Shannon Pieper, FireRescue Magazine's Page

Today (Friday, Sept. 4) marks the 5th anniversary of the sudden death of Chief Jim Page.

Since joining FireRescue magazine, one of my biggest regrets is that I never met Jim, our founder and the vision behind FireRescue and JEMS. Many of my colleagues worked with him for years. The inspirati… Continue

On Saturday I spent a few hours at the Fire Expo here in San Diego. Organized by the Burn Institute each year, the Expo combines firefighting demonstrations with safety messages to educate kids about fire safety and raise money for the Burn Institute’s programs that benefit children with burn injuries.… Continue

Although the media hype has died down, “swine flu” remains a reality that all first responders must be ready to confront. The World Health Organization just raised H1N1 to a Stage-6 pandemic, reflecting the spread of the disease if not the intensity; many experts predict a second wave that could be significantly more intense than the first. Europe has confirmed its first death, and closer to home, 36 students and their seven chaperones from a San Diego-area high school remain quarantined in Chin… Continue

In a previous post, I noted that IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger hinted at increased funding to come for the fire service.

Unfortunately, last week the administration actually proposed reducing the AFG program by 70 percent. Although this was "offset" by significant increases in the SAFER grant, it was hardly sounded like the increase in funding Schaitberger promised--overall, as… Continue

You might not like it, but fire service responsibility for hazmat is here to stay. And as more firefighters become certified to NFPA 472 Operations as a minimum training competency level for hazmat incidents, there’s growing need to have chemical and hazmat personal protective clothing (PPC) that allows firefighters to actually move and work with less restriction.

Conventional chemical PPC are often heavy and cumbersome, “moonsuits” that, while designed for maximum protection of the user, impos… Continue