FE Volume 145 Issue 1

Fluorine is a member of the family of elements known as halogens (other members are chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine, which is radioactive and very rare). Fluorine is a highly toxic, very corrosive, highly reactive, irritating, yellow gas with a choking odor.

In this age of documentation and compliance, how would you rate your department’s ability to store and retrieve the data needed to justify requests for additional personnel or equipment or to satisfy state and federal mandatory requirements? Your department, for example, already should have implemented policies for meeting documentation requirements established by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act of 1986 (SARA Title III) and the Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response Standard (OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120).

The search rope, like the personal/ utility rope (see Training Notebook, September 1990) is an important structural firefighting searching tool. The idea for such a rope is not new; rather, new technology, allowing stronger yet thinner ropes, has helped this old idea make a comeback.

As firefighters we often are misunderstood. We all have stories to tell about bystanders jumping to the wrong conclusions while they watch us work. “The fire was in the front door and you went in the back. What, were you scared?” “What took you so long?" “Did you have to block the street?”