular way of making urban areas more attractive, contribute to biodiversity and help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Close-down procedures This new report from CROSS-UK discusses how building close-down procedures that...

KME Fire Apparatus., a subsidiary of REV Group® and a foremost manufacturer of fire apparatus, announces that Campbell Supply Company is expanding its coverage area and will now represent KME Fire Apparatus in New Jersey and Delaware. “Having recently added the KME product line in Eastern Pennsylvania, we are pleased to have additional sales and service territory for the KME brand in both New Jersey and Delaware,” said Scott Campbell, President of Campbell Supply Company. About...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Schneider Springs Fire burning in Yakima County, Washington. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Acting Administrator Vincent Maykovich on Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021, at 6:25 p.m. PT. He determined that the Schneider Springs Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute a...

Starting on July 13th, the Dixie Fire has already become the 2nd largest fire in California history and the largest active fire in the United States, covering more than 670,000 acres across Butte, Lassen, Plumas, and Tehama counties and displacing thousands of people. With nearly 6,000 fire personnel deployed – spanning federal, state, and local public safety agencies, including California Governor’s Office of Emergency Management, California Conservation Corps, El Dorado Hills Fire...

KME Fire Apparatus, a subsidiary of REV Group®, and a foremost manufacturer of fire apparatus is pleased to announce that Santa Barbara County (California) Fire Department has recently taken delivery of six new KME Custom Pumpers. The new trucks will join dozens of KME apparatus currently in service within the Santa Barbara County Fire Department. The custom pumpers are built on KME’s Severe Service™ (SSX™) cab which was engineered for heavy-duty use and exposed to high...

While they all hoped 2020 would see the end of lockdowns in Australia, 2021 has brought on new pandemic-driven challenges as the COVID-19 Delta variant continues to affect the majority of states across the nation. New South Wales and Victoria are experiencing some of the harshest lockdowns Australia has seen in an effort to ‘stop the spread’ of the highly contagious Delta variant. Impact on the local businesses These frequent and prolonged lockdowns are having a significant impact...

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has approved the first UK GDPR certification scheme criteria. Recently UKAS accredited Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) has developed criteria for two schemes relating to age assurance and children’s online privacy. This is a great example of UKAS working with regulators to bring important improvements in safety and child protection in innovative emerging sectors.

At approximately 9:27 pm, on Thursday, 19th August 2021, Joint Fire Control received the first call to a fire at a privately owned commercial garage, located in Gwaun Cae-Gurwen, a village and community in the borough of Neath Port Talbot, in South West Wales and mobilized crews from Amman Valley, Pontardawe, Ammanford, Morriston, Tumble and Llanelli, in Wales, United Kingdom (UK), to the incident spot. Due to the contents within the single-story garage, which consisted of numerous vehicles, ti...

“It doesn’t matter if you’re underway to heaven or hell, you’ll still have to change in Atlanta!” No other saying expresses better the function of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Georgia’s capital city. The airport is geographically located, that allows 80 % of the US population reachable within two hours flying time, Atlanta is the most important transfer airport in the USA: 89 % of all flights to/from Atlanta are internal...

South Yorkshire’s firefighters have responded to less deliberate fires so far this summer than in recent years, according to figures released by the county’s fire service. South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) says it has attended 997 deliberate fire incidents across May, June, and July this year–a seven percent reduction compared to the 1,073 attended during the same period last year. Against the average for May, June, and July across the last three years–which...

Ferrara Fire Apparatus, Inc., a subsidiary of REV Group® and a manufacturer of custom-built, heavy-duty fire apparatus, announces the addition of Patriot Fire USA to its nationwide dealer network. Patriot Fire USA is now the Ferrara dealer for Maryland, serving customers throughout the state. About Patriot Fire USA Located in Grasonville, Maryland, Patriot Fire USA recently opened a new facility that will provide quality service from a highly experienced team. Additionally, the facil...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to assist the state of California in combating the Monument Fire burning in Trinity County. On August 17, 2021, the State of California submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant declaration for the Monument Fire burning in Trinity County.  At the time of the request, the fire was threatening 5,053 residential structures in and around Junction City, Weaverville, Hayfork, and Douglas City,...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to assist the state of California in combating the Caldor Fire burning in El Dorado County. On August 17, 2021, the State of California submitted a request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant declaration for the Caldor Fire burning in El Dorado County.  Fire threat At the time of approval, the Caldor Fire was threatening approximately 7,500 homes in and around Pollock Pines, Grizzly Flats, Camino, a...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of the federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Twenty-Five Mile Fire burning in Chelan County, Washington. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Acting Administrator Vince Maykovich on Monday, August 17, 2021, at 10:39 p.m. PT. He determined that the Twenty-Five Mile Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute...

Cancer is a hidden killer amongst the force. In fact, firefighters have a 68% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer than the general population! Why? It’s simple, exposure to cancer-causing particles is high. But, this hidden killer can be stopped in its tracks, with careful PPE inspection and maintenance. Here, Reece Buchner, Technical Sales Manager at FlamePro, a British specialist manufacturer of life-saving garments for firefighters, explains how to maintain and inspect the kit....

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2021 Annual Fire Service Achievement Awards. NVFC’s awards recipients Theodore Schroll Jr. will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, sponsored by ADT, Robert James will receive the Chief James P. Seavey Sr. Health and Wellness Leadership Award, co-sponsored by VFIS and Ward Diesel Filter Systems, Paige Davis will receive the Junior Firefighter of the Year Award, sponsored by California Casualty, and t...

Continuing consultations between VIKING Life-Saving Equipment and its growing offshore client base has brought a new lifejacket to the oil & gas and wind energy markets whose form is as innovative as the range of new details to overcome longstanding safety challenges facing offshore crews and maintenance personnel. VIKING YouSafe™ Vanguard inflatable lifejacket The VIKING YouSafe™ Vanguard inflatable lifejacket has been developed after the major supplier asked designers to retu...

Firefighters have begun responding to 999 calls from South Yorkshire’s newest fire station for the first time. The new two storey, three-bay Barnsley fire station was completed earlier this month and went operational on 17 August. The energy-efficient building on Broadway, Kingstone replaces the 60-year-old fire station on the same site which had reached the end of its operational life. Firefighters had been housed in a temporary facility off-site while the year-long construction of...

Women in Fire Safety is seeking nominations for its inaugural awards recognizing excellence in the fire safety industry. The Women in Fire Safety Awards honor the outstanding achievements and contributions of all women within the fire safety community. Founded by Chloe Vickery and Kate Blake, the awards strive to address the historical gender imbalance and champion a more progressive industry. More progressive industry They said: “We hope to encourage the next generation to see fire saf...

Bosch Security Systems has announced the release of new Aviotec firmware version 7.81 that comprises AI algorithms, which can now detect fire and smoke in changing weather and light conditions. Aviotec firmware version 7.81 The AI algorithms have been developed further in the Aviotec firmware version 7.81, in order to ensure reliability for sheltered outdoor areas. The fire risk in these areas and nearby buildings can now be reduced with intelligent, fast and reliable detection. In the past,...

Seek Thermal, the supplier of thermal sensors for the public safety market, announces the Reveal FirePRO X, the latest version of its high-resolution personal thermal imaging camera (TIC) for firefighters. The upgraded, handheld thermal imaging camera features a new charging port, which makes it even more durable and easier to access when needed. Additionally, a new four-bay multi-charger is available, allowing for compact housing and versatile mounting options for placement in the fire station...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Ford Corkscrew Fire burning in Stevens County, Washington. The state of Washington’s request for a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved by FEMA Region 10 Acting Regional Administrator Vincent Maykovich on Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, at 8:41 p.m. PT. He determined that the Ford Corkscrew Fire threatened to cause such destruction as would constitute...