FREIGHTLINER LLC named John Stevenson president of American LaFrance to succeed Marc Gustafson, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Stevenson will lead the company’s American LaFrance fire and emergency apparatus subsidiary. Since December 2001, Stevenson has served as plant manager for Freightliner LLC’s Cleveland, North Carolina, truck manufacturing plant, which employs 3,600 people in the production of Freightliner-brand heavy-duty trucks. In this capacity he has also been responsible for the production of chassis for the American LaFrance product line. He first joined the Freightliner LLC organization in 1999.
The SURVIVAIR and WILLSON divisions of Bacou-Dalloz will consolidate their respiratory product lines in the Americas. Reusable respirators will now be offered only under the Survivair brand, and the Willson brand will concentrate on disposable respiratory products. Survivair now has a range of facepieces to fit an entire workplace with one cartridge system. Bayonet and threaded styles are now available for most Survivair APR products. All NIOSH approvals for the majority of Willson APRs will be maintained and converted to the Survivair brand. The new Survivair line of reusable respirators will include 14 half-mask and eight full facepiece size and model configurations, including product brands ValuAirT, PREMIERT, Opti-Fit™, Blue 1™, and SurvivairMax™. With appropriate conversion kits, selected models of half-mask respirators and Opti-Fit full facepiece respirators can be readily converted to PAPR or continuous-flow SAR configurations.
The UNITED STATES FIRE ADMINISTRATION offers free fire prevention materials as part of its People 50-Plus Campaign for people who over age 50. The new “Prevent Fire. Save Lives.” program provides the fire service with reproducible fire prevention material to help educate target audiences. A campaign CD is available free and materials have no limits on distribution. A Campaign Guide developed for the fire service will assist in planning and implementing the People 50-Plus Campaign. It contains background and “how-to” campaign information, easy-to-reproduce community outreach materials, and sample media materials. Campaign material is available at the USFA Web site: www.usfa.fema.gov/50Plus. A PowerPointT presentation on CD is available and can be ordered by e-mail at usfa@hagersharp.com; or by faxing a request to: ATTN: “USFA People 50-Plus Campaign” (301) 447-1102. The limit is one free CD per fire service entity; however, the CD may be reproduced and distributed.
VITAL PROBES, INC. of Mayfield, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a contract from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio to construct the first mobile molecular testing laboratory (MMTL) for Brooks City Base in San Antonio, Texas. The company manufactures platforms for the detection of biological warfare agents (BWA). PIERCE MANUFACTURING INC., has entered into a long-term agreement with Vital Probes to build the MMTL. The MMTL is a completely deployable 31-foot vehicle that will contain Biosafety Level 2 and 3 (BSL2 and BSL3) zones and the latest technology. A pivotal problem armed forces and emergency response personnel face is transferring suspected BWA to approved testing laboratories. The MMTL will allow these tests to be conducted on site.
Performance Advantage Co. has named Richard Hartwell national sales manager. He has 35 years of experience in all facets of the fire service and fire apparatus industry.
Hurricane Ivan caused the evacuation of 14,000 National Safety Council Trade Show attendees in New Orleans, as well as the entire Gulf State region. Employees of PELICAN PRODUCTS, INC., an exhibitor, drove a load of lights into the path of the hurricane instead of evacuating. Marketing Director Kevin Murphy and Sales Manager Matt Miller volunteered to take the lights to the Mobile (AL) Fire Rescue Department where Hurricane Ivan was projected to make landfall in seven hours. The pair remained at a Mobile fire station when the safe evacuation period ended before their arrival. Lights were distributed to about 100 firefighters. Pelican Products has produced a short documentary video of Hurricane Ivan and the Mobile Fire Department. It can be viewed on the company’s Web site at www.pelican.com.
HOLMATRO and MITCHELL INTERNATIONAL presented a check for $14,000 to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) Sarbanes Scholarship Fund. The donation represents a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Holmatro’s Rescuer’s Guide to Vehicle Safety Systems, developed jointly by Mitchell and Holmatro. The NFFF provides services and support to the families of firefighters who died in the line of duty, including the scholarship program. This program offers financial assistance for post-secondary education and training to the spouses, children, and stepchildren of firefighters honored at the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial. The Rescuer’s Guide to Vehicle Safety Systems enables rescue workers to accurately identify vehicle safety system component locations and deactivate or avoid them during the extrication to avoid harm to rescuers and vehicle occupants.
