Letters to the Editor
After reading "Tips for Using Thermal Imaging Cameras" by John G. Riker (Training Notebook, May 2002), I felt compelled to write and address several issues.
FE Volume 155 Issue 8
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MENTORING
Formally or, more likely, informally, mentoring has been in the fire service since its inception. I'm not sure of when I first heard the word "mentor" in relation to the fire service. Back in late 1978 and 1979 when I was on the list for promotion to lieutenant, I know that Lieutenant Eddie Boos took me under his wing.
MANAGING HAZ MATS IN AN ERA OF COUNTERTERRORISM
At no time in our country's history has the need been greater to plan and work diligently to make better emergency response and remediation resources available more quickly. The lack of a coordinated collection of emergency response capabilities at the local, state, and even federal levels can seriously reduce the effectiveness of response efforts in catastrophes such as natural disasters, industrial accidents, and terrorist attacks.
Total Heat Loss
Turnout gear and Its components are becoming increasingly complex, as are the issues surrounding their selection. Since they are required and relied on to durably do far more than they have in the past, new materials and test methods are being developed to satisfy these needs.
More FE Volume 155 Issue 8
Company/Association News
MCKINNON-LAND-MORAN, LLC (MLM) has agreed to purchase the BASOFIL® heat- and flame-resistant fiber business from BASF, including the intellectual property, inventories, and machinery/equipment related to the Basofil fiber manufacturing operation in Enka, North Carolina.
Ineffective Chiefs or “Egos Eat Brains”
An Interview with Rick Lasky, Chief of the Lewisville (TX) Fire Department
LOCAL RESOURCES NOT ENOUGH FOR TOWER RESCUE
At approximately 1250 hours on April 22, 2002, the Brown County Dispatch Center received a call that a member of a five-person crew that had been working high up on a communications tower in Rock County in north central Nebraska had been injured.
THE FUTURE OF THE VOLUNTEER FIRE SERVICE
The future of the fire service depends on presenting one unified front that communicates a shared vision of what the fire service should look like. In recent days, weeks, and months, we have seen actions by our own that have threatened community fire protection.
MORE STUFF THAT YOU NEVER DO!
We have been "stuffing" this column lately-talking about "firefighting stuff" that may be on everyone's mind at one time or other. Throughout my career, I practiced the philosophy: Never say "never" as well as … "always" and … "can't," but there are always some exceptions that are "almost never" or that you should "try to avoid."
Products / Services / Media
Hydraulics International HIHP-SA-5G-DD-60 HIGH-PRESSURE BREATHING AIR SYSTEM
is a reciprocating piston assembly that compresses breathing air (Grade E or better) using a pneumatic drive.
Names in the News
LEN MALMQUIST retired as chief of Central Emergency Services in Soldotna, Alaska, after seven years with the department and a 38-year career in the fire service.
A Compromise Of Trust
When any type of building is designed and assembled into a structure, there exists a compromise of trust. That trust is the confidence and tacit agreement linking the architects, builders, occupants, and firefighters in the belief that every edifice constructed is designed and erected with diligence to ensure occupants' safety while inhabiting the building and firefighters' safety if called to suppress a fire in that building.