2 BUCKS CO. FIRE NEWS
BUCKS COUNTY FIRE NEWS
May 2010
A PUBLICATION OF THE BUCKS COUNTY FIRE CHIEFS’ & FIREFIGHTERS’ ASSOCIATION
WWW.buckscandff.com
2 BUCKS CO. FIRE NEWS
The next meeting of the Chiefs’ & FireFirefighters’ Association will be held at Station 28, Eddington, May 17, 2010.
7 PM Food
7:45 PM Meeting Start
Dave Harris will present “Everyone Goes Home” firefighter safety program. The purpose of the presentation will be to meet directly with Chief Officers, senior staff, and firefighters about firefighter life safety issues and attempt to get some departments in Bucks County to host this very informative program.
The June meeting will be held at the Carnival Grounds of Station 5, Midway, on June 21th. There will be an apparatus display before the meeting. Anyone who wishes to bring their newest apparatus for display is invited to do so.
Highlights of the April Meeting.
President Velten met with Commissioner Chairman Martin. The Association will be the voice of the County Fire Service with the Commissioners.Please contact the President if you have committed or are planning to host a County Parade.
The bids are ready to be sent out for construction of the Lower End Fire training Center.
The Training Center received approximately $85,000 for Capital improvements to the Training Center.
Final testing for BVR classes will be done by the EMS office.
An engineering study will be done to evaluate the integrity of the Training Tower in Doylestown.
The “Logger System” which records the temperature of every “burn” at the new Burn Building is not working properly. It must be maintained in order to maintain records which will affect the warrantee on the building.
Either short or long sleeve shirts are acceptable for live fire training in the burn building.
The Homeland Security Task Force has a June 6th drill in Chester County. The Bucks group plans to offer to host the 2011 drill on April 30, 2011. It may involve as many as 8 event scenarios running at the same time. The team’s next meeting will be in Ivyland on Aprils 29th.
“Knowledge Center” is a new term used by the communication system to provide interoperability to Police, Fire and EMS working at an incident. Training in the system’s use is coming.
Fire Companies who respond to EMS calls must send a letter to communications stating their association with their squad.
Dave Hathaway spoke about notification of next-of-kin following a Line-of-Duty Death or injury. He will speak about the Investigative Process at the May meeting.
All but five companies have paid their 2010 dues.
The Communications Advisory Board is still waiting for a complete copy of the Consultant’s Study of the new communications system. A vote by the Association after discussion is anticipated at the May Meeting in order to meet the bidding, purchasing and implementation schedule for a 1/1/13 start.
Safety 1 – Solar Panels – if there is light, there is voltage. Depending on the amount of light, the voltage can be as high as 600 volts DC.
Individual panels can produce 35 volts. They are typically connected in series with other panels to produce 500 - 600 volts to create a “string”. “Strings” are connected in parallel to create amperage capacity. An inverted converts the DC voltage to AC voltage. Placards are required on the meter and the breaker indicating SOLAR. Solar panels cannot be breached in order to ventilate. They are electrically HOT when there is light!
Safety 2 - The National Institute of Standards and Technology released the results of an extensive study that used technology to determine how long it took for crews of two, three, four and five to handle the same 22 tasks.
"Four- and five- person crews were able to complete the 22 essential firefighting and rescue tasks in a residential setting 30 percent faster than the two-person crew and 25 percent faster than the three-person crews,"
The estimated number of intentionally set structure fires (arson) nationally in 2008 is 30,500, resulting in property damage estimated to be $866,000,000.
FEMA has issued a new report on Grill Fires. According to the report, an estimated 5,700 grill fires on residential properties occur annually in the United States, resulting in an estimated average of 10 deaths, 100 injuries, and $37 million in property loss. Over half (57 percent) of grill fires on residential properties occur in the four months of May, June, July, and August and almost half (49 percent) of these fires occur during the hours of 5 to 8 p.m. In addition, 32 percent of grill fires on residential properties start on patios, terraces, screened-in porches, or courtyards, while an additional 24 percent start on exterior balconies and unenclosed porches. Finally, propane is the power source in 69 percent of all grill fires on residential properties.
Station 34, Chalfont firefighter Bob Dando -
During the early evening onSunday, 05/02/10, ChalfontVolunteerFirefighter Bob Dando was enjoying the warm weather on a motorcycle ride with his son. Unexpectedly, a van entered his lane of travel striking him and sending him crashing to the ground. Bob was transported to Abington Memorial Hospital and spent over 5 hours in surgery while doctors attempted to repair a severely injured leg. Currently, the legis being supported by steel rods due to multiple fractures and sever trauma.Sadly, theDoctors are not yet convinced that they will be able to save his leg.Since entering the hospital Bobhas used over 43 pints of blood as doctors try to clean the blood in his systemand replace blood lost during the accident. He remains on a respirator to prevent the onset of pneumonia. On Monday evening, Bob’s kidneys began to shutdown andhehasstarted dialysis.
After the accident, the striking vehicle fled the scene leaving Bob crushed along the curb. A good samaritan who witnessed the scene followed the vehicle and alerted authorities who were able to catch the driver who has been charged with DUI and leaving the scene of an accident among other charges. The Intelligencerreported on Tuesday, that the driver of that vehicle has3 previous DUI's.She was out on bail for one of these charges awaiting sentencing at the time of this accident.
Chalfont will be hosting a blood drive on May 18th from 2pm to 8pm to help replenish the supply at Abington Hospital and to support any future need for blood that Bob will have. Please go to http://www.membersforlife.org/pennj/schedule/bdc_schedule.phpand search by zip code 18914to register to give the blood. The Fire Company will also beholding future events to assist Bob and his family during this time.
Questions? Bill Fluck, DC34 cell# 267-718-6975
Station 49, Ottsville, has taken delivery of a 2010 Pierce Arrow XT PUC 1500 gpm CAFS Rescue pumper. The unit features independent front suspension, side and front air bags, anti roll and anti skid protection, 750 gallon tank, Husky foam system, 144 cfm compressor, and a 10 Kw hydraulic generator. Unit carries 2000 ft. 5 inch hose, 500 ft. 3 inch, a 3" blitz line withCAFS and 4 pre-connected 1 3/4" CAFS hand lines and 6" front suction.
Station 59, Silverdale, has place a 2010 KME Engine in service with a 1500 GPM pump and 1000 gallon tank.
The Bucks County Zoo, an exotic wildlife exhibition and zoological non-profit organization based in Warminster, has declared the month of May as “Public Servants Month,” offering half-price admission to all public safety, military and government personnel and their families..
Zoo founder “Jungle Joe” Fortunato is a former police officer who was injured in the line of duty and reframed the experience to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a wildlife educator and opening the first exotic zoological facility in Bucks County.
“Memorial Day is fast approaching and I wanted to demonstrate my appreciation of the hundreds of heroes protecting our lives every day,” said Fortunato. “For the entire month of May, police, fire, EMS, dispatchers, armed forces and government employees and their families may visit the Zoo for half of the price of general admission.”
Additionally, Bucks County Zoo will be open to the public on Saturday, May 15 from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m., when Jungle Joe will be on hand to greet guests and answer questions in the 5,000 square-foot facility and its more than 60 exotic animals from around the world.
To receive the half price discount, public servants need to show the appropriate identification. Regular admission is $9.00 for public servants, $8.00 for children. Children under the age of two are admitted free. For more information, visit www.buckscountyzoo.org.
The Pennsylvania Fire & Emergency Services Institute has hired Harrisburg lobbying firm, The Winter Group, to spearhead any attempt to create legislation to remove the residential sprinkler requirement form the PA Building Code.
Here is a summary of the Joint Fire and EMS Advisory Board meeting held April 28th.
Officers as follows: Adam Selisker (Chief 3) Chairman, Sam Cramer Vice Chairman, Bill Ferguson Secretary.
Fire Marshal Notifications: Notifications to Bucks County Fire Marshal for incidents will be made only if requested by the local authority (Fire Chief, Fire Marshal etc). There are currently no “automatic” notifications.
May Day Radio Procedures: A modification was made to improve the May Day Radio procedures. Additional information will follow when finalized. Main highlights include additional announcements by the County on all frequencies as well as automatic addition of an ALS unit.
Fire Police Dispatches: The Fire Police dispatch will now include the incident type in addition to the location. This will allow responding Fire Police officers to better prepare for their safety and needs when arriving on the scene.
Radio or Dispatcher issues: If any department experiences an issue that needs to be addressed immediately, please contact Mike Dydak as soon as possible after the call. There is no need to wait for an Advisory Board meeting to report a problem.
New Radio System: The following points are supported throughout the Advisory Board:
- The current system must be replaced. We need to focus our time and effort toward making the new system the best we can for the Fire service, being mindful that Police and EMS have needs as well.
- The new system should be P25 Phase 2 compatible/upgradeable without the need for purchasing new equipment again. Phase 2 will require an equipment software upgrade and should be at no cost to the system user.
- A simulcast VHF (155.550) Dispatch System should be installed to alleviate the current dispatch issues.
- Further discussion is needed on whether we support staying in the 500MHz range or move to 700MHz. Attached is a document outlining the benefits of staying in the 500MHz range. Please let me know if you feel strongly about staying at 500MHz especially if you already have licensed frequencies in that range.
- Adam is coordinating a meeting with the Chairman from all three Advisory Boards to develop a unified message for the County Commissioners.
- The consultant’s report will be posted on the BCFC&FF website.
Next Meeting: The next scheduled meeting of the FCAB is May 27th.
If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. Adam Selisker (Chief 3), 215-768-7744
The suit filed by the Pennsylvania Builders Association’s in Commonwealth Court (alleging the unconstitutional adoption of the 2009 International Codes) is scheduled for oral arguments during the week of June 21-24, in Harrisburg. Unless and until the Court rules otherwise, the 2009 International Codes remain in effect.
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