Facilities that offer courses to train firefighters, be it for civilian, military or private company applications, make good targets for environmental campaigners due to the necessary burning of fuel and water use involved in the training process. Jon Severs looks at the environmental impact of fire training.

RescueVac pushes survival rates in trench rescue up by 80 per cent and cuts out digging operations. Ann-Marie Knegt talked to Dave Adler, the man who pioneered this innovation.

When on his home turf in Queens, New York, FDNY firefighter and rescue instructor John Tew often faces trench rescue operations. Pointing out that this type of incident is easily one of the riskier rescue disciplines, he takes us through the correct process on a step-by-step basis.

Recently DSPA.uk invited a number of fire and rescue services to view an innovative firefighting technology that aims to improve the speed of fire knockdown at incidents and buy firefighters time. The demonstrations comprising dry sprinkler aerosols were staged at Chiltern International Fire’s training facility near High Wycombe in the UK.

Serving Officer Gary Fleming looks at the evolution of PPE for female firefighters, and examines some of the challenges still to come.

How useful would it be to know the exact welfare status of firefighters on the fireground, in real time? Or being able to accurately analyse the fitness levels of firefighters quickly and easily in the gym? F&R looks at the latest technology.

San Diego is currently better prepared than ever to face the challenges of the wildland fire season, recently retired Fire Chief Jarman tells Fire & Rescue

Tayside Fire and Rescue Service, based in Scotland, recently reviewed the fuel efficiency of its fleet with help from The Energy Savings Trust, a UK non-profit organisation, which provides a service to private and public organisations on how to reduce carbon offset. Following the review, the brigade implemented initiatives in conjunction with Triscan Systems, a fuel management solutions provider.

Jürgen Boss, Marketing Manager of Supplied Air Respirators, MSA Europe, tackles this thorny issue.

Composite pressure vessels using aluminum liners with glass, Kevlar or carbon reinforcement fibres have been
available for over 30 years. But how aware is the industry of their performance and dramatic weight reduction compared to aluminum or steel? Pierre Tecon from Florida-based Structural Composites Industries (SCI) focusses on  developments in long service life cylinders

Christian Emrich, a German Rescue Engineer and Master student at the Cologne University of applied sciences, has written an operational standard for Rescue Ventilation following a thesis on the subject. He shares his findings with Fire & Rescue magazine.

Ferrara has launched a new fire truck that combinesthe majority of firefighting disciplines in one vehicle.