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Burns apartment complex; 2 other buildings damaged  (From the LA Times) A massive fire in downtown Los Angeles early Monday destroyed an apartment tower under construction, damaged two other buildings and left two major freeways closed. The California Highway Patrol said the 110 Freeway is closed between the 10 and 101, and the 101 southbound is closed at Alvarado Street. The CHP urged motorists to avoid the area. More than 250 firefighters are battling the blaze at an apartment tower under construction 909 W. Temple St., Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman David Ortiz said. The LAFD said two other buildings along Figueroa Street were also damaged by the fire. A building at 331 N. Figueroa St. suffered "external damage from radiant heat" while fire damaged several floors of an office tower at 221 N. Figueroa St. “It’s huge," he said. Ortiz said the cause and extent of the fire were not yet known. There were no immediate reports of injuries. A series of dense, upscale apartment complexes have been built over the last decade around the 110-110 freeway interchange, and another one, known as the DaVinci, was currently under construction. "Experience urban-style elegance and European living in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. The Da Vinci, the newest member of the Renaissance collection, will offer fifteen unique floor plans to match your lifestyle," the projects website said. "Indulge in world-class amenities, such as a state of the art fitness facility, a full size indoor basketball court, a residential lounge, a library, a theater and a business center." The building had been in the news earlier this year when the developer sought a pedestrian bridge that would liken the DaVinci to other complexes in the area and offer residents a direct route into the downtown attractions. Images show the apartment complex fully engulfed. When the fire broke out at about 1:20 a.m., flames could be seen for miles, with some people on social media capture shots from as far away as the Hollywood Hills. Photos and video capture flames racing into the air as motorists drove by. As of 2:30 a.m., photos showed the the flames at the apartment complex had died down somewhat. At the corner of Hope and Temple streets, fire engines were stacked deep, parked diagonally.

Label: Marine Title: The Royal Swedish Navy and the Cutting Extinguisher Teaser: ColdCut explain how their ground-breaking cutting extinguisher works Label: Wildfires Label: Pumps Label: Training Title: Live fire training systems provide numerous opportunities Teaser: The latest developments in fire pump testing Teaser: Furthering fire fighter education

Gary Handwerk and Alan Saulsbury tell International fire Buyer about the latest developments in fire pump testing, and the ongoing push for a global testing standard As the world becomes smaller, in the fire apparatus industry all of us are looking to improve and standardise testing, along with third party certification of new and in-service emergency vehicles on a global basis. Presently, we basically have an EN standard, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) #1901 Standard for new Automotive Fire Apparatus, and various individual country-specific standards in place – none of which are ‘harmonised’ with common testing standards, third party certified test sites or testing equipment, nor common testing protocols. Since the last Intershutz conference, the Americans have adopted most of the fire apparatus operating ‘symbols’ used by European manufacturers. However, we really have no global fire apparatus testing standard in place.The NFPA #1901 standard is utilised extensively for designing, building, and testing new fire apparatus in North America, and is commonly ‘referenced’ in many other parts of the world. A separate NFPA #1911 standard is used for testing, inspection, maintenance, and replacement of In-Service fire apparatus. This standard requires testing of apparatus on an annual basis. Background One of the unique aspects of the NFPA #1901 fire Apparatus standard is that it encompasses all aspects of a fire apparatus including the fire pump and all related aerial, electrical and foam system testing. Part of the testing in the NFPA #1901 standard includes the requirement for a third party witnessed pump system testing on all apparatus with a fire pumps that are 2800LPM or larger. This is typically known as Underwriters Laboratories (UL) or Mistras Testing. This is in addition to the NFPA #1901 requirement for a fire pump manufacturer’s certification that the pump meets the performance stipulated in the standard. The pump certification is provided by the only fire pump manufacturer with the data collected form a series of factory tests performed on each individual pump. While ‘Type Testing’, common in European standards, is not utilised in the NFPA #1901 standard, each individual pump is tested and self-certified by the pump manufacturer. The completed fire apparatus pump system test is a third party-witnessed certification, conducted to specific NFPA #1901 requirements. The NFPA #1901 fire apparatus test is designed to test the entire pumping system in the ‘completed’ apparatus; it is not a re-certification of the fire pump itself; since the fire pump was previously tested and certified by the pump manufacturer before the apparatus was assembled. The key to the NFPA pump system test is to use the fire pump to load and stress everything related to a successful pumping operation at a large fire for many hours of continuous usage. This testing regiment has helped the North American apparatus builders, over the years, ‘hone their designs’ and build quality to the point that high performance and system reliability is common placed. Another aspect to the certification process includes the NFPA #1901 requirement for the test site and the equipment used during the test, these are surveyed and approved by the third party testing organisation, before any testing is conducted. History The history of the test process shows how fragile fire trucks were in the 1970s. Failing the third party test was common, the failures where usually not caused by the pump itself but, to a great extent, things related to the chassis, engine or electrical system, such as engine or transmission over heating, the engine exhaust melting down, the throttle cable melted and locked up, the engine bent a push rod and started blowing smoke, fire started under the truck, fuel vapour lock, the electric fuel pump failed, PTO failed, or a drive shaft failed. By the late 1980s many of these common failure problems were solved: Since every fire pump (over 2800LPM) mounted on a fire apparatus is tested so the Fire Department knows that their particular apparatus will hold up even during severe duty, extended running time, applications. What does a complete pumping system test consist of? Data is collected at specific timed intervals during the testing; additionally, all the apparatus electrical loads are “activated” during the testing to stress the electrical system. It requires pumping at a specific set of lift condition at: a) Pumping for two continuous hours at 100% of the rated capacity at 10 Bar (150psi) b) Pumping for 30 minutes at 70% of the rated capacity at 14 Bar (200psi) c) Pumping for 30 minutes at 50% capacity at 17 Bar (250psi) d) Pumping for ten minutes at 100% capacity at 11.38 Bars (165psi) e) Pressure control device (discharge side relief valve or pressure governor) f) Hydro-static pressure test of plumbing system (17Bar for 10 minutes with no pressure loss) g) Priming system test to reach 22 inches of Hg and not losing more than ten inches in five minutes h) Tank-to-pump line flow test performance i) On fire apparatus equipped with a line voltage generator system (120 or higher volts) a specific load/output test at 100% of rating simultaneously with the pumping test for two hours The down-side to #1901 testing is it does add cost to the apparatus, however, the cost is manageable because there is an existing infrastructure to support this on-gong testing process on every fire apparatus. Fire Departments have fully accepted this nominal cost, because of the reliability it has brought to the fire apparatus being purchased. Third party testing and certification The two most common organisations which provide the third party witnessing and certification, are Mistras and Underwriters Laboratories, UL being the largest. When third party tests are conducted outside of North America, travel and labour costs become very high. NFPA updating The current 2009 edition of NFPA #1901 standard in the process of revision and updating. The NFPA regularly updates all standards every three to five years. Some deadlines are extended to allow for significant changes and alignment with other standards. NFPA #1901 has just finished one of these extended time periods. Among the many

ColdCut explain how their ground-breaking cutting extinguisher has revolutionised the potentially extremely hazardous world of on-board marine fire-fighting Funding for solving the military assignments and duties has been steadily decreasing over the past decades. At the same time new international missions have emerged into the arena. Robert Averin, Project Manager for Naval Damage Control at FMV, the Swedish Defence Material Administration, says that in order for the Royal Swedish Navy to maintain fast responses to new missions, it has implied doing more for less: Including more efficient strategies and tactics, bilateral procurement initiatives, life cycle extension, etc. Social changes have introduced a more uniform legal situation, comparing civilian and military sectors of the community. Among other things, change in the recruitment process, going from a draft organisation to professional sailors and soldiers, more civilian regulations were brought in to the military organisations. Civilian work environment regulations and other jurisdictions were to be enforced throughout all military levels. The change in global politics and Sweden’s membership in the European Community introduced new joint missions to be completed at virtually any place around the globe. These brought forth yet new challenges for crew and equipment. As more sophisticated equipment had been introduced onboard Swedish naval vessels, the Royal Swedish Navy has found itself spending a larger fraction of resources on training. Sticking to traditional crew intensive solutions were not an option. Requirements like ‘more for less’ and ‘thinking outside the box’ permeated the whole organisation, including the Naval Procurement Command and the Sea Safety Training School. As Robert Averin puts it: “The Swedish navy is one of the leanest manned naval forces in the world. Our troops on-board are not full time fire-fighters, they are sailors. Of course they are trained in fire-fighting, but they are first and foremost sailors. Every new product and method we accept on-board must add efficiency to the mission.” Cutting extinguisher traced In 2001, the Royal Swedish Navy sought methods for offensive and efficient fire-fighting from a safe defensive position, to meet the demands of fire-fighting on-board composite vessels. In addition, the main target was to find systems supplementing and adding redundancy to traditional onboard systems; with high efficiency in suppressing fires, water usage and crew staffing. The system should also be easy to use, understand and train. Numbers of tests and evaluations were conducted and the results pointed out the Cutting Extinguisher as a reasonable candidate for fire-fighting on-board composite vessels as well as adding enhancing features to shipboard fire-fighting on traditional steel hull vessel. The cutting extinguisher was found to fill the gap of time between the initial attack and the BA-attack, providing the shipboard fire-fighting crew to: Reach the fire without adding oxygen Rapidly lowering the temperature in the fire room Minimising the water use, hence minimising collateral damages and stability issues Reducing the number of crew occupied with fire-fighting Enabling the crew to fight the fire efficiently from a relatively safe position Providing the a method to get an overall faster incident control Robert Averin concludes: “We found that the cutting extinguisher was extremely efficient and supported a method to combat shipboard fires with minimal risk of the crews’ safety and health.” Atalanta Operation In December 2008, the Swedish Government appointed three Swedish naval vessels under the disposal of the EU Atalanta Operation in Aden Bay. Since the appointed vessels were corvettes, they had to undergo fire zone classification according to the Naval Ship Code prior to introduction to the operation fleet at open sea. Compared to insulating zones and retrofitting fixed installed automatic fire suppression systems, the most cost effective way to obtain classification was to install cutting extinguishers as equivalents. In May 2009, a set of naval engineered cutting extinguishers was delivered prior to the ships’ commissioning in Djibouti. The units were also equipped with CBRN wash nozzles and auxiliary submersible pumps, supplied with power from the unit. Robert Averin states that “the crew [participating in Operation Atalanta] felt much safer to be able to do a Cobra attack, prior to getting involved in a BA-attack, at a possible shipboard fire incident.” Visby Class Stealth Corvettes By 2009, FMV and the Royal Swedish Navy had specified the requirements for the cutting extinguisher to be installed onboard the Visby Stealth Corvette Class. The 73 metre corvettes were equipped with dual cutting extinguishers for redundancy; one installed at the bow and one aft. The systems are driven by hydraulic motors, supplied with power from the onboard hydraulic system. Each of the system reaches to all areas of the ship, thus the redundancy. To complete the systems, a cutting frame unit, with the ability to cut man holes in the composite construction material within two minutes, was installed on-board. Royal Swedish Navy Shipboard Fire-Fighting Adding the cutting extinguishing method to the standard shipboard fire-fighting procedure, some extra preparations had to be made. To eliminate risks of aiming the hand lance at places on the deck or bulkheads which have obstacles on the opposite side, Cutting extinguisher Attack Points (CAPs) were marked at pre-defined places: A bright red ‘S’ on a white field. Hatches and doors are also considered pre-defined attack points, but are not marked – since they open, they usually don’t have obstacles on opposite side. When it comes to procedures, the third action encompasses the cutting extinguisher attack, thus called Second Attack: Early Detection – Alarm, First Attack, Second Attack, BA-Attack – Safe Re-entry Procedure. The initial two actions are the same as in standard shipboard fire-fighting procedures, they are also the same independently whether it is an incident on-board a composite vessel or a steel hull vessel. The third step has the cutting extinguishing method included as a first choice or as a complement to fixed installed fire suppressive systems – depending on the assessment of the situation. On-board a steel hull vessel, using the cutting extinguisher at pre-designated attack points might well make external boundary cooling and fixed fire suppression systems redundant – making the incident handling less crew

Benoit Terral, Operational Marketing Manger, Aerial Work, at Airbus Helicopters, tells International Fire Buyer about how they are adding a new dimension to wildfire fighting Tell us about your role at Airbus Helicopters. I have been at Airbus Helicopters for five years in the operational marketing department. I am a former pilot and I’m in charge of aerial work missions. Inside that area, we focus on a lot of things, including wildfires. I have been trained by the French fire brigade, and I have a lot of contacts and partnerships within that organisation, especially in the South-East of the country, where wildfires are very common. Airbus are normally associated with passenger aircraft. Tell us more about the fire-fighting and helicopter sides of the business. We are the leader in the civilian helicopter market. All our aircraft are designed for civilian use first and can then be converted to military and other uses afterwards. The main point of our design is versatility, so we have helicopters that can perform five or six different missions in one day – fire-fighting in the morning, EMS or transport in the afternoon, for example. We have versatile aircraft. We have the most comprehensive range of helicopters in the world, with something like 14 different aircraft, ranging from 1.5 tonnes to 11 tonnes. Due to this, we usually have an answer to any situation, especially in the fire-fighting market. For that market we have two different aircraft. If you want to drop under 2.5 tonnes of water, then you use a light helicopter that is more versatile. The main additional advantage is that you can employ an on-scene commander, who can offer a view from the sky to manage the fire and report back to men on the ground. With a lighter helicopter you can drop up to one tonne of water, which is ideal for tackling smaller, less developed fires. For the main fire, we use much bigger helicopters. For this, we have designed a very special tool – the four tonne Internal Kit, which brings fire brigades something completely new for fighting large wildfires, not only in terms of productivity in fighting the fire. It means fire-fighters can drop four tonnes of water in a very innovative way by using pressure for a concentrated ‘gun’ effect on the ground. It has been proven to be more efficient than fixed-wing methods (better ground footprint). In France we have a large fixed-wing presence through Canadair and TRACKER, operated through a squadron of the French Security Institute. While fixed-wing fire-fighting is popular, it is very expensive; especially if you consider that the planes will only operate for a couple of months each year and spend the rest of the time sitting in a hangar. This model is no longer viable, especially in Europe. Helicopters will be a solution for at least the next decade largely because they are so versatile. At the end of the wildfire season, they can be used for all manner of other operations. Helicopters can offer not just efficiency but also productivity: They are able to pick up water from anywhere – everything from small pools and lakes to seas and large bodies of water. The helicopter is fitted with a hose and a pump, and its manoeuvrability means it can pick up water more efficiently than a fixed-wing plane. We tested this in a real-life situation, as we always do with our products, on the French island of Corsica in 2007, which experiences many wildfires. In terms of productivity and efficiency, there is no comparison. The major difference between fixed-wing and rotary winged aircraft is that you can manage your speed better with a rotary wing. Managing speed means you can improve the accuracy of the dropping as well as the picking up of the water. In strong winds, and in the South of France we have something called the Mistral wind, rotary wings mean you can drop water very efficiently on the fire. Is improving efficiency the main benefit to using rotary wings? The use of fixed wing is interesting for the capacity. In the US, they use very large aircraft to drop water – converted 747s and so on. The time between locations (picking up the water and dropping it on the fire) can be as much as three or four hours. As a rule, the sooner you can drop water on the fire, the less you will need, and that’s why we advocate the use of helicopters. You can use a helicopter in a very restrictive area, which means the time taken between picking up and dropping the water can be as little as a matter of minutes (you are then more productive!). In France, the fire-fighting strategy is to target new fires, even if they are already battling a much bigger one. If a new fire is detected elsewhere, they send as many resources as possible to put out the smaller fire before returning to the original one. Tell us more about the versatility of converting fire-fighting helicopters to cargo or transport ones. It’s very simple. All our aircraft have the capability to change from a passenger transport capacity to a cargo one in ten minutes or so. You can then use it to bring equipment directly to where it’s needed. You can change the mission straight from dropping water to transporting fire-fighters to moving equipment to surveillance all with one aircraft. Are there any other drawbacks, aside from the fact you can’t transport as much water in one go as with a fixed-wing plane? When transporting liquid, the centre of gravity on a helicopter can be affected. This is something we have tried to combat on the Internal Kit that I mentioned earlier. We’ve drawn on dynamic stability technology from super tankers, and have studied the safest way to transport it. Four tonnes of water on an eight tonne helicopter is a big load compared to a fixed-wing, where the disparity between the two isn’t as

Six departments in the Dallas–Ft. Worth Metroplex choose Dash CF Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, delivered three Pierce® Dash® CF pumpers and a Dash CF 105-foot heavy-duty ladder apparatus to the Irving Fire Department in Irving, Texas. Pierce has sold the innovative Dash CF chassis to six fire departments within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex within the past 18 months. “The Pierce Dash CF is cultivating a loyal following among fire departments from across the U.S.,” said Jim Johnson, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president, Fire & Emergency. “The reason is simple: when it comes to cab room and ergonomics, ride quality, and safety features, there’s not another chassis in the world that can match the Dash CF.” The recent Dash CF deliveries and current orders from the Dallas–Ft. Worth Metroplex are noteworthy. The Grand Prairie Fire Department has a 75-foot Dash CF heavy-duty aluminum ladder in service and a second on order. The Saginaw Fire Department recently took delivery of a Dash CF 105-foot heavy-duty ladder. Waxahachie Fire Department is now running a 105-foot heavy-duty ladder. Midlothian Fire Department (with an all Dash CF frontline fleet) has recently placed into service a 100-foot aerial platform with a 70-inch cab and a low 11-foot 8-inch ride height. The Grapevine Fire Department placed a 100-foot Dash CF aerial platform into service earlier this year. The Irving Fire Department, which placed three Pierce Dash CF pumpers with PUC pumps into service in October, is taking delivery of a Dash CF 105-foot heavy-duty ladder this month. “Historically, the complaint has been that there’s not enough room for the driver and officer in the cab. The Dash CF has changed that and it’s one of the important reasons we went with it,” said Irving Fire Department Assistant Fire Chief Tony Harvey. “The Dash CF sits lower and is very maneuverable. We have a lot of apartment buildings in Irving and our firefighters were having trouble getting into tight areas. The compactness and agility of the Dash CF is a big plus.” Irving Fire Department’s new Pierce Dash CF 105-foot aerial ladder is a straight stick configuration that is able to carry a tremendous amount of tools and rescue equipment. “On all of our Dash CF apparatus, there’s plenty of compartment space,” said Assistant Fire Chief Harvey. “In fact, we’ve got room to spare! Everything has a place, so it’s there when our firefighters need it. Being able to carry all of the equipment we need helps us to be more effective and responsive.”

A tradeperson’s recommendation about alarms is important More than three quarters of all homeowners and private renters who know what Carbon Monoxide is, say advice from a fully-qualified tradesperson is important when it comes to buying an alarm, a survey by YouGov for Honeywell has found. The survey of 2,915 homeowners and private renters in England and Wales discovered that 76% of those who know what Carbon Monoxide is, said that advice from a gas engineer, plumber or other professional would be important to them when choosing which alarm to fit. A similar percentage of those without alarms in their homes (76%) said they would be likely to buy an alarm from a servicing engineer who offered to fit it for a reasonable fee. Faced with many cheap and unreliable imports, householders also overwhelmingly stressed the need for high quality, with 88% of those who know what Carbon Monoxide is saying that whether an alarm had a Kitemark or certification to European standards would be important to their decision of which to buy. “Plumbers, gas-fitters and similar professionals clearly have a major role to play in protecting the public by fitting reliable alarms,” said Tim Jack, Honeywell’s Business Development Leader for Carbon Monoxide alarms. “Unfortunately there are many low-quality products on the market and this is why the use of alarms accredited with the safety Kitemark should be standard.” The survey showed that only 47% of homeowners and private renters who know what Carbon Monoxide is have a CO alarm and 23% neither have Carbon Monoxide alarms nor ensure regular servicing of domestic appliances that can emit the gas. Overall, only 49% of respondents living in private homes have regular servicing of the fuel-powered appliances in their household, despite 88% saying that the statement “I can/ could tell from the smell if there is a Carbon Monoxide leak in a fuel-powered appliance in my household” is false. Barry Sheerman, MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Carbon Monoxide Group, campaigning for Carbon Monoxide alarms to be a mandatory requirement in UK homes, said: “Carbon Monoxide poisoning is a great danger and thousands of people are treated for it every year. The number of homes with alarms may be higher in this survey than industry expectations as it does not include public sector and social housing. This survey shows trade professionals hold the key to preventing tragic deaths through fitting accredited Carbon Monoxide alarms and annual servicing of appliances.”

Patented foam concentrate ejector system delivers unmatched accuracy The new FIRELITE® Transport FTUHP-400 series Ultra High Pressure (UHP) skid unit from KIMTEK Corporation features the FoamPro® Turbo Stream® high energy firefighting system offered by FRC Corporation. Powered by a Honda 13HP gas motor with electric start, the skid unit delivers (8) GPM at 1400 psi. The patented foam concentration injector system allows a precise foam injection rate of between 0.3% and 3.0%, exceeding NFPA 1901 requirements. The FoamPro Turbo Stream Hypro Triplex Plunger Pump provides dependability and ultra-high pressure performance. Ideal for use with all Class A foam concentrates, the dual action spray gun delivers foam solution over 45 feet. The FIRELITE FTUHP-400 series wildland firefighting skid’s Foam Pro Turbo Stream UHP system includes a choice of a 125, 160 or 200 gallon poly water tank with integrated five gallon foam cell, Hannay 1500 series ultra-high pressure electric hose reel with 100 feet of ½” high pressure rated hose with dual action spray gun, and a thermal relief valve to prevent overheating during extended idle. An optional second high-pressure reel is available. Made entirely to the same standards of time-tested proven quality as all KIMTEK’s rugged skid units, the FTUHP’s base and components are constructed from aluminum tubing and bright aluminum diamondplate, and feature all-stainless steel plumbing and brass valves. The unit is specially designed to fit in most short or long box pickup truck beds and flat beds. For more information about KIMTEK’s full line of MEDLITE and FIRELITE Transport skid units, please visit www.kimtekresearch.com.