Inaugural Pumper 2009

Inaugural Pumper 2009
Originally uploaded by LouAngeli2008

This pumper from Elsmere, Delaware was one of three fire engines featured in January 20's Inaugural Parade's Line-of-March in Washington, DC. With 300 television million viewers, that's a lot of name recognition. Congratulations to the Delaware Volunteer Firemen's Association and Pierce Manufacturing for being chosen to represent the nation's firefighters. (photo by Lou Angeli)

Arsonists Busy In Delaware

Wilmington, DE (June 4, 2008) -- First State firefighters have been extremely busy for the past 18 months. In fact, Delaware departments have been called out to more arson fires than ever, nearly twice the national average according to the FBI.

The more serious arson jobs end up as “working fires,” complete with heavy black smoke, red hot flames and fire police closing down highways. It’s the type of response that requires more personnel and more equipment, making the fireground a very busy place. Word on the web is that there’s plenty of action in tiny Delaware, so much so that fire buffs from as far away as New England have been setting up weekend photo junkets to the First State.

In a recent News-Journal article, reporter Terri Sanginiti writes, "In Delaware, an arson is committed just about every day, statistics show. The state has averaged 364 arson investigations in each of the past five years, including 328 in 2007." Kudos to the state's fire investigators who have one of the nation's highest conviction rates on a a crime that is the most difficult to prove.

A Serious Danger to Firefighters

More serious arson blazes aren’t your run of the mill room and contents job. Fire-setters use flammable liquids and tri-nasty chemicals to create a blaze so intense, that it destroys as much property as possible, while at the same time wiping away any evidence of foul play. Inside the structure the fire cooks until it reveals itself to the outside world.

By the time someone spots the flames and dials 9-1-1, the arson fire has had a head start and may have reached the fully developed stage. The room of origin heats quickly as fingers of flame roll across the ceiling, reach out into adjoining rooms and upward into the attic. As companies begin to arrive and go to work, frontline crews face a firefighter’s greatest fear – Flashover.

That’s what happened yesterday (06/03/08) to firefighters responding to a house fire in Hamilton Park, an area which borders Wilmington’s Southbridge section and is protected by Holloway Terrace Fire Company. A county police officer on routine patrol reported a house fire with “smoke conditions,” and dispatchers relayed her conservative size-up to first responding Engine 205.

As the operator brought the E-One to a stop at New Castle Avenue to take a wrap around the hydrant, dark, billowing smoke was venting through every crack and crevice in the 70 year old balloon construction home some 100 yards down the street. The first-in officer radioed heavy smoke and fire, a report that prompted other responding apparatus operators to forget about $5 per gallon diesel prices, push the pedal to the floor and lay on the air horn at intersections.

With the fire now venting through the roof, two hoseteams made entry. But the incredible build up of BTU’s ignored their 175 gallon per minute streams and spit the flames back into their faces. Rather than risk his crews on a vacant home, the Incident Commander issued the order to evacuate the structure, and the operation smoothly transitioned to an exterior attack.

And that’s the problem with arson fires. When companies arrive, there’s no way to distinguish between a torch job and a “legitimate” house fire, the kind with trapped occupants. Regardless of how the fire initiated, during those first minutes firefighters must risk their lives to conduct a thorough search. The burning building is cleared only when the incident commander is convinced that there is no life safety issue.

Some experts suggest that the number of arson fires will increase in coming years because of the current economic situation and pending recession. As homeowners face foreclosures and SUV owners are stuck with the $600 per month payments on their monster H2 Hummers, a crazy few will attempt to collect on insurance policies by taking match to their property.

Freakin’ arsonists – why can’t they be more considerate and go that extra step? Hang a sign on the mailbox which says, “Arson Fire – No Need To Search.” In my mind, because of the danger to firefighting crews, every arson charge should come with a bonus "attempted murder" indictment.


And for the fire buffs who’ve been making the rounds, Delaware’s volunteer firefighters are some of the best trained in the country, so photograph their good side.
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Will Volunteer Department Pack Up and Leave Town?

Ocean City (MD) Volunteers Vote To Secede From Fire Department

OCEAN CITY, MD (February 28, 2008) – In a move that will likely jeopardize the safety of citizens in one of the East Coast’s largest beach communities, the Ocean City (MD) Vounteer Fire Company is packing up its apparatus, equipment and membership and moving out of town. That leaves Fire, Rescue and EMS protection in the hands of the few career personnel that currently operate in the city.

What prompted the OCMD vollies to bolt? Well, in short, the paid firefighters and the volunteer president wanted to combine command of the volunteer and career ranks under a single fire chief, much like it is done in other combination fire departments nationwide.

In a report published in the Salisbury Times, during a Feb.12 Ocean City Town Council meeting with OCVFD leadership, volunteer Chief Christopher Larmore expressed a desire to be named head of both the paid and volunteer firefighters, with the goal of unifying fire service under a single operational and administrative leader.

The first vote was a bust with council offering a split decision. Volunteers were enraged. Within hours of the council meeting, the OC volunteers hastily assembled their own quorum. By 7pm that evening, OC’s Bravest voted to secede from the Ocean City Fire Department and move their resources 4 miles inland to West Ocean City.

Then on February 19th, Larmore’s appointment was considered again and council gave him complete authority and responsibility for all fire and emergency medical services for the Town of Ocean City.

But OCVFD’s decision to secede is still on the books, and the community assumes that someday soon, the volunteers will be gone.

With the possibility of OC vollies abandoning the fort, the city will need to replace 60 fire officers, 124 firefighters, 88 drivers, 2 administrative employees, with paid personnel. A quick trip to the National Volunteer Fire Council’s website and its “vollie-saver” calculator shows that Ocean City would need to come up with $7 - $10 million to replace the volunteer members.

In a report published on the DelmarvaNow.com website, city fathers would also need to allocate an additional $6 million to replace the apparatus owned by the volunteers, which would be removed from the city. New purchases would include eight engines, three aerial trucks, and six utility vehicles. The volunteers also own the town’s 5 firehouses, so the city’s firefighters would likely operate from parking lots and mobile homes – much like they did in New Orleans after Katrina.

In total OC administrators would need to quickly come up with a whopping $13 million to convert the town’s fire-rescue and EMS to a paid department, just months before the 2008 season begins.

Volunteer president James Jester claims that his volunteers will remain on standby in Ocean City until the town can provide its own group of first responders.

Jester told DelmarvaNow.com, “No way, no how are we going to close buildings and pull apparatus until the city has what they need."

But some are concerned that volunteers -- who respond from their homes when the alarm is sounded -- offer no guarantee that they’ll respond at all. The town insists that the existing force of 75 career firefighters is fully capable of protecting the massive beach community.

Fulltime residents of Ocean City are concerned. They say that the most severe fires take place now, during the Winter months, when most seasonal structures and stack shacks are buttoned up tight.

“I can’t understand it,” says John Milton, ‘a retired DC firefighter who now calls OC home. “We all take an oath the first day we walk into the firehouse – volunteers included – and that is to protect property and save lives.”

The pressure tactic which is being used in Ocean City by its volunteers has been attempted before – and it has always failed. The most noteworthy occurred 10 years ago, when the Wayne Township Fire Department in Indianapolis, threatened to pull it volunteer staff and apparatus from stations if Township fathers backed a plan to convert to a combination department under the command of one of the most respected fire chiefs in Indiana.

Township residents didn’t take the threat lightly. When it came time for the citizen public to choose between its volunteers or a newly-formed combo department, the greater percentage voted for the guarantee of 24x7 service provided by the new agency.

In what many consider to be a power play gone awry, the OCVFD has opened itself to public criticism and peer debate. But more importantly, if some Ocean City resident loses their life, home or business in coming weeks because of lack of volunteer response, the volunteer agency will quickly become the target of dozens of attorneys, who will initiate civil action against the department, its officers and members.

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It's Chapter 11 for American LaFrance

ALF Owners Call For A Time-Out

by: Lou Angeli

Wilmington, DE (January 30, 2008) -- Here in Wilmington, DE it’s the biggest news regarding fire apparatus since Chief Jim Wilmore ran out of working engines. What’s the big news bulletin? On Monday of this week, the venerable American LaFrance Corporation filed for bankruptcy in US District Court in Wilmington.

American LaFrance filed here under "Chapter 11" of the bankruptcy code, which typically is used by businesses that need to buy time to reorganize their finances and secure new capital. In many cases, Chapter 11 filers continue to operate. According to Bloomberg Financial some of the largest creditors listed in the filing include American LaFrance's owner, New York-based investment firm Patriarch Partners, and trucking giant Freightliner, which sold the business to Patriarch about two years ago. Various employees are owed $1.4 million for accrued vacation. It’s not clear but some say that ALF could be as much as $250 million in the hole.

This is a HUGE story for the fire service nationwide, because now 2 of the Big-3 fire apparatus manufacturers are in trouble. Ocala (FL) based E-One showed a substantial drop in earnings last quarter and some say that sale of the firm is inevitable. The remaining large capacity apparatus builder, Pierce Manufacturing, seems to be doing well, albeit the firm’s profit margin remains mighty slim.

“American LaFrance (ALF) has claimed that a bungled implementation of IBM software contributed to the demise of its business,” says IT reporter Kelly Fiveash in The Register. ALF said that when it switched to its new ERP software last June, "serious deficiencies" threw its operations into chaos.

"These problems have resulted in slowed production, a large unfulfilled backlog, and a lack of sufficient funds to continue operating." as reported by ALF to The Register.

With ALF under Chapter 11 protection, and unable to make good on current deliveries, it is unlikely that fire department administrators will consider the firm during the bidding process. With that in mind, ALF's frontline sales team, the independent distributors, are moving quickly to represent other firms. In a few days time, German-owned Rosenbauer has already signed many of ALF's key distributors, including Delaware-based DPC Emergency Equipment.

View photos of American LaFrance Fire Apparatus

My bet is that Italian-based Iveco-Magirus will make a run for American LaFrance. They already own much of the international market and, like Rosenbauer and other European manufacturers, Magirus and its partners are eager to expand into the states.

By the way, the fire apparatus situation here in Wilmington has been resolved in big fashion. The WFD, under the command of former Chief Jim Ford -- and the current boss Chief Willie Patrick -- boasts the second-fastest response time in the country (according to a Boston Globe study) And the department recently took delivery of eight new frontline Pierce machines.

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featured photo: An American LaFrance Rescue-Pumper operated by the Belvedere (DE) Fire Company. (photo by Lou Angeli)

resources:
(1) Bloomberg.com
(2) The Register
(3) TruckingInfo.com