Staff
Editor THOMAS F. BRENNAN Managing Editor JACKIE COX Associate Editor AUDREY PAVEY Art Director R. NELSON
FE Volume 139 Issue 6
The Latest
Call for retrofit of supplied-air respirators
Due to a possible defect in the secondstage regulator, Survivair has initiated a retrofit of certain of its Hip Pac combination SCBA and supplied-air respirators. These units are used in chemical and industrial applications, primarily at hydrogen sulfide drilling sites, and possibly in confined-space rescue operations.
Sprinkler ordinance in effect
The DeKalb County, GA, Board of Commissioners has passed a sprinkler system ordinance that requires sprinklers to be installed in all hotels, motels, apartment buildings, rooming houses, and dormitories that are constructed there after May 1,1986. The only structures that will be exempt from the new law are oneand two-family dwellings and those designed to accommodate less than 15 persons, said DeKalb County Fire Chief Thomas E. Brown, who worked with the county commissioners and local developers to write the ordinance.
COURSES/COMING EVENTS
July-October 1986-A list of the Maine 1986 FIRE ATTACK SCHOOLS is available. These not-for-profit training and education seminars are held on weekends throughout the state, and are made up of individuals from the eastern United States and Canadian provinces. For information, contact: Steve Willis, Deputy Administrator, Maine Fire Training and Education, Department of Educational and Cultural Services, State House Station 23, Augusta, ME 04333; telephone (207) 289-5854 or (207) 941-4628.
More FE Volume 139 Issue 6
Haz-Mat References— Build Your Own
WHILE it is usually not my style to use this space to announce the editorial content within the pages that follow, I feel that an exception must be made this month. Soon after coming on board here, I had the unique opportunity to meet Frank Fire. Frank's concern for fire service personnel prompted him to take some valuable time from his college instructing and lecturing assignments to introduce firefighters to real world and basic information on plastics.
Using an Initial Offensive Exterior Attack
Nearly all fire suppression training stresses the importance of getting inside a burning building to effectively extinguish fires. The "get in and get it" concept has developed to such a point that we are often exposing ourselves to unnecessary dangers and sustaining painful steam burn injuries, all because of pride in being an aggressive firefighting unit.
NAMES IN THE NEWS
Five senior fire officials have been awarded fellowships to attend Harvard University's "Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government" this summer. The 19day training program is sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) United States Fire Administration and the National Fire Academy.
EQUIPMENT DIGEST
The Arcair Company has introduced three new portable Slice Pak exothermic cutting units that add convenience to the company's Slice System. These units can be quickly transported to any location to cut, burn, or vaporize almost any metallic, non-metallic, or composite material, according to the company.
Effective Communications Leads to Smoother Operations
Just as the family forms the basis of our society, the company (engine, truck, or rescue) forms the basis of the fire department. Every company consists of at least two or more members who must pull together as one cohesive unit if they wish to be effective. In order to accomplish this, there must be excellent communications between the members of the unit.
APPARATUS DELIVERIES
The North Stonington, CT, Fire Department recently placed in service this Saulsbury fast-attack pumper mounted on an 11,000pound Chevrolet chassis. This unit is equipped with a Hale M series 750-gpm pump and 150-gallon water tank. The hose bed carries 500 feet of four-inch hose, and preconnected in the crosslays is 200 feet of 1'/2-inch hose and 200 feet of PA-inch hose. Circle No. 75 on Reader Service Card
USFA retrofit grant awarded
The United States Fire Administration (USFA) awarded a $250,000 grant to the People's Firehouse, a Brooklyn, NY-based community organization that is active in promoting fire prevention and providing housing for lowto-moderate income groups as well as for special cases (battered women, the homeless, and the disabled).
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Although fire prevention and education are used together quite frequently, they have not achieved the success that they should have. Fire deaths and damages still go on at an enormous and alarming rate. It concerns not only myself, but most of my colleagues that we are not making a greater difference in this area.