Long-time Firegeezer reader Laurence Delorme publishes a fire-related website in France (http://chezfireball.blogspot.com/ ) and recently interviewed Franck Gaviot-Blanc, a volunteer firefighter from the Vienne Fire Brigade.  Vienne is a city of 29,000 on the River Rhone and is located near Lyon.  Laurence has very kindly taken the time to translate the interview so that we can share it with you.  Thank you, Laurence.

LD:  How long have you been in the fire service?

 FG:  I’m a volunteer firefighter in a combined fire department with 70 career firefighters and 80 volunteer firefighters in the south east of France.  I have been in the fire service for 19 years.

Franck Gaviot-Blanc

LD:  What are the changes that you have noticed in the fire service, such as PPE, rigs….?

FG:  Concerning the tactics and operations,there were important changes in the French fire service. Firefighters now realize that “under ventilated” fires are special fires and bring many questions concerning tactics and operations. Before, for many firefighters, to stop a fire was very easy. You entered a building/house, then you looked for the fire and you put water on it.

The Vienne fire station is undergoing renovation and
will look like this when finished.

In 1991,when you say “backdraft” to French firefighters, they thought about the movie with the same title. But in 2002, backdraft became more “real” for the French firefighters when 5 of us were killed by this “fire gas event” in Paris during a fire. After this tragedy, some changes appeared in the French fire service:

* A national standard operating guideline was written in 2003. It tried to explain what backdraft and flashover are.

*Education and training in the fire service began to change. We now try to understand that smoke burns and we can learn to read it. To cool down smoke is not easy and can be dangerous.

*PPE have changed. Turnout gear made in leather are now made in textile.

*There are enough turnout pants for everyone at the firehouses.

*Firefighters are taught that they have to wear full PPE, gloves, hood, etc.

*Combination nozzles and the use of CAFS appeared in the French fire service after 2003.

*Education and training about nozzles and their uses are more precise now.

*Training in flashover containers are now more common. Before, the firefighters only learned theory but did not train and could not see the different stages of flashover.

The French firefighter begins to understand that to stop a fire,you need to have tactics. Especially if you can not stop the fire from outside a building. We are only beginning to understand some problems related to “under ventilated” fires. Even if it is not very difficult to understand them, they are not well understood. (During certain trainings, there are some mistakes about them in different training centers.) Forcable entry tactics or RIT are not taught during training in the fire service, except in a few FD’s.

Another problem that we can underline, there are not enough communication tools such as radio when firefighters operate on fireground. When firefighters enter a building to stop a fire or do a search, it is very hard for them to talk to the engine man who is outside the building near his pump panel. Many things have changed but the path of important changes has not been reached yet.

(Click on the “continue reading” link to see the rest of this article.)

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CONSIDER A DEPARTMENT WITH FIVE ENGINES, ONE AERIAL AND ONE FIELD COMMAND OFFICER. The department spends $2.7 million/year in overtime to maintain minimum staffing of 26 employees:  four on an engine, five on the truck and one chief.

FY 11 overtime is reduced 25% at the start of the budget year (July 01, 2009).  Due to a continuing reduction in municipal revenues, there is a more severe reduction in the overtime budget.

AVERAGE NON-OVERTIME STAFFING IS 23

The department  averages three overtime positions every day to cover vacancies caused by sick leave, injury leave, vacation, annual leave and details out of the fire stations.  There are 74 days when the department pays for six overtime positions.

With the second round of budget reductions there is about 6000 hours of overtime, not enough to cover four positions in the 74 high-demand days. No money to cover the “normal” day-to-day overtime.

The language of the labor agreement does not allow running engines with less than four or the truck with less than five.

You cannot increase department staffing – hiring freeze. The CERT members are not qualified to operate as combat firefighters.

NEW DAILY DEPLOYMENT: 4 ENGINES +1 AERIAL

You must close one of the five engine companies.  There are two ways to provide reduced services:

A “rolling brownout” where the department rotates the fire company that is closed. A system used by departments since the 1970’s, inevitably, there will be a fatal or serious fire near a temporarily closed fire station.

The other way, used by New York City, is to close specific companies based on workload and hazard.  The rational to close City Island Ladder 53 during evening hours in 2009 was that it was one of the least active ladders in the city, responded to only two  serious daytime fires in 2008. (NY Daily News).

Consultants and deployment experts at the Pinnacle EMS Leadership & Management conference (here) believe closing units based on workload and hazard is the most appropriate method.

For example: Engine A handles 30% of the emergency workload and Engine E handles 2% of the workload. Closing Engine A during a rolling brownout while leaving Engine E staffed creates a more severe liability exposure than closing Engine E every day.

NO EASY ANSWER:  WHY FDNY SQUAD 1 WAS REORGANIZED IN 1977

FDNY has used workload and hazard assessment to justify expansion and contraction of the department resources for generations. It supported the creation of second and third fire companies assigned to a fire station during the 1950’s and 1960’s and when the department lost 900 positions in July 1975.

Calderone’s Squad Company Apparatus of the New York City Fire Department picks up the story.

Analysis of workload in the mid-1950’s showed that simultaneous fires were stripping some sections of the city of engine and truck companies. Four squad companies were organized in 1955 to provide additional staffing on initial fireground activity, going back in service when the second alarm companies arrived at the scene.  By 1959 there were nine squad companies. The squad companies were disbanded May 1, 1976, victim of the same municipal bankruptcy that laid off 900 firefighters ten months earlier.

Park Slope Engine 269 was one of the Brooklyn fire stations closed in 1975.  The community objected to the closing, occupying the vacant fire station and eventually forcing the city to provide a fire company at 786 Union Street. A 1969 R-model Mack 1000 gpm pumper with ladder company tools and a Hi-Ex foam generator was assigned to the station as Squad 1 on December 3, 1977.

A DELAYED MUNICIPAL RECOVERY

Local government funding lags 12 to 24 months behind the business economy. An upturn in 2010 will be reflected in municipal revenues (sales, real estate and income taxes) in 2011.  It appears that the second half of FY11 and FY 12 (through June 30, 2012) will be WORSE than FY11 ….. which was worse than FY10.

DISCUSSION QUESTION 1:

What would you do if the municipality eliminated overtime in September 2009 and also requried un-paid furloughs of firefighters.  Daily staffing drops to 14.

• 5 person truck
• Two 4 person engines
• Command officer

Or do you renegotiate the labor contract and seek:

• 4 person truck
• Three 3 person engines
• Command officer

DISCUSSION QUESTION 2:

It is Friday, December 25, 2009.  Nine employees report for duty.  How would you deploy them?

• 5 person truck
• One 4 person pumper
• No command officer

Or is it:

• 3 person truck
• Three two person engines
• No command officer

You could be in East Walpole, where the #2 station (of two) was closed July 1st.  (Here)

Mike “Fossilmedic” Ward
Diamond or Dust budget series

Mike Legeros asked that question on Thursday at the FireGeezer/STATter911 booth. We returned to that question frequently during the show.

AWARENESS

Last year, most of the people that stopped at the booth thought we were helping ancient firefighters.  This year a lot readers stopped by to say hi.  From New York/New Jersey to the Carolinas.

Sympathy for the investigation unit who lost their futon to the dog, thanks for checking in every day!

We met folks from Sussex County, Delaware, southwest Virginia (Palmyra) and Georgia who promised to visit the site.

We should have made the Firegeezer card a sticker, dozens would have been placed on vehicles owned by “senior” firefighters.

ROCK STAR!

Bill “Firegeezer” Schumm was asked for his autograph! 

Dave Statter had a constant stream of fans and critics. On Friday and Saturday the buzz was about the proposed closing of two PGFD fire stations (HERE). Dave was struggling to get the article posted between a constant stream of visitors.

It was neat to watch Dave Statter do Saturday follow-ups on two earlier stories: the Moore sons who did CPR on their dad at the Catlett fire station and Doug Townsend who rescued his brother from a house fire in Montross (HERE)

THEY READ THE ARTICLES

I had a good, but uncomfortable, conversation with Harold Cohen, PhD, the principal investigator for the cancer presumption report prepared for the National League of Cities (original article HERE, follow-up HERE).

A member of the Dunkirk VFD stopped by, looking for Dave. Both blogs carried articles about an exposure incident. HERE, HERE and HERE.

Shortly after the “How Aggressive Suppression” item was posted, I had a series of e-mail conversations with Fire Engineering editor Bobby Halton. It was great that Ray McCormack stopped by the booth on Saturday and acknowledged what we wrote. A version of the conversation will show up in the Fire Officer textbook this fall.  Original item HERE.

GOTTA EMULATE THE IRONMAN

Cal Ripken Jr. played 2,632 consecutive Major League Baseball games with the Orioles. One of the reasons Firegeezer is thriving is because Bill posts five to eight items every day. There were a couple of days when it got under five, but something new was posted every day.

Without readers, this effort would be without joy. Thanks for visiting and, if you are in Baltimore for the 2010 Firehouse Expo, stop by and say hello!

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

As the Fiscal Year 2010 reductions hit, more organizational cracks appear and existing dysfunctions become more noticable.

Dave Statter has been following one of the high-profile examples, the moving of career staff out of volunteer Prince George’s County (Maryland) fire stations.  Since last Wednesday’s blog (HERE) the situation has become more troubling.

NO QUALIFIED DRIVERS

Last night Statter reported on a volunteer chief’s complaint to the acting county fire chief.  (STATter911.com item HERE)

A station not on the original plan will lose career staff next Thursday.  In his letter to the acting county fire chief, with copies to local political leaders, Volunteer Fire Chief Nicholas Finamore states:

While I am aware of the budgetary constraints placed upon the department, the Allentown Road Volunteer Fire Department is currently unavailable to backfill the station with volunteer participation. Furthermore, we have no volunteer members currently turned over to operate the station apparatus.

As discussed in previous communications, if career staffing were not a necessity, I would have not requested it. (read entire letter HERE )

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF A VFD IN A COMBINATION SYSTEM?

Chief Finamore’s memo makes me wonder … if you have no qualified apparatus drivers, what is the the purpose of a volunteer fire department? 

Engine 832, Truck 832 and Ambulance 832 were purchased by the county. The non-profit VFD corporation owns the fire station/land and some support vehicles.

Since the outlawing of casino nights last decade, the ability of many PG volunteer corporations to purchase fire apparatus appears to have evaporated.

WHAT IS THE VFD CHIEF’S RESPONSIBILITY?

Chief Finamore is a life member of Allentown Road VFD, meaning that he has been active for more than 20 years. He is known as an excellent fireground commander.

He also had a career with the county fire and rescue department, retiring as a PGFD deputy fire chief.

Is it the volunteer chief’s responsibility to assure that enough volunteers are trained to provide basic services?  Or is it acceptable not to sweat the training of volunteer apparatus operators when you have county employees as drivers every hour of every day?

If you live in the Fort Washington community, you may want to stop by Station 32 at 7:30 pm tonight to see what is happening at your community fire/ems station.

Every first Monday is our monthly business meeting. Anyone interested in joining the Company to become a firefighter, EMT or Firefighter/EMT or to join as an associate member should show up at the monthly meeting.

http://www.allentownroadvfd.org/members.html
Allentown Road Volunteer Fire Department
8709 Allentown Road
Fort Washington, MD 20744

Non-Emergency: 301-248-7434

Mike “Fossilmedic” Ward
Diamond or Dust budget series

On May 7, 2007, Lt. Col. Greg Gadson was with the Second Battalion and 32nd Field Artillery on his way back from a memorial service for two soldiers from his brigade when they hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He lost both his legs.

Gadson’s courage and perseverance have become a source of inspiration for many, even the New York Giants, for whom he is an honorary co-captain. Gadson hopes to extend this inspiration to the fire service when he delivers the keynote address at Fire-Rescue International in Dallas on Thursday, Aug. 27.

FireRescue Editor-In-Chief Tim Sendelbach recently had the privilege to speak with Gadson about his experiences.  CLICK HERE to listen to the interview (or read the transcript).

AN EDITORIAL COLUMN IN YESTERDAY’S NEW YORK POST sides with New York Governor Paterson’s anti-firefighter/police stance that he took recently when he vetoed a bill that would have extended current retirement benefits  to newly-hired FF’s and police officers.

The editorial that you can read in its entirety HERE, says in part:

Gov. Paterson yesterday raised the stakes in New York’s public employee pension debate by vetoing the extension of an overly generous law covering police and firefighter benefits.

The law, renewed every two years since 1981, gives newly hired cops and firefighters full retirement benefits after 20 years — a scheme closed to most other public employees for more than two decades.

The pension veto comes at a time when the city projects that it will soon be spending more on former employees than it does on current ones.  (Emphasis added by Firegeezer.)

First of all, the gratuitous statement that the plan is “…. closed to most other public employees…” is completely irrelevant.  It doesn’t matter for the sake of the argument whether they have been getting it or not.  Whatever the reason was for creating the discrepancy in the first place is still a valid reason now.  That phrase was tossed in to the debate solely to sway the reader’s sympathy away from the firefighters and toward the writer’s view.

As far as the expenditure for pensioners exceeding that for the still-employed workers, there are two things left out of the presentation.  First of all, the state and the municipalities have been laying off workers and eliminating positions for several years now.  That is largely due to a shrinking population and a loss of businesses in the entire state over the past 20 years.  It is only logical that as the rolls shrink, the gap between the two groups will diminish.  But logic is not being taught in the public schools anymore and the politicians (along with the newspaper editors) are glad to take advantage of it in order to promote their own causes.

Secondly, if the affected governments had been fiscally responsible years ago and established pension funds that were properly funded and administered, they would not have this crisis today.  Good, honest governments do not pay pension benefits out of current tax revenues.  A viable pension fund pays its own way from its investments and contributions.

The New York Post continues:

Paterson’s veto — which came with no warning — challenges this status quo, and thus is to be applauded.

Sure, it may be overridden — but only if lawmakers are willing publicly to defend the indefensible.

Paterson’s own pension proposal contains new terms for cops and firefighters, including a minimum retirement age of 50, while increasing minimum service requirements for most individuals from 20 years to 25.

Bloomberg notes that such a shift would save the city $200 million next year — and $7 billion over the next 20.

The unions are the losers.

Mayor Bloomberg’s claim that the city would “save” $7 billion is bogus.  The city will not be saving anything because the money not spent on the pensions will just be spent on other government programs.  It’s a transfer of wealth out of the pockets of the public safety employees onto other favored expenditures.  The only way a savings is effected is when the money is returned directly to the taxpayers who sent it there in the first place.  And there sure haven’t been any tax cuts proposed in New York lately.  Just who are the real losers in New York these days, Mr. Editorialist?

Says the Firegeezer

STUDY FAILS TO ESTABLISH LINK BETWEEN CANCER AND FIRE FIGHTING was the attention grabbing April 16 press release from the National League of Cities.  The angry response from both the IAFF and IAFC was fueled by this statement:

“While we depend on firefighters for the critical role they play in the safety of our cities and towns, we must evaluate this issue objectively and scientifically,” said Donald J. Borut, executive director of the National League of Cities. He continued, “This study demonstrates the need for more high-level research into cancer and firefighters.

States should not pass laws requiring cities to take on difficult financial burdens with no clear scientific connection between illness and occupation.

We suggest that all involved – legislators, governors, cities and firefighters – review this report and consider its findings as they discuss this difficult issue.”

press release HERE   The press release includes a link to the Tri-Data Report.

UNDERMINING A LONG MARCH TO PRESUMPTION

IAFF General President Harold A. Schaitberger articulated his anger at Tri-Data as he condemned the NLC funded report while speaking at FDIC last month.  As a founding member of Fairfax County IAFF Local 2068, he has first-hand knowledge of the political difficulty in establishing presumptive legislation in a right-to-work state. 

Three decades ago a Fairfax County battalion chief suffered a massive myocardial infarction in hour 11 of his 14 hour shift. The Virginia Workman’s Compensation Board denied the claim because the chief was not working at an active emergency incident when the chest pains started.

About two years later, Alexandria City Fire Chief Charles Rule established a regulation prohibiting on and OFF duty smoking by newly hired firefighters. An employee would be terminated if found to be smoking off duty, even on vacation.  Chief Rule established this rule in a frustrated reaction to state worker comp denials for cancers and respiratory problems that he knew were related to fire fighting activities.

Chief Rule told me he anticipated that the regulation would be removed by court order in a year. Instead, it became a building block for the successful establishment of firefighter heart-lung-cancer presumptive legislation in Virginia.

The battle never ends. State legislators try to eliminate, dismantle or reduce the scope of the firefighter presumptive legislation every year. The state professional firefighter’s association has to have a representative at every legislative session. 

The NLC report provides additional ammunition to undo years of hard-fought efforts. 

PEER REVIEWED RESEARCH

Before moving into academia, I assumed that all scientific articles posted in peer-reviewed professional journals were at the highest level of accuracy and transparent in process. After taking an “Evidence-Based Medicine” graduate course, I appreciate that the devil is in the details of each study. Learned that the quality of statistics and analysis is variable.

Tri-Data does not have expertise in occupational medicine or evaluating clinical research. The International Association of Fire Chiefs established a review panel of superiorly qualified professionals in epidemiology, medical research, statistics, and firefighter health/safety.  Their analysis provides the science behind the assertion that the NLC report used tobacco industry techniques to diminish the link between the firefighter occupation and cancer rates.  read report HERE

THE MISSING ESSENTIAL RESOURCE

One of NLC findings identifies a glaring gap. Canada, New Zealand, Australia and some European countries have a national Firefighter Cancer Registry. While the IAFF started one for it’s members in 2007, now is the time to establish a national cancer registry for firefighters.

IAFF members need to go to the Wellness and Fitness Initiative section of the website and have those with a cancer diagnosis complete the form:  http://www.iaff.org/hs/wfi/default.asp 

A national firefighter cancer database addresses many of the issues brought up in the NLC report about terminology, definitions and description of the cancer exposure of firefighters. Determining who pays for the treatment and the process to get covered will remain a volatile political activity.

Visit the Firefighter Cancer Support Network

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

… ABOUT YOUR FDIC PRESENTATIONS

I was a late commentator on the FDIC big room presentations this year, posting my impression ten days ago (HERE). I shared my opinion that Halton likes to force us out of our comfort zones and that I was more comfortable with McCormack’s personal opinion on fireground risk analysis.

I am in the process of editing the second edition manuscript for Fire Officer: Scope and Practice.  At this point the comments and questions from the reviewers and editors are added into the manuscript in preparation for a final content review.

RECONSIDERING THE CULTURE OF EXTINGUISHMENT

The Fire Attack chapter had few comments and a nice kudo. Made me feel warm and confident. The chapter reflects eight years of street experience as a career company commander and more than a dozen years teaching at the fire academy and community college.

WORDS MATTER

The sweet spot for suppression risk assessment is somewhere between

• running into a collapsing and burning Type V building to rescue a checkbook
• never entering a building with smoke showing until you get independent confirmation that there is a savable life requiring rescue  … and all command vests are properly deployed

I re-read the risk assessment portion of the chapter. I could see how an officer candidate could infer that it was a RARE occassion to enter a burning structure to conduct a primary search and perform offensive extinguishment.   

That’s not gonna happen.  I will be late getting this chapter submitted as I significantly rewrite the section on suppression risk assessment.

A section that had NO comments, questions or suggested revisions.  MY editor is not happy, but I will know that it is right.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

We’re trying something new here at Firegeezer today.  One of our readers, Matt B. wants to debate the pro’s and con’s of helmet styles.  So he’s going to kick this off with his opinion and we’d like to hear yours, too.  Write down your rebuttal, or agreement, in the Comments following Matt’s statement.  Tell us what you think.  Ok, here’s Matt:

First off, just so you know, I wear a Cairns 1010 at my station and keep a Cairns 360 Structural in the trunk of my car. My volunteer fire department issued me the 1010, but as happens with a lot of volunteers I picked up an additional one on my own dime. I bought the 360 because it was inexpensive, it was lightweight, and it’d afford some protection if I were helping out at a rescue on the side of the road.

          Cairns 360

A lot of guys I know, however, drop up to $600 for specialty leather helmets like the Sam Houston to supplant their standard department-issued helmet. As far as I can tell, this happens for three reasons: 1) they’re more comfortable, which I can understand, 2) they look really cool, and 3) they’re a reflection of a fire service tradition. Never mind the fact that they don’t afford any additional protection, that wearing self-purchased equipment can raise liability questions, or that it’s very difficult to decontaminate a leather helmet.

         Cairns 1044

 I don’t want to get into the “leather forever” debate, and I recognize that these helmets are a reflection of an esprit de corps that is important to fire service morale. But it’s not just the leather component- Americans consciously choose fire helmets whose entire design is an anachronism. We force manufacturers to juggle protective capabilities against cosmetic features like oversized brims and high-profile shield holders, instead of holding them accountable for building the safest possible helmet, period.

 Wildland firefighters, as well as our foreign brothers in Britain, Ireland, New Zealand and Japan, long ago embraced helmets solely designed for protection, not “tradition” or fashion. But when I’ve mentioned this at the dinner table in my station, most responses tend to center around how silly “other” helmets look, and how American-style helmets are the best fit for, and I quote, “real” firefighting.

       Asian helmet

 I’ve been involved with fire departments in four states, all on the East Coast, and in seven years have seen a grand total of two jet-style helmets in front-line use. Both were purchased by their wearers, and not by the department. (If someone else has seen them in action in the US, please let me know.)

 I found it interesting that their buddies were quietly jealous at the comfort, protection and durability of the jet-style helmets, and even acknowledged they were probably safer. But these guys couldn’t make the leap to ask their leadership to purchase a few, let alone shell out their own cash, because they were universally afraid of being mocked for wearing something new, different or “unfashionable.” Where else in our protective ensemble or equipment lockers would we admit to letting tradition take precedence over safety? Our fire apparatus? Our medical gear?

            UK helmet

 I’m not saying that jet-style helmets are the answer to everything. But do we have any practical reasons for continuing to place such a premium on history and tradition in the design of a piece of gear that’s built to keep our heads safe? And if not, what will it take to get the American fire service to start demanding protective equipment that puts function first, and fashion last? Because if we want it, they’ll make it.

 Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

Update, April 7, 3:00 pm:
As a point of information, Firegeezer reader Carl S. has sent along this photo of the MSA helmet being used by the Quebec City FD.

You can see several more fireground shots illustrating the helmet “in action” HERE.  (Fire photo fans, be sure to click on it.)