Posts in category: Products

Emergency One Group Ltd (E1) are to off set their emissions in 2021 by planting a tree for every fire appliance built, becoming the UK’s first Carbon neutral manufacturer of Fire & Rescue Appliances.

The Scottish based company launched the world’s first fully electric fire appliance (the E1 EV0) in October 2020 and have now vowed to completely offset their carbon emissions by planting a tree for every fire appliance they build. With an output of 250 vehicles a year, E1 are the UK’s largest manufacturer of specialist Fire and Rescue Service vehicles and equipment, supplying to both the UK and International Markets.

Scotland’s SMEs are tackling climate change head on, with Emergency One hoping to inspire similar businesses to start making decisive actions in becoming carbon neutral. Managing Director, Mike Madsen stated “I feel we have a duty to show leadership within the industry and offsetting our (already reducing) emissions is only the beginning of our journey to absolute zero emissions across our operations.”

The news of Emergency One’s achievement was announced at a COP26/Scottish Enterprise event which was a part of Scotland’s Climate Ambition Zone with panellists discussing their transition to net zero. The company also declared their ambition to be absolute zero by 2030, ahead of their ‘Race to Zero’ commitment of 2050.

Director Steven Bell, who confirmed the launch at COP26 stated: “It was great to see such a positive response for our E1 EV0; a lot of hard work and dedication went into this project, and we have seen interest in customers from France to the USA. Customer response so far demonstrates that the want and need for this technology is there. With a tagline of “zero emissions, zero compromise” for the EV0, we wanted to take our organisational commitment to the next level and ensure that the company as a whole also met this ethos. The decision to offset our factory carbon footprint today was a logical choice and one we had to make.”

With Government pressure on local authorities to plan for and deliver electric vehicle infrastructure, and move towards zero emission vehicle fleets, the E1 EV0 launch has provided Fire and Rescue Services with a proven solution for their future fire appliance fleets. The company continue to develop their range of low and zero emission specialist vehicles and achieving Net Zero status for their manufacturing operations was an important aspect of their ambitious environmental targets, whilst also recognising their customers’ responsible procurement goals.

Net Zero is clearly a significant achievement for the company, and one which it hopes others in their sector will follow. The company see this as the start of their journey, not the end, and much more innovative solutions to achieve their ambitious targets are well under way.

Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, has announced it has secured an order for 21 fire apparatus from Huntsville Fire & Rescue in Huntsville, Alabama. Sold through Pierce dealer, Emergency Equipment Professionals, the fire apparatus order is the largest in over a decade for the state of Alabama. The new fire apparatus include 17 Pierce^® Enforcer™ pumpers, three Ascendant^® 100’ Heavy-Duty mid-mount Aerial Towers on Velocity^® chassis, and one Heavy-Duty HazMat Response Unit on a Velocity chassis. Huntsville Fire & Rescue currently has two Pierce engines and a ladder tower in production and will welcome these new fire apparatus into service to remove aging trucks from frontline service.

“Huntsville Fire & Rescue is the oldest chartered fire department in the state, and we still operate out of many historic firehouses with confined truck bays and low-entry doors,” said Howard McFarlen, chief of Huntsville Fire & Rescue. “Pierce was one of the only manufacturers who could work with our size restrictions, and based on evaluating multiple factors over the years, we are very pleased with all aspects of owning and operating Pierce apparatus. We have peace of mind knowing we have a dealer and manufacturer who stand behind their product and will provide knowledgeable resources and convenient access to aftermarket support.”

Huntsville Fire & Rescue’s new fire apparatus will feature:

Pierce Enforcer Pumpers

• Enforcer chassis
• 500-gallon water tank
• Waterous 1500 gpm single-stage pump
• Cummins X12 455 hp engine
• 84” cab allowing additional room for EMS cabinets, crew spacing, and transverse compartment below the forward-facing crew cab seats

Ascendant 100’ Heavy-Duty Aerial Towers

• Mid-mount configuration
• Velocity chassis
• 100’ five section aerial tower
• 300-gallon water tank
• Waterous 2000 gpm single-stage pump
• Cummins X15 605 hp engine

Heavy-Duty HazMat Response Unit

• Velocity chassis
• Cummins X15 605 hp engine
• Integrated command center with multiple video monitors, satellite communications, and weather monitoring capabilities

All Fire Apparatus Will Include:

• TAK-4^® Independent Suspension
• Side roll and frontal impact protection
• Electric door locks on cab and compartment doors

Chief McFarlen added, “Our apparatus must be capable of responding to everything from flat terrain to steep mountain roadways. There are several features, including Pierce’s TAK-4 Independent Suspension, which have proven to be critical for the safe navigation of this diverse terrain, multi-lane highways, and narrower roadways in the inner-city and historic districts.”

Huntsville Fire & Rescue covers a 220-square-mile area of both urban and rural communities in North Alabama. The department responds to more than 22,000 service calls per year out of 19 fire stations in a service area which includes the most populous city in Alabama, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command.

“We are incredibly honored to support Huntsville Fire & Rescue with such a significant fire apparatus order and sincerely appreciate the trust they have in our team,” said Jeff Kuntz, owner of Emergency Equipment Professionals. “We are proud to collaborate on this endeavor and greatly value our relationship with the department. The new fire apparatus adds to a growing Pierce fleet and will strengthen emergency response capabilities for many years to come.”

For a comprehensive review of Pierce pumpers, Ascendant aerials, and HazMat Response Units, visit www.piercemfg.com for specs, videos, and images.

Emergency Technical Decon (ETD), a state-of-the-art cleaning solution provider founded in 2020 to tackle the high firefighter occupational cancer rates, has become North America’s first fully verified to the NFPA 1851-2020 standard Independent Service Provider (ISP) utilizing liquid CO2 technologies.

ETD is the outgrowth of two and a half decades worth of investment in finding a new, effective solution with considerable benefits to its customers across industries. After Cool Clean Technologies, LLC, set out to apply its innovative CO2 technologies to complex precision cleaning over 20 years ago, Jon Wikstrom, President and CEO of Cool Clean Technologies, saw an innovative solution for the fire decontamination industry. In partnership with Hughes Fire Equipment, Inc., ETD was developed to offer an NFPA-approved, refined process for firefighter turnout gear, healthcare provider PPE, equipment, and more. As a result of the ISP verification, ETD now offers advanced cleaning, inspection, and repair of firefighter turnout gear.

“We know water washing is good for removing many things, but it’s just not effective on removing the hazards found on firefighting gear,” says Nelson W. Sorbo, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development for ETD. “Our sophisticated and standardized process is not only better for firefighters but also better for the environment.” The process requires no water and recycles the liquid CO2 from one cycle to the next, all while safely disposing of contaminants. ETD’s solution is representative of the care and research taken by its employees, and the company is proud to share that its removal rates exceed 99.9% of fire ground toxins and carcinogens, more than double the amount of what is observed through traditional water-washing techniques.

Looking beyond what’s required by NFPA and UL standards, ETD’s CO2+ process has been laboratory confirmed to remove over 84% of loose per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals manufactured and used in a variety of commercial, residential, and workplace items that don’t break down, leading to adverse health effects in firefighters.

ETD strives to exceed industry requirements and guidelines. “UL is the gold standard in the firefighting industry,” says Michael Duyck, CEO of Hughes Fire Equipment, and retired fire chief. “The fire service has struggled to find ways to create a safer environment and prevent both illness and injury in firefighters from the effects of emergency responses. Laboratory studies have shown that we weren’t as successful as once thought, so it’s exciting to know we finally found that solution with ETD.”

ETD is committed to creating the best process possible to ensure firefighter health and safety. Today’s certification is just another step in the right direction to eliminating firefighter occupational cancer occurrences.

Several years ago, in 2017, MSA Safety established a partnership with Team 18 Sapeurs-Pompiers – a Motorcycle Endurance Team originally created by French Firefighters, and equipped the technical service crew with the rescue helmets. Formed by professional and volunteer firefighters, Team 18 competes in the Endurance World Championship alongside other professional motorbike racers.  In addition to their racing efforts,  the team leads an awareness campaign for safe motorcycling. After many years, the relationship between MSA and TEAM 18 is still going strong!  This year,  MSA was proud to support  Team 18 during the Bol d’Or Grand Prix by providing them with the company’s newest generation of rescue helmets – the GALLET F2XR.

Head protection that’s approved by the International Motorcycling Federation

The members of motorcyclist technical service are exposed to many risks, including smoke, liquid splashes, and dust. Therefore, they need protection for the head, face and ears, which can support them in extraordinary conditions where safety, precision, and time play a key role.

MSA Safety’s GALLET F2XR technical rescue helmet is ready to take on long-lasting rescue missions with optimal safety and is suitable for a diverse range of operations, including responding to road traffic collisions,  wildland fires and water rescue scenarios. It is certified to EN16473, a standard approved by the International Motorcycle Federation (Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme) for the technical service crew.

Optimum ocular, face, and hearing protection

The GALLET F2XR’s ocular visor is fully integrated into the helmet. The face fit of the visor is adjustable in height and depth to be suitable for all wearers, including those who wear eyeglasses on a daily basis.  Easy installation and removal of the visor are ensured by a unique system of push and pull.  In addition to the integrated ocular visor, the GALLET F2XR offers an extended and robust polycarbonate face shield and a mesh visor shield that are easy to install and remove. Goggles can be easily and quickly attached with just two clicks and remain secure with a magnetic adjustment system.

The eye and face protection helps protect a wearer against a multitude of hazards, including impact, smoke, heat, hot solids, dust, wind, UV radiation, and injury from electric splash risks.

Additionally, fully integrated electronic ear muffs, which too are easy to attach, enhance protection from hazardous noise without blocking out the important background sounds or important messages from other crew members.

Product innovations for safety

When we create our products, we’re guided by a single question: how do we meet and exceed our customers’ safety needs? We solicit feedback from customers worldwide, we listen closely, and we make sure we incorporate their ideas into ALL of our product lines at MSA.  We are proud that the GALLET brand can help keep members of Team 18 safe in their professional activities as well as accompany them in their social responsibility endeavors.

The National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) paved the way for a successful Home Fire Sprinkler Coalition (HFSC) live-fire video shoot on location in Ashland City, Tennessee, last week. But this was no ordinary fire recording. HFSC conducted the shoot to produce an unprecedented, virtual reality, 360-degree house fire and sprinkler educational video.

When it is completed later this year, viewers will be able to experience the fires without and with sprinklers as if they were inside the burning house.  Using a VR headset, they can watch from any angle and hear the fire crackle. They’ll see flashover and watch as the flames and smoke spread. They’ll understand how the high heat from the fire activates the sprinkler and watch as the sprinkler controls the blaze. A 2D version will be created for free, on-demand access via Internet. Viewers will also be able to compare damage in the two rooms after the fires are out.

To help ensure HFSC captured the footage, NFSA teamed up with the Ashland City Fire Department. Together they secured a single-family house earmarked for demolition and obtained permission to use it for live fires.  The home was ideal because it had two rooms that could be set up as identical living rooms.  The NFSA team included President Shane Ray, VP/Executive Officer Vickie Pritchett, Director of Field Operations Gary West and Regional Manager Brian Biggs. Chief Chuck Walker led the Ashland City Fire Department team, which also provided suppression.

“We shot an actual house fire with and without fire sprinkler activation as we have done for many educational projects,” explains Peg Paul, HFSC communications manager, who oversaw the project and is producer of the video. “But this time was different because we were shooting in virtual reality, 3D video.”

The set-up, pre-production, fires and video shoot all went very smoothly, thanks to a lot of experience. That ranges from live fire demonstrations and outfitting structures for flashover to sprinkler installation and tricky on-location video production.

Even with the A-Team on board, video shoots are stressful. “With live fire burns and video productions we only have one chance to get it right,” Paul explained. “This was my first experience working with a crew using specialised equipment to shoot virtual reality, 360-degree video. This technology presented new challenges as well as new opportunities. We had to think about the entire room – all four walls, the ceilings and the floors. We had to anticipate and be prepared for how the fires would burn, how quickly the smoke would block the shot and how to best capture the sprinkler activation.”

While they were experienced in shooting virtual reality video, this was the video crew’s first time working with live fire. They spent time researching different cameras and prepared to sacrifice at least one. HFSC had back up plans, including use of a standard camera placed behind heat-resistant glass and shooting through a hole in a wall. The crew spent a lot of time thinking through the anticipated smoke and fire behavior in each room and how best to respond to each fire.

“Everyone working on this project was a true professional,” Paul said, “I am especially grateful to Shane, Vickie, Brian and the rest of the NFSA team who stepped up. This summer, when I asked Vickie if NFSA had a home we could use for the shoot, she immediately said yes and said NFSA would provide all the resources we needed for it, including working with Chief Walker and the Ashland City Fire Department. When we sent Brian the long list of things we needed done to the rooms and all the items to furnish them, he didn’t miss a beat. He kept reassuring us that whatever we needed, it would get done, and it did.”

NFSA, one of HFSC’s founding members, donated all resources to prepare and set up the rooms including construction materials, labor, duplicate furniture, carpet and accessories. The rooms were painted and the fire sprinkler was installed in one of the rooms.  “Each and every time we participate in burns like this, we are reminded that fire is indeed fast and seeing that fire sprinkler activate inspires us all,” said NFSA President Shane Ray. “We are proud to support HFSC and play a major role in creating this next level of technology that we can all share.”

It’s no accident the Ashland City Fire Department wanted to support this home fire sprinkler education project. Chief Walker was the recipient of the 2014 Bringing Safety Home award, jointly presented by NFPA Fire Sprinkler Initiative and HFSC. The Chief was recognised for his outstanding efforts and diligence promoting the importance of home fire sprinklers. Ashland City passed an ordinance requiring all homes be protected with sprinklers in 2001. Today 49% of all Ashland residential units are sprinklered.

In many ways, this project reflects team spirit. The video production is funded through a grant to HFSC from State Farm. The virtual reality resource and its introduction to the U.S. fire service is funded through a FEMA Fire Prevention & Safety Grant.  HFSC’s new educational tool will make powerful, sharable virtual reality education possible for any fire department.

HFSC produced a short video about the VR educational kit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78tivhclUZQ

Control officers in the London Fire Brigade can now live stream vital incident footage from the smart phone cameras of Londoners, as the Brigade introduces new technology to help its responders give the best possible information to emergency callers.

999Eye enables callers to send live stream videos of incidents straight into the Brigade’s 999 control centre without the need for an app. The facility, which is delivered by Capita plc, provides Control officers with greater situational awareness at the crucial early stage of an incident and enhances their decision-making process.

The Brigade is committed to making changes in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 report and the HMICFRS 2019 inspection report and 999Eye is one of many improvements it has made. Changes to the Brigade’s Control policy and procedures, enhancements to training and development and new equipment and processes, are all part of a new approach to the way it deals with emergency calls. For example, new communication protocols between senior staff in Control, the Incident Commander and the meeting place where crews are mobilised, have now been established so that information can relayed back and forth more easily.

Committed to making improvements

Assistant Commissioner for Operational Resilience and Control Jonathan Smith said: “We accepted all of the recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s Phase 1 report and are committed to making improvements in our ability to capture  999 and fire survival guidance calls.

“Control Officers work tirelessly under extreme pressure and we want them to have access to state of the art technologies, procedures and training to do the best possible job. 999Eye provides better situational awareness and allows us to offer the best advice based on live footage, that could make a difference. It is one of many wider improvements we are implementing to improve safety in London.”

When a 999 call is received by the Brigade, the caller may be asked if they would like to provide a live video stream of the scene using their smartphone. The Control Officer will send a text message with a secure, one-time-use link that opens a live stream direct from the phone to the Control room. It does not cost the caller extra, no other data is taken from or stored on the caller’s phone and a receipt is sent after the call for the caller’s records.

• Regular scheduled training packages for all Control Officers on incidents which are rare but have a big impact on Londoners, such as: terrorism, chemical spillages, incidents where fire survival guidance is required
• Using technology to better communicate and work in partnership with LAS and MPS.
• A new training suite which allows control staff to take part in more training simulating a live environment
• A new quality assurance process for emergency calls
• During fire survival guidance situations, a dedicated communication pathway between the Incident Commander, the bridgehead (on scene mobilising point) and Senior Officer in Control and
• A more structured approach to recording information to enable control staff to quickly ring back callers who are trapped in a building, in order to pass on any change in guidance or additional information

Brigade Control receives more than 150,000 calls a year and answers 999 calls in 2.4 seconds on average. It plays a central role in assisting Londoners during an emergency. Control staff establish the location of an incident, they gather information to assist the firefighters so they can deal with the incident as soon as they arrive and they send the fire engines immediately. Staff play a pivotal role in ensuring the Brigade can meet its average attendance time of six minutes for a first fire engine and eight minutes for a second fire engine. Control officers also provide vital advice and guidance to callers while they wait for crews to arrive. 

Paul Eggleton, managing director of Capita’s Secure Solutions and Services, said: “We are proud to work alongside LFB and provide our solutions to one of the world’s leading emergency services. Our Vision Command and Control software has helped reduce attendance times by providing vital information direct from the scene, to the benefit of public and officer safety.”

A new piece of rescue equipment to help keep people safe in the event of a fire is being rolled out to all West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service fire engines.

The fire service has worked with colleagues in East Sussex and Surrey fire and rescue services to procure and introduce smoke escape hoods for members of the public to use in the event of a fire. 

A smoke escape hood is worn over the head and prevents any smoke or toxic gasses from getting in. The hoods are designed to enable the person to breathe safe, clean air in smoke filled atmospheres whilst they escape from the building. 

Firefighters will use the smoke escape hood if they need to evacuate the public, rescue someone or keep them safe from smoke. All firefighters are trained in how to safely assess a situation and fit the smoke escape hoods to people if needed.

In the event that a smoke hood is required, firefighters will help and assist a person in putting on a smoke escape hood and will ensure they feel comfortable and safe. Once the smoke escape hood is fitted, firefighters will stay with the person whilst they are led to safety.

Mark Andrews, Deputy Chief Fire Officer at West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said: “These new smoke escape hoods are a fantastic addition to our fire engines that will help keep people safe from many toxic gases and smoke that arise in the event of a fire.

“Inhaling smoke during a fire can have long-lasting implications, but these smoke escape hoods are designed to try and mitigate some of that impact.

“I am really pleased that we, with our colleagues in East Sussex and Surrey, have been able to introduce these new smoke escape hoods as a further measure to help keep people living in our communities safe from harm.”