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Fire Tech Makes a Tough Job Safer
Evansville Courier & Press
May 09, 2008
EVANSVILLE, IN – Throughout the 120-year history of the Evansville Fire Department, the basics of firefighting have remained the same. “You still put water on a fire,” said Charlie Mangold, the department’s assistant fire chief. “You still use pumps to bring up the pressure.” While those principles remain unchanged, technological advances have improved the way firefighters communicate and protect themselves, as well as the way they are trained. Technology also aids firefighters in performing other duties, such as responding to natural disasters and dealing with accidents and spills where hazardous materials are involved. However, the technology revolution has been more of an evolution for the Evansville Fire Department. “In the fire service, we gauge technology advances from what we had 50 to 10 years ago,” said Dan Grimm, chief administrative and public information officer for the department.
One of the most important advances in the last 20 years has been the thermal-imaging camera, said Grimm. “The camera can detect images through smoke,” he explained. “It shows heat signatures, so a firefighter can ‘see’ a person or an animal inside a building. It can also look at a wall and show where the heat is located.” More sophisticated gas detectors are another weapon in the firefighter’s arsenal. The local department has two types. The first can detect oxygen, carbon monoxide and LELs (lower explosive limit combustibles), such as propane. The second type also detects hydrogen sulfide, and is used primarily by the hazmat unit. Technology also has improved the firefighter’s most basic piece of equipment: the fire hose. In the past, hoses had to be dried completely before they could be used again. The development of mildew-proof linings allows hoses to be reused when wet.
A firefighter’s personal protective gear is his first line of defense in a fire or natural disaster. “There have been two schools of ideas on personal equipment,” said Cliff Weaver, Evansville Fire Department chief of operations. “The old school idea is that if you can feel heat on your ears, you know you’re getting too close to the fire. The new school says that the firefighter should be fully encapsulated in protective equipment.” The EVANSVILLE, IN – Evansville Fire Department subscribes to the new school. Firefighters’ suits are made of lighter materials in multiple layers that have better fire-resistant properties than older suits. The equipment includes a monitor on the air pack that measures air levels and motion detectors that emit a signal if a firefighter doesn’t move for a specified time. Grimm said there is sometimes a downside to new, more technologically advanced equipment.
“Those suits that are designed to keep the heat out also keep heat in, which means a firefighter can become dehydrated and fatigued more easily. That means we have to rotate people more often during a fire.” The way firefighters are trained has changed over the years. “Every firefighter has to pass an annual physical fitness test,” said Mangold. “And all new recruits are required to pass a fitness test.” The Evansville Fire Department uses the Combined Physical Ability Test, or CPAT, to measure fitness. CPAT consists of eight activities that must be successfully completed within a time limit. The activities include stair climbing, raising and extending a ladder, dragging a hose through a maze, executing a forcible entry, performing a search and rescue using a 165-pound mannequin and breaching a ceiling. Firefighters perform these activities while wearing a weight vest to simulate the weight of a firefighter’s personal protective equipment.
“It’s a very realistic test and a real-life representation of what a firefighter does,” said Grimm. He added that while nationally about one-third of candidates fail the CPAT test, 75 percent of Evansville Fire Department candidates pass it. Technology has also enhanced and improved communications in the department. For example, digital radios allow communication with departments throughout the state in dealing with a disaster. “The next leap will be GPS tracking using laptops with wireless connections in department vehicles,” said Weaver. “This will allow drivers and captains on trucks to see where an emergency is located. And dispatch will be able to see which truck is the closest to where it’s needed.” New technology has also enhanced the department’s ability to conduct investigations. Weaver said investigations are much more complex and move at a much slower pace than is shown on popular television programs such as “CSI.”
“We have equipment that allows us to look at very minute pieces of evidence,” he said. “We are also very aware of chain of custody issues.” Some department members recently attended a class on collecting DNA samples, he said. The local fire department’s use of technology has expanded to its vehicle fleet. The department now uses hybrid vehicles. “Mayor Weinzapfel has been encouraging city departments to go to ‘green’ fleets whenever possible,” said Mangold. “After doing some research, we purchased Toyota Priuses for our inspectors to drive. Those cars average 40 miles per gallon, which is a 75 percent savings in gas costs over the vehicles they had been driving.” Much of the department’s new technology, including the new air packs and digital radios, has been purchased with funds from Department of Homeland Security and other grants. “I can’t overemphasize the importance of grants to the department,” said Mangold. “Most of our budget goes to salaries and benefits. Without grant funding, we wouldn’t have been able to purchase much of this equipment.”
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