Haagen has been selected as the fire training design expert for Melbourne’s Metropolitan Fire Brigade (Australia) new state-of-the-art training centre - SEE VIDEO

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) released an updated report on the Total Cost of Fire in the United States. It can be seen from the report that the total cost of fire in 2010, adjusted for inflation, is 38% higher than in 1980, while its proportion of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) has declined by roughly one-third.

A large investigation team from the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of a massive fire and explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant located in West, Texas, north of Waco.

With its new Twister-cross, Rosenbauer has launched a short boot with a Class C shaft. The boot is suitable for all firefighting and rescue operations and has EN 15090:2012 F2A HI3 CI AN SRA certification instead of the 280mm shaft length stipulated in Austria by ÖBFV-RL KS – 06. The new boot meets the requirements of both countries’ fire and rescue services. In fact, it differs from all other fire service boots because it is shorter than conventional boots.

The Metropolitan “Metro” Fire Chiefs Association, a section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) held its 2013 annual conference in Phoenix, Arizona, April 5-11. Approximately 110 Metro chiefs from Canada, China, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States attended the conference and elected the section’s 2013-2014 officers and board members. Chief Bob Khan and the Phoenix Fire Department staff hosted the conference.

Ryan Pennington of ViewsFromTheJumpseat.com, and Kerry Falzone of Plymovent Corporation have joined forces to create a campaign focused on the importance of hooking up an exhaust extraction hose in emergency service stations. ‘Every minute firefighter's and EMS are risking their lives to save ours, we need to stress the importance of protecting them in their stations,’ commented Pennington.

Draeger Safety UK will supply breathing apparatus (BA) and associated equipment to both Northamptonshire (NFRS) and Buckinghamshire (BFRS) Fire and Rescue Services.

QlikTech a leader in business discovery – user-driven business intelligence (BI) has announced that the fire brigade Amsterdam-Amstelland has deployed QlikView to map the risks in the region and proactively respond to those risks. QlikView serves as the basis for a risk profile, that combines 600,000 objects in Amsterdam (buildings, rails, roads) and possible incident types (house fires, traffic accidents, carbon monoxide poisoning). 

Fire and Rescue Q1 2013 has been published. Click here or on the cover to read it.

A new range of mid-sized crash tenders is hitting the runways. Ann-Marie Knegt went to see the new face of aviation safety.

Iran seeks help to recover the platform’s metal support jacket.

This year's Reebok Firefighting Foam Seminar will again be held at the Reebok Stadium Conference Centre, 18-19 March 2013, Bolton, Greater Manchester (UK).

Mott MacDonald has been named building services design engineer by China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Ltd¹ for the development of a new HK$2.88 billion Fire Services Training School (FSTS) in Tseung Kwan O,Hong Kong. The new school will replace existing facilities in the Pat Heung area of Hong Kong.

‘Disaster Hero’ is introduced by The American College of Emergency Physicians.

Iveco Magirus Brandschutztechnik, a manufacturer firefighting vehicles has been awarded a contract to supply Brazil’s airports with 80 ARFF trucks from the new Dragon 2 TEP (Twin Engine Powerpack) range worth a total of 141 million Brazilian Reais (app. 53 million Euro). The vehicles will be used in 27 airports of Brazil to meet the requirements that will mainly emerge from the increased passenger numbers and air traffic that is expected during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. This order represents the biggest contract for ARFF Vehicles in Iveco Magirus’ history.

Goliath Footwear has been awarded a framework contract by Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service on behalf of North West Fire & Rescue Services to supply YDS Crosstech fire boots.  YDS is Europe’s largest manufacturer of police and military footwear and owns Goliath Footwear in the UK.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS), one of the country’s largest fire services, is adopting Bristol as its new partner for the supply of its next generation structural fire kit. The new kit for West Yorkshire’s 1300 firefighters is being rolled out during January.

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board will hold a public meeting on January 17  to present the findings from its investigation into the April 8, 2011, explosion and fire that killed five workers at a storage facility used by Donaldson Enterprises (DEI) near Honolulu.

The Fifth International Firefighting Foam Conference (March 18-19, 2013) held at the Reebok Stadium, in Bolton, Greater Manchester, is promising to surpass former versions of the event with an exiting and high-profile range of speakers, who will be presenting on a range of topics that will greatly enhance the knowledge of every firefighting professional.

November 12th 2012 saw Switzerland’s largest emergency call centre enter operation at Zurich Protection and Rescue (SRZ). A new control centre network now serves a large part of the north of Switzerland and is one of the most technically advanced in the world. Frequentis systems are in use at the new SRZ facilities.

Just under one year after filing for insolvency, the fire engine producer Ziegler is now reporting full order books again. As communicated by insolvency administrator Bruno M. Kübler, senior partner and name patron of the insolvency firm KÜBLER with nationwide operations, the Ziegler Group also managed to overcome the damage to its reputation caused by the anti-trust proceedings. As one of the former German market leaders, Ziegler has now regained almost all market shares that had previously been lost.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service is adopting a green fleet in order to become more environmentally friendly. Two electric cars are the latest tools being used by Avon Fire & Rescue Service (AF&RS) in a bid to become greener and cleaner.

SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden and the Norwegian Research Institute SINTEF have signed an agreement to establish close collaboration between SP Fire Technology and SINTEF NBL AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of SINTEF.

Capita plc announces that it has been recommended by the UK's Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) as preferred bidder for the acquisition of the Fire Service College. 

Scott Safety, a manufacturer of respiratory and other PPE equipment, has announced the launch of the Sigma 2 Type 2, a low-cost SCBA solution that provides high levels of respiratory protection in a simple and cost effective package to meet the new standards required by the latest amendment of the Marine Equipment Directive.

Congested roads and railways render underground transport systems more popular. But more tunnels lead to greater risks of serious accidents where it can be difficult to evacuate travellers in a short time. Now the results of the three-year research project METRO are to be presented.

Babcock International Group has been awarded a critical contract with London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) to manage and maintain their fleet of vehicles and equipment over an 18-month interim period during which LFEPA will be running a full competition for the services. The contract has been entered into following the recent deterioration of LFEPA’s arrangements with its existing supplier.

In Chengdu, police officials recently seized almost 10,000 fake fire extinguishers, according to Weird Asia News.

Passengers can rest assured that were there to be an accident at Luxembourg Findel airport; they would be in safe hands, if a recent exercise is anything to go by, writes Lyndon Dennis, RFF Shift Controller at Airports Company South Africa.

Environmental Tectonics Corporation's (ETC) Simulation Division, based in Orlando, FL, has been awarded a contracted by Adayana Government Group for the US DoD Fire Academy, based at Goodfellow Air Force Base, to expand their Advanced Disaster Management Simulator (ADMS).

US Coast Guard approves plan to secure containment dome following sheen reports in September.

The Fire Brigades Union has expressed grave concerns over proposals by the London Fire Brigade to close 17 fire stations and slash around 600 jobs.

Tyco Fire Protection Products, a business unit within Tyco, will be building a new operational facility in Port Arthur, Texas, USA. The new 70,000 square feet facility will be dedicated to supporting the Williams Fire & Hazard Control. The new site will house offices for administrative, engineering, and manufacturing functions supporting their portable and systems-based fire protection equipment and Williams' firefighting response team and training program.

SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden has developed a new standard for fire suppression systems in engine compartments of buses and coaches. This work has been carried out in part on behalf of the National Road Authority in Sweden. The objective has been to construct a model of an engine compartment where stakeholders can evaluate the firefighting performance of different suppression systems in a well-defined and objective way. The new standard SP method 4912, edition 3 has just been published. 

Award presented during the 7th Computable Awards Show for the RescueSim Virtual Airport Incident Management simulator.

 Warwickshire Fire and Rescue service has taken delivery of two new Canguro SceneStar LED Lighting units from Vimpex Limited.

Tiburon, a provider of integrated public safety solutions, has launched a new mobility solution that delivers real-time dispatch and CJIS data to low-cost iPad devices. For the first time the power of situational awareness and total mobility is available to all public safety professionals in the field.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is seeking comments on its proposal to establish a Qualified Product List (QPL) for aviation fire fighting foam.

Rosenbauer has supplied the Australian minerals group Caltex with a special foam pumper equipped with new extinguishing technology. The giant vehicle has been deployed to protect a petrochemical complex consisting of a refinery and a large tank farm near Sydney. Moreover, due to the fire loads and differing fire risks on site, first and foremost the vehicle has to be capable of emitting the largest possible volume of extinguishing agents in the shortest possible time.

Primetech has been appointed supplier and installer of the coldcut COBRA Cutting Extinguisher system that is revolutionising the way that fires are tackled in over than 30 countries.

Fire detection manufacturer Hochiki Corporation Japan will acquire the entire stock of Kentec Electronics Ltd.

A seven-member investigative team from the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an explosion and fire that occurred Monday at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, CA.

Super Vac from Fort Collins, CO was showcasing the SVC3 Power Pro Cutoff Saw at FRI International in Denver ( 3-4 August 2012). 

The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s proposal for CAFS on airport fire vehicles has been given the green light by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Expert panel announced for the two-day hearing on safety performance indicators.

Scottish regional airport operator HIAL pioneers a new way of training airport firefighters.

The US-based Coalition for Responsible Fire Protection continues to make inroads since its inception around a year ago: a European chapter is planned and some tangible projects promise to define what being ‘green’ will mean in practice for the fire industry, writes Jose Sanchez de Muniain.

Industrial Fire Journal has just been published – read it online here.

SCBA facepiece lenses may undergo thermal degradation when exposed to intense heat.

The UK-based Fire Industry Association’s new website is dedicated to reducing false alarms.

Vehicles equipped with the eCall system to automatically contact the emergency services in the event of a crash.

Caylym Technologies International has announced the scheduled demonstration of new Guardian System, introducing a new capability for fighting wild fires from the air, and particularly at night.

Transport for London (TfL) has commissioned SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden (SP) to study the effectiveness of bus fire suppression systems. There is currently a lack of information concerning the performance of bus fire suppression systems in real bus fires that have occurred in the TfL fleet. The proposed study will review all recent fire incidents in TfL buses with installed suppression systems.  The results of this review will be reported back to TfL  to help  provide  recommendations concerning updated system specification.  

July 1st 2012 sees the introduction of new procedural guidelines for approval and certification by Germany's independent fire testing laboratory.

Beginning in the early hours of the 20th May, Emilia Romagna, one of Italy's most agriculturally productive areas was devastated by a series of earthquakes.  Reaching up to 6.0 in magnitude, the quakes have caused significant damage to the region's cultural and residential areas, destroying churches, historic buildings and a large number of houses leaving a reported 14,000 people without homes.

A portable rescue stretcher to allow firefighters to more easily haul unconscious or injured people out of danger has been designed by a former Shropshire student from Newport – with input from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Streamlight, a provider of high-performance flashlights, introduced a new version of its innovative Knucklehead work light, the Knucklehead Spot. The new light, featuring C4 LED technology, penetrates dense smoke, fog and mist with up to 11,000 candela to give first responders a superior level of visibility at a fire or accident scene.   
 

CINTEC America, manufacturer of structural masonry retrofit strengthening, repair, and preservation, as well as Blast Mitigation has launched the Hexagon Water Dam, a waterwall water storage unit developed to meet the needs of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (UK) to fight remote fires. The inflatable waterwall dam is designed to provide additional rapid water storage for firefighting appliances where main water supply is unavailable.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority, along with specialist safety experts and a number of airport operators have taken part in tests to determine the effectiveness of Compressed Air Foam Systems (CAFS) on aviation fires. The trials, carried out at the test facility of the risk-control company, CNPP, in Vernon, France in May 2012, will feed into the current ICAO and EASA work on CAFS.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Union’s centrepiece organisation for the promotion and delivery of aviation safety recently visited the International Fire Training Centre (IFTC) at its Teesside operation.

The move to the new offices enables Cosalt to consolidate its business departments and to build on recent successes such as the contract to supply a fully managed service to North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service. The new premises are located in Stockport in Cheshire.

DNV has signed an MOU with Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), South Korea’s state-run gas corporation, to cooperate on research and development in the LNG sector. While this is DNV’s second MOU with KOGAS, following the first in 2010 to cooperate on EHSQ issues, DNV is the first international risk management organisation in Korea to cooperate with KOGAS on research and development projects in the LNG sector.

This week, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service in the UK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bay Search and Rescue which specialises in providing 24/7 emergency response to incidents in involving quicksand and mud flats.

Changi Airport Group (CAG) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) have announced the formalisation of a partnership that will foster closer collaboration between both organisations in the areas of emergency preparedness.

Fire safety testing company Exova Warringtonfire brings Mississauga laboratory (near Toronto) into its global network.

The Business Sprinkler Alliance (“BSA”) is calling on UK businesses to install automatic fire sprinklers as an active measure to save billions of litres of water every year, in advance of the water crisis talks being held by environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, on Monday, 20th February with utility companies, environmental NGOs and farming groups to discuss how to mitigate the impact of persistent dry conditions.

620 Actros chassis ordered by Rosenbauer are destined for Saudi Arabia.

NFPA will be the official sponsor of "The Big Test", an acrobatic, comedy show in which a cast of real characters goes through a series of hysterical antics as they try to become volunteer firefighters.

Funding opportunities released for PhD studies – topics include modelling of the Buncefield explosion.

Dave Fanning created Phil the Fire Engine in a bid to help educate young children about the dangers of fires and how they start.

As an international manufacturer of protective equipment for first responders, Lion has announced that Haagen Fire Training Products and BullEx Digital Safety, manufacturers of fire and safety training systems and centres, are joining the organisation.

Because safety and comfort are a must for ski instructors, ski-lift workers, rescue and safety crews working in ski resorts, Garmont has partnered with Vibram to introduce a protective and high-performance ski boot for professional resort workers, called the Garmont Delirium FR 130+  which features a Vibram X-POWDER sole.

Scientists at the University of Greenwich have released the next generation of their evacuation and crowd simulation software, buildingEXODUS.

Industrial Fire Journal reports on the 1st National Foam Forum and Workshop on Fire Fighting Foam that was held as part of the Contaminated Site Remediation Conference ‘CleanUp 2011’ in Adelaide, 11th September 2011.