MSA presented its Fireslayer of the Year (FOTY) Award to two Milton, Ontario, Canada firefighters, Andrew Brassard and Steve Ellis, the first Canadians to receive the award. The firefighters earned the award as a result of their actions on July 27, 2006, when they responded to a structure fire that destroyed the home of a local couple. Although the couple was out of town at the time, their son was sleeping in a basement bedroom. Ellis and Brassard had received unconfirmed reports that someone was trapped inside the house. Equipped with an MSA Evolution 5200 thermal imaging camera (TIC), the firefighters searched the second and ground floors before finding the son, either asleep or unconscious from smoke inhalation, in the basement. The victim received treatment for smoke inhalation and minor burns.
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Paul Curtis of L.N. CURTIS & SONS, based in Oakland, California, received the 2007 Joe Fishelson Award, an annual award presented for excellence in customer service to the fire service (photo). Sam Goldwater, Joe Fishelson Award board chair and a past recipient, said the award is given to industry members who have devoted their entire careers to supporting the fire service through excellence in customer service. “Paul Curtis is a great example of what the Fishelson Award is all about,” he added. L.N. Curtis & Sons is a supplier of fire and emergency equipment.
The BACOU-DALLOZ FIRE SAFETY GROUP has formed the Feedback Battalion, the first online advisory panel created for fire professionals and first responders. The panel will provide fire and emergency professionals with a direct channel through which to share their views on fire safety issues, products, and trends. This online community is open to all firefighters and fire safety professionals. The goal is to recruit a panel that represents a cross-section of the fire safety community-fire chiefs, EMT-trained firefighters, and volunteer firefighters who work across the country in urban, suburban, and rural locations. Members will share opinions and experience on a range of fire safety issues, products, and trends they are seeing in the industry through a specialized online portal. Firefighters and first responders can register through the Feedback Battalion Web site at www.feedbackbattalion.com.
TEMPEST TECHNOLOGY, INC. has formed a new company, TEMPEST-FIRECO TOWERS, LLC., a joint venture between Tempest Technology and Fireco Components. The company will focus on the assembly, distribution, and marketing of telescoping pneumatic towers for lighting and communications in North America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean region.
Tempest Fireco Towers has been selected by LDV, INC. as the preferred supplier of vertical towers for LDV’s command and communication vehicles. Tempest Fireco pneumatic telescoping towers will be mounted on LDV vehicles to support lighting, video, communications, and other data gathering systems. Tempest Fireco Towers, LLC was chosen based on product performance, its variety of customer solutions, and its after-sales support.
FERRARA FIRE APPARATUS, INC. received another order from the Houston (TX) Fire Department for nine apparatus, seven pumpers and two 107-foot rear-mount aerial apparatus, all to be built on Ferrara’s Igniter custom fire chassis. Houston already has 23 Ferrara trucks in service, all on Igniter custom chassis-seven rear-mount 107-foot aerial ladders, 14 custom pumpers, and two high-pressure pumpers. Additionally, the department’s new Igniter hazmat vehicle is currently under construction. The hazmat apparatus includes an Igniter cab with a 24-inch raised roof, three doors for extra room in the command center, and a cab-to-body walkthrough.
AMERICAN LaFRANCE, LLC hosted the “Stop, Drop, and Rock N Roll” benefit party at the 2007 FDIC in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event raised $36,710 for the NATIONAL FALLEN FIRE FIGHTERS FOUNDATION (NFFF), an increase of more than 30 percent over the previous year’s event. The proceeds will help the NFFF in its mission to recognize the fallen heroes of the firefighting industry and support their families, friends, and coworkers.
American LaFrance recently opened the new North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum and Educational Center in North Charleston, South Carolina. The new museum houses 18 fully restored antique American LaFrance fire engines and features hands-on safety displays such as the interactive home hazards and the Great Escape exhibits.
The facility is aimed at elementary school students throughout the state, and will serve as a recognized fire education center and museum for children. For more information, visit www.legacyofheroes.org.
DRAEGER SAFETY, INC. celebrates its 100th year anniversary in America during 2007. The parent company, Drägerwerk Lübeck of Germany, founded in 1889, established its first American subsidiary offices in New York City in 1907 and within a few months, moved the company to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This is also the 100th anniversary of the invention of the Dräger Pulmotor®, a machine that enables breathing. The company also created soda lime cartridge, used by mine rescue teams for scrubbing toxic air within a breathing device.
Draeger marked a 20-year relationship with its fire service distributor, ADAMS FIRE PROTECTION, located in Essington, Pennsylvania. Adams’ product line is focused on customer support for SCBA and gas detection equipment and offers 24-hour emergency service and OSHA respirator mask fit testing and SCBA flow testing. Draeger presented Adams Fire Protection with a bronze Draegerman statue in commemoration of the event.
