FireFighterNation

The thermal protective performance (TPP) test revolutionized how we measure the protection PPE provides. But there’s more to the story. Robert Tutterow weighs in on what you need to know about the TPP rating of your gear.

Preplanning your response area is always ideal, but when that can’t or doesn’t happen, firefighters in the WUI must understand how to determine which homes can be saved and which can’t. Rich Cowger discusses some key aspects of preplanning, as well as how to categorize structures during a WUI incident to determine their survivability and the degree of involvement required by firefighters for each.

Apparatus safety is a major issue in the fire service, but one that has been given much more attention in recent years. Many improvements in apparatus safety have been made, but as Danny Kistner points out, the key to ensuring apparatus safety is to allow the safety officer to participate in the apparatus speccing and purchasing processes.

Even the simplest of apparatus innovations help save firefighter lives. Here, Deputy Chief John Tippett reviews Near-Miss Report #07-1113, which shows how seatbelts prevented tragedy, and then explains the importance of keeping your apparatus well maintained.

The West Metro Fire-Rescue District in New Hope, Minn., started planning three years ago for a large apparatus purchase that constituted nearly half its fleet.

The National Fire Fighter Near-Miss Reporting System was modeled off the Aviation Safety Reporting System; both systems encourage non-punitive, anonymous reporting of non-fatal incidents. Yet the fire service must do more to embrace near-miss reporting and grow our collective body of knowledge.

The public’s perception of the fire service is crucial to the fire service’s survival. But many people aren’t aware of just how much firefighters do in a day and/or as part of their job. Stephen Marsar explains how to overcome negative public perception, and how to get out into the community to educate the public about the many responsibilities of their local fire department.

Ratchet straps are commonly used for very specific functions on the extrication scene; however, there are other tactics that can be completed with a high-quality ratchet strap, namely displacing pedals and seatbacks, and extending doors.

Jane Jerrard interviews Paul Rut, an FDNY firefighter/firehouse chef who won a $10K prize on the Food Networks’ Chopped reality show, and then donated it to the Jack Fanning Memorial Foundation “Angels for Autism,” created in memory of FDNY Battalion Chief Fanning who was killed on 9/11.

The issue of fire department staffing has been under scrutiny ever since the economy took a turn for the worse. But as Mike Kirby and Tom Lakamp point out, decreasing staffing only increases the amount of time it takes to successfully respond to and mitigate fires. Additionally, they examine NFPA 1710 and recent NIST research to support their argument for proper engine company staffing levels, as well as the need for decreased response times.