According to a report from CBC, the Summerside Fire Department (SFD), located on Prince Edward Island, Canada, unveiled its new pumper truck.

The department marked its arrival with a centuries-old tradition North American fire service tradition new to the city: SFD firefighters gathered to push the truck into its new home, a tradition that dates back to the early 1800s, when departments would pull steam engines or the hand pumpers with horses, and the horses were unable to back them into the station.

SFD Ron Enman noted that its been done across North America since that time, and he thought it would be something they’d start doing in Summerside.

The new pumper replaces a 25-year-old apparatus that was near the end of its life span. Enman said the pumper is the same model as the other two pumpers at the station, so current SFD firefighters would not need much training on it.

The new SFD pumper cost $681,000.

The post Summerside (PEI, Canada) Celebrates Latest Apparatus with Old “New” Tradition appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

According to a report from The Gainesville Times, Hall County (GA) Fire Services (HCFS) have replace roughly half of its fleet of trucks with nine new vehicles, while construction and planning for the HCFS’s two new fire stations continues.

The HCFS began training on the new vehicles, which included eight trucks and one ladder truck, on January 26. The department hopes to have the new engines on the road by early February, said HCFS Chief Chris Armstrong.

Hall County spokeswoman Katie Crumley said the aerial truck, worth $1.1 million, was paid for by funds in SPLOST VII, while the engines were purchased with SPLOST VIII funds. Each engine is worth $740,300.

With the HCFS running 19 rigs daily, this move replaces nearly half the department’s fleet. Armstrong said there was not a set timeline for when the remaining fleet would need to be replaced.

Some vehicles in HCFS’s fleet were nearing 15-20 years on the road, which Armstrong said was beyond their normal life cycle. Of these trucks, Armstrong said the department may keep one for the training division; the department also needs a reserve fleet in case they have issues with another engine.

Armstrong also said that the aerial ladder truck is for the upcoming Station No. 17. In the meantime, construction has since begun on Station No. 1, with Armstrong predicting that it will be open and in use in October. The county broke ground for the station on November 17.

The post Hall County (GA) Fire Services Replaces Half its Fleet, Readies New Stations appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

According to a report from Greenville Sun, Tusculum, Tennessee, Mayor Alan Corley informed city’s Board of Mayor & Commissioners that a new Tusculum Volunteer Fire Department (TVFD) station could be built as early as this year.

In addition, commissioners also approved a resolution for Tusculum to apply for a Tennessee Small Cities Community Development Block Grant, which would be spent on purchasing a new ladder/pumper truck for the fire department.

Corley’s decision was based on the town’s local and state sales tax revenues exceeding projections.

Last year, the board approved rezoning a tract of land next to a multipurpose building on Alexander Street as the future site for a TVFD station. The multipurpose building currently houses fire apparatus, Department of Public Works vehicles, and other equipment.

Corley said an all-metal building similar to the Caney Branch (TN) Volunteer Fire Department’s station that was built in 2015 would feature several bays and a small kitchen area. Corley estimated the cost of the station to be between $350,000 and $500,000.

According to TVFD Chief Marty Shelton, the department also seeks to replace a 25-year-old truck that is nearing the end of its service life. The department will begin looking for a used truck in good condition that matches the city’s needs.

The post New Fire Station, Truck Grant for Tusculum (TN) in Early Stages appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

A look at some of the TDA’s in the FDNY

THEMAJESTIRIUM1

Here you will see my “It’s Tiller Time” compilation of FDNY tillers responding on the streets of New York City.

The post FDNY Tiller Time appeared first on Fire Apparatus.

Bill in House would use ambulances if
not needed for humans

Donita Naylor, Providence Journal

(MCT)

PROVIDENCE — A bill in the R.I. House would allow a law enforcement dog injured on duty to be taken by ambulance to a veterinary hospital if the ambulance isn’t needed for a human.

The addition to the Animal Care section of state law was introduced last year by R.I. Rep. David A. Bennett, whose district covers parts of Cranston and Warwick. The bill expired in the COVID-shortened legislative season of 2020, Bennett said, and he reintroduced it on Monday. It was referred to the House Health, Education & Welfare Committee.

The measure defines police dogs as dogs assisting a law-enforcement or military entity with such tasks as search and rescue, detecting accelerants in the aftermath of a fire, finding drugs and sweeping for bombs.

Bennett said the bill does not give pets the right to be taken by ambulance to a veterinarian, even in an emergency.

The bill calls for law enforcement K9s injured on the job to get life-saving emergency medical services while in the ambulance. The EMT may perform mouth-to-snout resuscitation, give the dog oxygen, apply pressure to stop blood loss, stabilize broken bones, apply bandages, and if necessary and the handler allows, administer Narcan to stop a drug overdose.

The bill frees the EMT from being liable for a vet bill or for mistakes in treating the dog. The EMT may require the dog’s handler to ride in the ambulance.

Bennett said he was inspired to write the bill because of what happened to Yarmouth, Massachusetts, K9 Nero when he and his partner, Sgt. Sean Gannon, was shot on April 12, 2018. Gannon and Nero, as part of a team trying to serve a search warrant on a career criminal, were in an attic in Barnstable, removing insulation behind which the suspect was hiding. Thomas Latanowich shot through the insulation, killing Gannon and hitting Nero in the face and neck.

Nero, who had taken bullets for Gannon, needed life-saving measures, but he had to go to the vet in a police car because ambulances were barred from transporting animals.

Nero survived emergency surgery and recovered.

Bennett said he believes “it sends a strong message when we don’t take care of the animals that work for us. Unfortunately that officer was dead; that animal was alive.”

Bennett said if he were the officer, he would want the best possible emergency care for his partner, especially if the rescue was right there and no human needed it. With COVID, he said, “we’ve become a lot more aware about cleaning,” removing that objection to transporting a police dog.

Latanowich, then of Somerville, pleaded not guilty. In December, he was given a trial date of Aug. 2. He asked to have the case mo