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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
I was looking
for news stories this morning – and there are plenty of them from the landslide
in Montreal that swallowed a house and its residents to the firing of the fire
marshal in Nunavut, for doing his job – and came across a link to a report that says the size of firefighting crews has a substantial effect on the
fire service’s ability to protect lives and save property.
That’s no surprise, but the research is interesting and the findings might help
you explain to council why you need four-person crews. The report by the U.S.
Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) says
four-person firefighting crews were able to complete 22 essential firefighting
and rescue tasks in a typical residential structure 30 per cent faster than
two-person crews and 25 per cent faster than three-person crews. You can find
the full report and some video footage here.
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Had to
share this shot of Wasaga Beach Fire Chief Michael McWilliam’s new rescue-command
vehicle from Dependable. We’ll do a story in Fire Fighting in Canada shortly but meantime, here’s MCWilliam
showing off the rig, which features very cool sliding work tables for laptops, scene
lighting and tons of storage space. Of course, the vehicle is a direct result
of the Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2007, fire that destroyed part of the
popular tourist strip in the resort town of Wasaga Beach.
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Wasaga Fire Chief Mike McWilliam and his new command-rescue vehicle from Dependable.
Photo by Laura King
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And,
purely for entertainment purposes, here’s a final look at last week’s Ontario
Association of Fire Chiefs conference.
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Ontario Fire Marshal Pat Burke at the closing banquet of the OAFC conference and trade show last week. Burke earlier brought news of a much-lauded revamped training course for fire officers. Photo by Laura King
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Outgoing OAFC president Richard Boyes presents outgoing board member Chief Tim Bond of Kenptville, Ont., with the traditional trumpet. Photo by Laura King
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Three . . . .chiefs. Kenora Chief Warren Brinkman, Otonabee-South Monaghan Chief Ted Bryan and Toronto Deputy Chief Frank Lamie, all OAFC board members, at Wednesday's closing banquet. Photo by Laura King.
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New OAFC president Tim Beckett in the last relaxing moment he's likely to have for a while! Photo by Laura King.
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Bill Stone in advance of the presentation of the AJ Stone Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to the fire service to Kingston Chief Harold Tulk. (Click here to see additional photos.) Photo by Laura King.
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