● ADELPHI UNIVERSITY received a donation to create a 9/11 Memorial Endowment Scholarship in memory of and in tribute to those in the fire service who gave their lives in the line of duty on September 11, 2001. The donor, Jonathan B. Kohan, is chief of Atlantic Beach (NY) Fire-Rescue, serves as a member of the Congressional Fire Caucus, and was recently reappointed to serve as a logistics specialist with a Federal Emergency Management Agency Urban Search and Rescue Task Force.
The scholarship will be offered initially in fall 2006, and will be given once a year to a student in Adelphi’s Emergency Management Graduate Certificate Program who has completed nine credits, earned a 3.0 grade point average, and has a commendable community service record. Recipients must live in Nassau or Suffolk County, and preference will be given to fire service personnel serving in Nassau or Suffolk counties or in the five boroughs of New York City.
For more information about the scholarship, contact John Vetter, chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, at vetter@adelphi.edu, or (516) 877-4111. For information about Adelphi’s graduate certificate in emergency management, visit http://academics.adelphi.edu/artsci/emgmgt/, or call (516) 877-3050.
● The EDWARDSVILLE (IL) FIRE DEPARTMENT donated a 1982 Pierce minipumper to the Little Chapel (LA) Volunteer Fire Department, which suffered $20,000 worth of damage to its fire station. The12-member Louisiana department has an annual budget of approximately $6,000, and could not afford a new fire apparatus, according to Chief Kent Richard. Edwardsville no longer needed the fire apparatus, Chief J. Brian Wilson said, which was used mainly for small nonresidential fires.
● PIERCE MANUFACTURING INC. and its dealers located near the devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita provided fire trucks, equipment, food, and other emergency supplies to help meet crushing needs in the wake of the two deadly hurricanes. Pierce deployed Contender® brand pumpers from its Bradenton, Florida, facility to some of the hardest hit areas where numerous fire trucks have been destroyed or badly damaged. The first vehicle to arrive was part of a U.S. Navy order that was fully outfitted in 36 hours by Pierce dealer Ten-8 Fire Equipment of Bradenton, and sent to the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in New Orleans.
Pro-Fire and Equipment, LLC of Olive Branch, Mississippi, deployed a trailer filled with emergency supplies to the hardest hit portions of southern Mississippi within 48 hours after Hurricane Katrina hit. The trailer contained generators, fuel, cases of bottled water, ice, and bread. Pro-Fire employees applied for and received passes to allow them access into the disaster area. The dealer also discovered that at least 16 fire trucks in southern Mississippi had been destroyed and that many others needed immediate repairs. The dealer deployed a mobile service center to the area, staffed by employee volunteers.
Pierce dealership Martin Apparatus of Houston, Texas, sustained damage to its Marreno, Louisiana, service facility. Employees living in nearby Jefferson Parish were relocated to Houston and housed in a hotel before Katrina made landfall. In the storm’s aftermath, employees returned to find their shop had sustained only minor damage and lost power, but otherwise was in good shape. The dealership’s service crews were able to repair trucks in and around New Orleans during the day, before returning to sleep at an undamaged fire station in the area.
● FERRARA FIRE APPARATUS, INC. has received a contract from the city of Houston, Texas, for 12 new fire apparatus, valued at more than $7 million. The order includes seven Igniter 107-foot aerials, three Igniter pumpers, and two Igniter high-pressure pumpers. The company previously built 11 pumpers for the Houston Fire Department.
The seven aerials each feature a Cummins ISM 500-hp engine, cab seating for six, and a 107-foot heavy-duty ladder with 750-pound tip load. The aerials are all built on Ferrara’s custom Igniter cab and chassis. The three Igniter pumpers each feature a Cummins ISL 400-hp engine, an Allison EVS 3000 transmission, a Hale QMax 1,500-gpm side-mount pump, a 500-gallon water tank, and an extended front bumper. The two Igniter high-pressure pumpers each feature a Cummins ISM 500 engine, Allison EVS 4000 transmission, a side-mount Waterous CM high-pressure third-stage 1,250-gpm pump, and an extended front bumper.
● SPARTAN CHASSIS is partnering with Indianapolis-based ALLISON TRANSMISSION in Allison’s EDGE Program to make the exclusive transmission offered in all Spartan Chassis’ vehicles an Allison product. As a partner in the Allison EDGE Program, Spartan can offer its customers’ a variety of transmission, horsepower, and torque ratings to allow customers to purchase right-sized transmission models.
● Oklahoma State University’s (OSU) FIRE PROTECTION PUBLICATIONS (FPP), headquarters for the INTERNATIONAL FIRE SERVICE TRAINING ASSOCIATION (IFSTA) named Craig Hannan as chief operating officer. He will report to FPP Director Chris Neal on the business and financial functions of the organization, and support the director in developing operating and financial reports for the OSU administration and the IFSTA. Craig most recently served as coordinator of IFSTA and FPP editorial projects.
● FIRE-DEX, INC. has been selected as a Weatherhead 100 winner for 2005. The Weatherhead 100 is a list of the fastest-growing companies in northeast Ohio, compiled by the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. The company’s consistent double-digit growth over the past five years has qualified it for the award.
● FIREBLAST 451, INC. sold its 100th training unit to the Punta Gorda (FL) Fire Department, which obtained a two-story Fireflash. This portable trainer joins the department’s Fireblast FLAG trailer to further expand the department’s training capabilities.
● DAIMLERCHRYSLER’s FREIGHTLINER LLC has agreed to transfer ownership of its AMERICAN LAFRANCE fire apparatus and emergency vehicles business unit to the New York-based investment firm, Patriarch Partners, LLC. The sale is the result of DaimlerChrysler’s review of its commercial vehicle businesses and products portfolio under the company’s Global Excellence initiative. In addition to the purchase of all operating assets, Patriarch will maintain American LaFrance’s manufacturing facilities and corporate-owned dealer locations across the United States. The Ladson, South Carolina, office building and assembly facility remains a DaimlerChrysler asset, and will be used in part by American LaFrance until 2007.
Patriarch Partners, LLC is an investment fund based in New York and in Charlotte, North Carolina.
