Streamlight® launches Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO® Lantern

by Americas - Featured News

Streamlight Inc. have introduced a Class 1, Division 1 safety-rated lantern in its Vulcan® series for use in hazardous environments faced by many first responders. Lightweight, compact and waterproof, the Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO® features a 24-hour run time on low, 180° articulating head, and two ultra-bright blue taillights for visibility in thick smoke.

“The Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO® is an extremely bright lantern with rear taillights, designed to enable firefighters to operate safely in difficult environments, whether from smoke, inclement weather or other hazards,” said Streamlight Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Michael F. Dineen. “With its 180° articulating head, first responders and other users can aim the light beam precisely where it is needed for task lighting purposes. And because it is powered by a lithium ion battery, it is one of the lightest-weight lanterns in its category.”

Featuring a triangular-shaped face cap and rotating head, the Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO® combines three white power LEDs for extreme brightness with cordless operation to eliminate trip hazards. Three deep-dish parabolic reflectors produce a tight spot beam with optimum peripheral illumination to aid in navigation, while two ultra-bright blue LEDs illuminate the lantern’s taillights. It delivers 400 lumens, 25,000 candela, a 316-metre beam distance, and a run time of 10 hours on the high setting. On low, it provides 130 lumens, 8,000 candela, a 128-metre beam distance, and a run time of 24 hours.

The light’s rotating head tilts 180° and features a locking mechanism to lock it in the upright position. The lantern’s rubberised cushion-grip handle and large, multi-function, push-button enables smooth handoffs and use even with gloves and offers a nonslip grip for easy carrying. Powered by a rechargeable 7.8Ahr lithium ion battery, the Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO® fully recharges in 15 hours with battery status indicator. Its quick install charge rack fits the same footprint as other lanterns in both the Vulcan® and LiteBox® series.

The light is encased in a durable, super-tough nylon with the rotating head constructed from high grade aluminium and also encased in super-tough nylon. It is IP67-rated for waterproof operation to one-metre submersion and also floats.

Product Features:

Lumens: High: 130-400
Battery: Lithium Ion
Size: 7.43” (18.87cm) x 4.36” (11.07cm)
Weight: 2.45 lbs. (1123g)
Colour: Orange or Yellow

Available in in safety orange and safety yellow, the Vulcan® 180 HAZ-LO® comes with the Streamlight Limited Lifetime Warranty and has an MSRP that ranges from €300 to €361 depending on the configuration.

Mine Draw Fire currently being fought six miles south of Mount Rushmore

by Americas - Featured News

Firefighters in the Black Hills are attacking a fire that was discovered at 11:19 Wednesday morning in Custer State Park six miles south of Mount Rushmore. The Mine Draw Fire had grown to 150 acres by 4:30 p.m. and was being attacked by firefighters on the ground and in the air north of Highway 16A and east of Highway 87.

The blaze is west of the Custer State Park maintenance shop on the north side of 87 and seven miles east of Custer. Map showing the location of the Mine Draw Fire June 24, 2020.Scott Jacobson, a spokesperson for the Great Plains Interagency Dispatch Centre said firefighting resources working on the fire included fire engines from several agencies, dozers, and the Tatanka Hotshots.

A variety of firefighting aircraft were seen over the fire Wednesday afternoon:Two large air tankers: T-02, a BAe-146; and T-162, an RJ85; they were dispatched from Pueblo, CO and Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Denver, respectively. Three Single Engine Air tankers, all Air Tractor 802s;Two helicopters, a Sikorsky S-61A and an Airbus AS50; Plus a lead plane and air attack.The air tankers were refilling with retardant the Rapid City Air Tanker Base at the Regional Airport.

Aircraft over the Mine Draw Fire at 4:39 p.m. MDT June 24, 2020.The Black Hills are in a moderate drought, and the weather Wednesday has been on the high side of moderate from a firefighters’ point of view. Since the fire started, the weather station not far away at the Custer State Park airport has recorded temperatures in the mid 80s, relative humidity around 30 percent, and winds out of the east or northeast at 4 to 8 mph gusting at 12 to 16 mph. The Mount Rushmore area in the Black Hills of South Dakota is currently in “Moderate Drought.”

Rosenbauer America donates 24,000 KN95 facemasks to first responders

by Americas - Featured News

Rosenbauer America has donated 24,000 KN95 facemasks to first responders as a thank you for their dedication through the COVID-19 pandemic – distributed to fire departments across the United States and Canada.

“Our communities rely on first responders answering calls for service; we need to protect their health and safety,” said John Slawson, Chairman and CEO of Rosenbauer America. “COVID-19 is personal; the virus literally follows responders home, subsequently, threatening the family members of our first responders with infection. Never before have our first responders been so concerned that they have chosen to self-isolate away from their families.”

Rosenbauer’s partner network has been surveying fire departments to determine where this donation can fill gaps in KN95 supplies. “In early March our network partners were going on product demo calls to fire departments; their focus has transitioned to that of ally against COVID-19,” said Slawson. “More than 40% of fire departments lack adequate PPE according to industry experts. We wanted to help in whatever way we could to keep our first responders safe. We are all in this together; we are an ecosystem, and we must continue to be vigilant and support our first responders.”

www.rosenbaueramerica.com/

Arizona’s Bush Fire spreads, now largest active fire burning in U.S.

by ActiveAmericas - Featured News

The Bush Fire, which has burned more than 64,500 acres in Tonto National Forest and is 0% contained, is currently the largest active fire in the U.S., according to data from the National Interagency Coordination Centre on Tuesday 16th June.

The wildfire started burning Saturday about 20 miles northeast of Mesa and is believed to have been caused by a vehicle fire, according to a statement from Mark Bernal, incident commander for the Southwest Area Incident Management Team.

“This fire is burning very heavy,” Tiffany Davila, public affairs officer for the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management, told The Arizona Republic on Tuesday. “It’s running through dense fuels in the area, some of the reasons behind the smoke that we’re seeing.”

The Bush Fire is also very active at night and is visible from central areas of the state like Fountain Hills and Rio Verde, she said.

More than 400 fire personnel are currently fighting the Bush Fire as hot and dry weather is expected to continue this week in addition to wind up to 30 mph, according to a statement from Bernal.

The wildfire is the largest fire in Arizona this year, but it doesn’t compare to Arizona wildfires in recent years, such as the 2019 Woodbury Fire, which burned 123,800 acres in the Tonto National Forest, or the Yarnell Hill Fire, which only burned 8,400 acres but killed 19 firefighters and destroyed more than 100 structures in 2013.

In 2011, the Wallow Fire, the largest fire in the state’s history, burned more than 500,000 acres in eastern Arizona and led to the evacuation of multiple towns in the White Mountains area.

Though no structures have been damaged or destroyed, multiple communities have been evacuated and the Department of Forestry and Fire Management is ready to provide structure protection for those communities, Davila said.

“It’s hard to compare one fire to another — they’re so diverse,” she said. “It depends on the fuel, the landscape, the conditions, the weather.”

Other fires burning in Arizona are also some of the largest active fires in the country, according to NICC data. The Mangum Fire near the Grand Canyon’s north rim has burned nearly 30,000 acres and the Bighorn Fire in Tucson has burned around 15,000 acres as of Tuesday evening.

This year, more wildfires have occurred in Arizona than in 2019 partly due to more moisture over the last two years and an overgrowth of grass vegetation, said Davila. A combination of hotter temperatures in April, dry conditions and dry grass has also contributed to more fires this year.

“We’re seeing that actively when we have these fires in central Arizona,” she said. “They’re moving very rapidly, they’re spreading very fast and they’re starting quickly.”

States like Arizona and New Mexico are also in fire season, so it’s more likely for these states to have larger fires than some other western states, she added.

“We’re asking the public to please do their part, and pay attention to their surroundings,” Davila said. “We’ve got Stage II Fire restrictions in place, and there’s a reason.”

Stage II fire restrictions prohibit camp fires and any outdoor fire usage on all state-owned and managed lands in Arizona.

Illinois fire department warns against leaving hand sanitiser in cars after dashboard fire

by Americas - Featured News

An Illinois fire department is warning drivers not to keep hand sanitiser in their parked cars amid the coronavirus after authorities said a bottle with high alcohol content appeared to have been left on a dashboard and helped spark a fire.

“The fire appeared to be caused by the owner’s small bottle of hand sanitiser that was left on the dashboard,” the Waukegan Fire Department wrote on Facebook.

The driver’s bottle contained 80 percent alcohol sanitiser that was left in direct sunlight, according to the department.

According to an April video from the National Fire Protection Association, while hand sanitiser is certainly flammable, it still requires an ignition source to catch fire. And the World Health Organisation (WHO), citing a 2007 study that looked at decades of hand sanitiser use in hospitals, said that fire hazards were extremely rare: There were a total of seven “non-severe fire incidents.”

“It appears sunlight shining through the windshield onto the sanitiser was enough to cause ignition,” the Waukegan Fire Department wrote in its Facebook post.

Photos of the damage show a melted dash, thick soot stains on the windshield and damage to the sun visor and headliner. The plastic frame of the rear-view mirror looks like it liquefied and dripped toward the floor before hardening again.

Authorities in Wisconsin issued, deleted and then clarified a similar warning last month after it went viral.

The Western Lakes Fire District had posted an image of a burned driver-side door along with a warning against keeping hand sanitiser in cars, The Hill reported. But after the post went viral, authorities removed it and said the image of a burned car door was not taken in the district and was not necessarily caused by “an exploding container of hand sanitiser.”

In its clarification, the fire district said that clear bottles – whether full of water or hand sanitiser or something else – could focus sunlight on a combustible surface and start a fire. It would be similar to aiming a magnifying glass near a piece of paper.

If the plastic container happens to contain alcohol that adds an “additional issue,” the district noted.

People have been increasingly using hand sanitiser when going out amid the coronavirus pandemic, in part due to state and federal health suggestions.

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued safety guidelines designed to help Americans keep themselves safe as COVID-19 continues to flare up around the country. They include wearing face masks and disposable gloves or frequently washing or sanitising one’s hands.

The CDC recommends using hand sanitisers that contain at least 60% alcohol.

Seven Anaheim firefighters have tested positive for coronavirus

by Americas - Featured News

Seven Anaheim firefighters have now been tested positive for coronavirus with the most recent case facing complications and put on a ventilator. The first case among the firefighters is believed to have originated on May 27, but the source of their infections is still unclear.

Officials did not reveal the names of the two stations that were impacted to protect the privacy of those impacted. Four firefighters have recovered and are expected to return to work in a few days, one is isolating at home and doing well and two are hospitalised.

“We believe the first original case was related to exposure on a call serving our community,” said Anaheim City Spokesperson Mike Lyster. “That is just the nature of coronavirus and risk of exposure that we might all encounter in our daily lives.”

“Our stations are regularly disinfected. We go through health screening checks for our firefighters and paramedics up to three times a day,” Lyster said.

The Anaheim Fire and Rescue department strongly encourages the community to continue to wear masks and practice social distancing.