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KIMTEK Announces Upgrades with Mercedes Booster Hose and Draft Kits

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KIMTEK Announces Upgrades with Mercedes Booster Hose and Draft Kits KIMTEK Corp, makers of MEDLITE® and FIRELITE® Transport skid units for off-road rescue and wildland firefighting, today announced a new relationship with Mercedes Textiles, Canadian manufacturers of firefighting systems including fire hoses, couplings, adapters, accessories, and fire pumps. KIMTEK has made Mercedes Boostlite® non-collapsible reel booster hose the new standard on all its UTV and Truck FIRELITE® skid units that feature the Hannay 4000 series reels. Heavy duty and kink resistant even at low pressure, Mercedes Boostlite hose weighs an average of 30 lb less than rubber jacketed booster hose. This state-of-the-art addition represents another top-of-the-line fixture to KIMTEK’s long list of trusted product offerings available on its skid units, already including W.S. Darley pumps, Hannay reels, Scotty foam systems, and others. Drafting kit upgrades also in effect   KIMTEK has also announced that new for 2018, every KIMTEK FIRELITE® FDHP-300 series truck skid unit will come with a complete Mercedes Draftlite® Kit which includes the Hydro-Wick® hand primer, 20 ft of 1.5” high pressure suction hose, and a Hydro-Wick foot valve with strainer. The Hydro-Wick hand primer is hard-plumbed into the stainless steel piping with a separate valve. This kit seamlessly mates to the 5.5, 9 and 13 HP FIRELITE-300 series skid units and assists with drafting from virtually any source of water. KIMTEK will make the new Mercedes Draftlite Kit available as a stand-alone purchase intended for customers who already own a FIRELITE Transport 300 series or UTV skid unit and want to improve their drafting capability. In this application the Kit’s hand primer will include a 1.5″ NH (NST) coupling. The Draftlite® kits ship complete from KIMTEK. About KIMTEK Corporation Founded in 1984 as a research and development company dedicated to advances in life safety technology in the fire sciences, KIMTEK Corporation is the largest producer and marketer of ATV/UTV and pickup-truck skid units for public safety agencies in the U.S. KIMTEK’s FIRELITE® fire and rescue skid units and MEDLITE medical skid units are now in service worldwide, including all branches of the U.S. military, the National Park Service, numerous NASCAR tracks, sporting complexes, schools, and universities. KIMTEK Transport skid units are proudly made in the USA. For more information, please contact KIMTEK at 888-546-8358 or visit the company’s websites at www.kimtekresearch.com and www.brushtruckskids.com.

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Minimum of 37 killed from fire in South Korea hospital

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Minimum of 37 killed from fire in South Korea hospital A fire in a South Korean hospital has seen at least 37 people lose their lives, while more than 70 people have been left injured. The fire is believed to have started in the emergency room of the Sejong Hospital on the 25th January, which is located in the south-eastern city of Miryang. Over 200 patients were inside the both the building and an adjoining nursing home at the time of the blaze. The fire is the deadliest fire in South Korea in almost a decade, with the death toll expected to rise given that several of the people injured are in critical condition. Firefireghters have claimed that the victims seem to have died from smoke inhalation, while three hospital medical staff – a nurse, a doctor and a nursing assistant – are among the victims. Thus far however, authorities have given varying death tolls, so the final amount may be unclear for a while. Police had claimed that 41 had died, while fire officials and hospital sources claim at least 37. Miryang is located around 270km (168 miles) south-east of the South Korea capital, Seoul. The hospital specialised in caring for the elderly and those with long-term needs, as well as other patients according to local media, with reports suggesting that the vast majority of patients would’ve been either too old or too ill to escape on their own. Choi Man-woo, the fire chief, told reporters that the cause of the fire is still unknown, and that the fire started at around 07:30, with firefirghters putting it out in three hours. The hospital building did not have any fire sprinklers installed, local media said.

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Jack Smith sworn in as new Ohio Fire Academy Superintendent

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Jack Smith sworn in as new Ohio Fire Academy Superintendent The new superintendent of the Ohio Fire Academy has been sworn in, with Jack Smith taking the reins on the 22nd January by State Fire Marshal Jeff A. Hussey. Smith, who is from Dayton, takes over from the former superintendent, Steve Gohee, who retired from his position earlier in January. Smith will be responsible for overseeing all the operations of the academy, which includes training grounds, personnel, curriculum and training programs. The academy itself was founded in 1967. Prior to being sworn in, Smith was the fire education coordinator at the Ohio Department of Public Safety Division of EMS, and has racked up 32 years of combined fire service leadership experience, which includes serving as associate director of the National Center for Readiness at the Wright State University for 10 years. In addition, Smith held the ranks of lieutenant, safety officer, training officer, battalion chief and shift commander at Jefferson Township Fire Department in Montgomery County and Sharonville Fire Department in Cincinnati, so say the State Fire Marshal’s Office. “Jack’s main priority will be continuing to ensure the delivery of high-quality instruction and programming and working to expand the access of training throughout the state,” Ohio Department of Commerce Director Jacqueline T. Williams said. “With his leadership and training experience, he is well suited to help the academy continue to provide world-class training to the fire service.” Following on from that, Hussey had his say on the appointment. “We are excited to welcome Jack to our team,” Hussey said. “He is a passionate fire service instructor and leader, and the Ohio Fire Academy will benefit greatly from his experience and expertise.” In his lifetime, Smith earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Cedarville University, as well as a master’s degree in emergency and disaster management from the American Public University.

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Over 20 acres of land consumed by grass fires in Smith County, Texas, America

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Over 20 acres of land consumed by grass fires in Smith County, Texas, America The Smith County, Texas fire departments had a very busy day on the 25th January, with grass fires running rife through the area. 20 acres of farmland was left blackened and destroyed, as a farmer attempted to burn his excess hay and lost control of the blaze. Before the fire reached the five threatened structures, the Winona and Red Springs fire departments were successfully able to extinguish the blaze. However, after that fire was put out, as the department were on their way back to the station, they saw a controlled burn start to get out of hand. “I had a little fire extinguisher but it stopped spraying, and we started using a rake trying to put it out, and water bottles,” Dwayne Allen says. Allen was hired to burn excess rubbish behind a home, however, out of nowhere, the fire began to spread and ploughed through everything in its path. “There was a mobile home there and we were just burning the trash that was left behind but the grass is so dry it just started spreading,” Allen says. Captain Adam Melson, of the Smith County ESD, told all property owners to take extreme caution with fire, due to the combination of high winds and high humidity.

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Nottingham, UK fire station offers shelter to homeless amid freezing temperatures

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Nottingham, UK fire station offers shelter to homeless amid freezing temperatures A UK fire station has been used to shelter rough sleepers following a spate of sub-zero temperatures sweeping the land. Several people took the decision to stay at Nottingham’s main fire station during a pilot scheme, and stayed for four nights in the week commencing the 15th January. The city council was delighted with the results and hailed it as a success, and also said they will run the scheme every time temperatures drop below freezing. They said that the pledge was in response to the rising levels of homelessness, despite the ‘No Second Night Out’ initiative being brought in to end rough sleeping. Councillor Jane Urquhart said: “We’ve added extra things this year because we know there are increased numbers of rough sleepers, we know more needs to be done.” The council had used anti-begging posters in 2016, however these were banned for ‘reinforcing negative stereotypes’. Since the backlash, they have been replaced with posters that state that no-one in the city needs to sleep rough. “We make offers of accommodation to people but sometimes they refuse that help, as difficult as that is to understand,” Ms Urquhart said. There were no beds provided by the fire department, however the volunteers from the British Red Cross provided sleeping bags, clothes, hot drinks and toiletries. The Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue team said that the scheme didn’t interfere with their operations in any way. Group manager Damien West said: “Our goal is to create safer communities, and sometimes this goes further than things such as fire and road safety.”

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Rosenbauer UK supplies NATO with fire trucks sent to Afghanistan

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Rosenbauer UK supplies NATO with fire trucks sent to Afghanistan Rosenbauer UK has supplied NATO with two fire appliances, which touched down in Afghanistan earlier this month. With a mission to provide effective security and safety across the country, NATO signed the £1.1million contract just over two months ago in November 2017. The two 6×6 Panther fire trucks have now been delivered and were transported to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport by the world’s largest operational cargo jet, Antonov Airlines’ AN-225. The contract was secured by Rosenbauer UK’s managing director, who started his career in the military at the age of 17. He said: “In 2017, many airports across the UK entrusted us to provide Panthers to meet their demanding requirements, but it’s fantastic to have delivered these state-of-the-art appliances to NATO. “Supplying this military alliance with the best airport trucks available on the market is a particular source of fulfilment for me. I served in the Royal Engineers for just over seven years, so it’s personally a really proud moment to provide NATO with what is the best product in our line up — the Rosenbauer Panther — which will serve its time watching over Kabul’s airport.” The £550,000 6×6 Panthers are the most innovative airport fire trucks available in the industry. The 39 tonne trucks are capable of hitting 80kph within 29 seconds — a speed unheard of with similar sized machines. They are each able to carry 11,000 litres of water and can deliver 9,000 litres of water and or foam per minute. The Panthers were purchased to replace existing units, and all firefighting equipment in the appliances have been developed, manufactured, and optimally integrated into the vehicle body by Rosenbauer UK. This deal was just one of eleven agreements secured in the airport industry for Rosenbauer UK in 2017, giving the organisation a 100% contract win rate in this sector. This has helped to propel the firm’s order book for 2018, which shows a 120% increase in turnover compared with the previous 12 months, up to £20 million.

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Fire department HQ in Labuan, Malaysia set to be ready for use in April 2018

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Fire department HQ in Labuan, Malaysia set to be ready for use in April 2018 The Labuan Fire and Rescue Department headquarters at the Rancha-Rancha Industrial Zone, which cost RM27-million (£4.9m, $6.86m) is now scheduled to be ready and operational in April 2018, according to director Zainal Madasin. Speaking of the new facility, which is spread over a 14ha site, Madisin said that it would have state-of-the-art headquarters, which would be equipped with a host of advanced safety equipment, all under one roof. “This will allow our department to respond more efficiently when a major disaster or large-scale emergency hits especially within the high-risk Rancha-Rancha industrial zone,” Madisin said after the monthly assembly. Madisin also said that the construction of the new headquarters took close to three years to complete, and was approved under 11th Malaysia Plan. Looking ahead to the future, and Madisin said that the department was also looking at additional assets and manpower – in particular, volunteer firefighters. He also added that the headquarters would be equipped with an emergency operations room, which can cater to the fast-growing oil and gas industry within the industrial zone.

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Fire in Hirwaun, Wales forces 10 homes to be evacuated, with a man in critical condition

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Fire in Hirwaun, Wales forces 10 homes to be evacuated, with a man in critical condition 10 properties had to be evacuated and a man is left in critical condition in hospital after a fire broke out in Hirwaun, Wales. The fire broke out at 03:00 on the 23rd January at Gamlyn Terrace in Hirwaun, and initially started on the first floor of a house, before eventually spreading to the roof and subsequently, four neighbouring properties. The man in critical condition – who is in his 50s – had CPR performed on him by firefighters, and while his condition is still critical, it is also stable at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. Staff and volunteers were sent by the British Red Cross to look after those affected by the fire. The majority of evacuees had gone to stay with friends who lived nearby, however five were looked after from a fire support vehicle.

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Doctor in India arrested for setting a staggering 25 cars on fire

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Doctor in India arrested for setting a staggering 25 cars on fire In the southern Indian state of Karnataka, a doctor has been arrested for supposedly setting fire to 25 cars over a period of a few days. CCTV footage of Dr Ameet Gaikwad has been seized by police, which shows the doctor wearing a helmet and entering several buildings. Police told the BBC that they are currently unsure as to whether it’s a case of mental illness, or just a kind of fetish of some description. 13 of the cars belonged to other doctors, though none of them had any apparent connection to Dr Gaikwad. The doctors in question even worked in a completely different district to Dr Gaikwad, who himself is an assistant professor of pathology, the police stated, while the police also revealed that there were no reports of any rivalry or tensions between the two divisions. “Professionally, he has been described as a good teacher,” an officer said, speaking to BBC Hindi. “Everybody in the office where he worked are shocked.” On the 17th of January, the 37-year-old doctor was caught by a security guard, and after his arrest, police stated that the doctor had supposedly burned 10 cars already on that same day. In addition, they said that they suspected that Dr Gaikwad had set fire to another 15 cars in separate incidents across two districts in the state, with police believing that these incidents took place on both the 14th and 15th of January. According to the police, Dr Gaikwad would start the fires by using a piece of camphor, which he would then set alight near the air vents of the vehicle. This in turn would allow the fire to travel through the internal wires of the car, eventually reaching the engine, and causing considerable damage in the process.  

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Latest addition to MSA’s G1 SCBA family introduced to the world

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Latest addition to MSA’s G1 SCBA family introduced to the world MSA has introduced the latest addition to their G1 Family – the G1 Industrial SCBA. Based on the G1 SCBA that revolutionised the fire service market, the industrial version incorporates design features such as a lightweight facepiece with a wide field of view, easily removable soft goods, and multiple harness configurations – all to improve the safety, ease of maintenance and comfort that workers need. Particular features include; G1 Facepiece Wide field of view for increased visibility Cross-contamination feature prevents exhaled air from entering mask mounted regulator Open-port design provides low breathing resistance, on or off air G1 Carrier and Harness Assembly Removable softgoods for easy cleaning and maintenance Nanosphere coated shoulder straps improve resistance to water and chemical exposure Shoulder pad placement reduces twisting, improving comfort and ease of donning For further information visit www.MSAsafety.com

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