Congratulations

* To Rick Caddick  who takes over as the Fire Chief in Stirling Rawdon.

* To Gene Thompson who leaves Stirling Rawdon for the Chief's position in Deep River.

Did you know that America’s first designated “Hard Hat Area” was set up at the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge construction site. The project’s chief engineer, Joseph B. Strauss, shared a vision with Edward Dickinson Bullard that the workplace could be a safer environment for the worker. One problem the bridge project faced was falling rivets, which could cause serious injury. E.D. Bullard transformed the mining helmet into a durable industrial hard hat.

 

Mark's Moments

Kids can be amazing sometimes. I went to Camp Bucko this summer to deliver a couple of "War" Canoes in memory of Nancy Sinclair. It was only the second day of their week long camp (and they all wished they had longer!) but already there were smiles on the faces of the campers, counselors and support staff there. Their pain was forgotten; all they wanted to do was fish, canoe, kayak, eat and have fun with other kids just like themselves. There were no airs of pretense; they are who they are. And for a few hours on that warm summers day, it felt good just to be with them. Hopefully their smiles and memories of that wonderful place will last a lifetime. I know it will for me.

Trenton Training
by Steve Rose

As an M&L sales representative for almost two years, I have had the opportunity to attend a few trainings. Usually, the training consists of a manufacturer’s representative, a couple of M&L’s sales representatives, and also a few firefighters. Training typically commences with a classroom session followed by hands-on training. Firefighters are definitely hands-on individuals and it’s easy to see during the presentation that their main objective is to ‘play’ with the product.
The training in Trenton was no ordinary training session. It was a one-day explosion of knowledge - 3 manufacturer’s reps, multiple fire departments, and 3 different training evaluations. It took a year of planning by M&L senior sales representative, Rick Browning, to make this training session a reality. Rick was able to get Brian Pods from TFT, Dan Corner from All-American Hose, and last but certainly not least, the very entertaining Jay Fredrickson from Chemguard. Each rep had prepared a one-hour presentation on his respective product, as well as a demonstration.
 
The training started on a bright Saturday September morning. Dylan and I had headed up on Friday night in order to be able to get a head start the next morning and also to be able to help Rick and the sales team with set-up. It was rise and shine at 6:00 am Saturday – an early start to the day! As the young guys, we simply did as we were told, and that was fine with me! At 8:00 am it was time to start the training. Jay from Chemguard was the first to speak. He explained to us how different foams can be used for different things, and in different situations. I had only met Jay once and had liked talking to him because he was a very funny guy. During his presentation it was very easy to establish that not only is he comical, he is also very knowledgeable about his product. Following Jay’s presentation, we took a quick 10 minute break and then regrouped and got ready for Brian Pods from TFT. I had met Brian many times prior to this training, mainly at the FDIC and also the OAFC. Brian’s presentation focused on the different types of nozzles. He explained the difference between the automatic nozzles and the fixed gallon nozzles. He spoke briefly about the Blitzfire and how it is very simple to get a flow of 500GPM. It was very easy to listen to Brian because his passion for firefighting and TFT is demonstrated in the way that he speaks to the crowd.

Dan Corner from All-American Hose wrapped-up the presentation. Dan was there to talk about the different types of hoses, what each hose is made of, and how easily each hose can handle water flow. Dan’s own presentation was shorter than those of the other manufacturer’s representatives, but he was involved in all three demonstrations.
At 12:00 pm it was time for lunch. Rick was kind enough to provide subs, chips, and drinks for everyone. We were designated 45 minutes for lunch but everyone was ready to go after 30 minutes.
There were 3 different demonstrations. The first one was with Jay. He simulated a car fire and we were instructed to advance a hose line and put out the fire with foam. He showed us different foam patterns and hose techniques that were very informative and useful. During the second demonstration, with Brian, we handled flows from different types of nozzles at different pressures. We then got to use the Blitzfire, and flowed 500 GPM. The third and final demonstration was with Dan. He showed how versatile the hose can be. Part of his demo let us see how an uncharged tangled hose line can untangle itself when charging the line.
When the demonstrations were finished, it was time to wrap things up. It was a very productive day with lots of knowledge and water flowing around. Each representative was very helpful and gave us some good tips about each product. Rick Browning did a great job organizing this event and his year of planning resulted in a success.
After a group picture and some goodbyes, it was time to head back home.

Foam Basics (Part 2)

In the last newsletter we looked at the basics of foam. Now we look at different fuel types and determine the correct type of foam to be used on each one.
We all know the 4 types of fires; A, B, C & D. They are the ones listed on the side of your Fire Extinguisher. Need a refresher? A is ordinary combustibles, B is Flammable liquids, C is Electrical and D is combustible metals. If only the method of choosing the correct foam was that easy.
Well, the easiest choice is for a Class A fire; use a Class A foam. This is the one that we all have that will extinguish wood, paper, rubber, cloth and  some plastics. It has a wetting/penetrating characteristic, it cools, suppresses vapours, clings and will last a long time.

Now, for something a little harder, flammable liquids. For a common liquid like gasoline, kerosene and diesel, we need a AFFF (pronounced A triple F) or Aqueous Film Forming Foam. If the liquid has an Alcohol or Polar Solvent Base, then an AR-AFFF (pronounced ARA triple F) or Alcohol-resistant Aqueous Film Forming foam will be needed.
In addition to a synthetic formulation of these foams, they also come in a Protein flavour which contains natural proteins as the foaming agents. Unlike synthetic foams, protein foams are bio-degradable. They flow and spread slower, but provide a foam blanket that is more heat-resistant and more durable. Protein foams include regular protein foam (P), fluoroprotein foam (FP), film-forming fluoroprotein (FFFP),  alcohol-resistant fluoroprotein foam (AR-FP), and alcohol-resistant film-forming fluoroprotein (AR-FFFP).

If you are still confused about the correct foam for your application, contact your knowledgeable M&L Sales rep for help sorting it all out.