50 Years/50 Advancements

[efdcapt115 1,511]

A member of this forum has asked me to put forward the question (he's busy chasing bears out of his backyard in Pennsylvania). Another member of this forum, a well respected, retired Chief from the FDMV is about to celebrate 50 years of involvement in the fire service. So, the question; how has the fire service advanced over the past 50 years? I guess we're technically talking about 1959 as the approximate start date. I'm going to start off with a simple few. If you'd add your responses and give a little input as to how the subject you mention has been an advancement, it could be funny, informative, whateva:

1. Enclosed cabs on the rigs.

The reason this was done, originally by the firefighters themselves until the manufacturers caught on, was to prevent objects being hurled at them in urban areas, when firefighters represented authority and American cities were burning down at an alarming rate due to socio-economic reasons, and the anti-war movement.

2. Bunker Gear as it is today.

Allows for better protection of the firefighters body, allows members to search deeper, and do a more effective job at saving lives.

3. S.C.B.A.

The old time smoke eaters were basically breathing natural burning materials, wood, fabric, etc. With the development of plastics and other toxic materials in furniture and construction, it become apparent that the old way wouldn't work anymore if you wanted members to actually stay alive for the course of their careers; alas the S.C.B.A. became less of a sign of "weakness" and more of a sign of "smarts".

Let's see if we can take this thing to 50. Thanks in advance for any responses.

Edited October 17, 2009 by efdcapt115

[FFPCogs 863]

4. Certification and training standards

In today's service it is commonplace to have firefighters certified by the State through an accrediting agency such as ProBoard or IFSAC to a standard level of competency (on paper anyway...lol)

5. How about preconnected lines on the rigs

Although this practice has been around for at least 30-35 years in general, back in 1949 most lines were pulled from a dead load and then connected to the pump

6. ICS, IMS, NIMS or any other nationally recognized alphabet soup of an Incident Command System

Here again IC has been around since the beginning, but now we have a standardized and nationally recognized "system" that in theory puts us all on the same page

7. Terrorism and WMD training

As a sign of the times we have now taken to training our members to handle emergencies never dreamed of back in 1949

8. Medical response / EMT/MRT-CFR certification

Probabably the most noticable change has been the rather recent (circa mid 1980's) general adoption of medical responses as a matter of course for FDs nationwide. This has led to an increase of call volume especially in smaller dept.s to a level far in excess of anything imagined back in 1949

There's my $.02 for now

On a side note in relation to bunker gear.

In a discussion on this subject yesterday it struck me how contradictory these recent developments in our turnout gear are. What I mean by this is that we now have gear that let's us get further into burning buildings in a relatively safer manner personally, yet construction practices have come to the point where many of these very same buildings are far less safe for us to be in faster, thus making entry farther into them more dangerous overall.

Stay Safe

Cogs

Edited October 17, 2009 by FFPCogs

[Guest]

9. Fire suppression systems (sprinklers) and warning devices (heat, smoke, CO detectors).

[HFD23 37]

10. Thermal Imaging Cameras

[spin_the_wheel 460]

11. How about communication systems, every rig now has a radio and almost all crew members now have a portable radio of their own to communicate with each other and the dispatch center.

Edited October 17, 2009 by spin_the_wheel

[NJMedic 96]

12. Building Construction

[spin_the_wheel 460]

13. 9-1-1 systems...96% of the geographic U.S. has some form of 911 system in place.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

14. the creation of the Hurst tool by George Hurst in the early 70's.

Edited October 17, 2009 by spin_the_wheel

[CG206 29]

15) HAZMAT speedy dry, absorbant pads, booms....no more "wash downs"

[ex-commish 490]

I feel the over all climate of the fire service has changed. At one time we could joke around, bust chops, and laugh about it but now you have to worry about being brought up on charges or sued due to a politically correct element and gutless leadership. One thing that hasn't changed in the volunteer side is officer selection. It was a popularity contest in the past and has now become more of a popularity contest now. If you fit in with the right crowd you are in. If you are willing to be a yes man you are in. If you If you speak up for what is right for the safety of the members which includes telling people they should't be in the fire department, you are out. All of the advancements posted in here are great and should be applauded but they won't be worth a damn if we keep "electing" dangerous, incompetent people simply because it is the right thing to do.

[FFPCogs 863]

I feel the over all climate of the fire service has changed. At one time we could joke around, bust chops, and laugh about it but now you have to worry about being brought up on charges or sued due to a politically correct element and gutless leadership. One thing that hasn't changed in the volunteer side is officer selection. It was a popularity contest in the past and has now become more of a popularity contest now. If you fit in with the right crowd you are in. If you are willing to be a yes man you are in. If you If you speak up for what is right for the safety of the members which includes telling people they should't be in the fire department, you are out. All of the advancements posted in here are great and should be applauded but they won't be worth a damn if we keep "electing" dangerous, incompetent people simply because it is the right thing to do.

The fire service like so much of our society today, has become a culture of ME instead of one of WE and with that shift comes all manner of "problems" dinosaurs like me find distasteful to say the least.

Cogs

[FirNaTine 370]

Biggest change I have seen is the lowering of standards resulting in incompetent ffs being hired destroying the Fire Service and its purpose as a whole. Unfortunately everyone suffers in the long run.

[jd783 64]

16) bunker gear,SCBA, Hoods

[weaselff 6]

17.) More guys paying attention to Phsysical fitness. 50 years ago guys were doing "12 oz curls" washed down with "liquid bread" protein shakes. I'm guessing guys started getting involved with "Arnold" inspired weight training in the 1970's, which has now progressed to members doing more functional fitness stuff today like CrossFit and P90X.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

18. The Rabbit Tool: yes this old backbreaker was indeed a groundbreaker for firefighting in all those type 1 multi-dwellings with metal doors and frames. One member could now forseeably do the work of two forcible entry crews using the irons.

Then the SWAT development of the Hydra Ram made that function even easier for the firefighter. Lighter, easier to negotiate, the Hydra Ram is one bad @ss little tool no doubt.

[Bnechis 3,961]

1. Enclosed cabs on the rigs.

The reason this was done, originally by the firefighters themselves until the manufacturers caught on, was to prevent objects being hurled at them in urban areas, when firefighters represented authority and American cities were burning down at an alarming rate due to socio-economic reasons, and the anti-war movement.

Let's see if we can take this thing to 50. Thanks in advance for any responses.

George, I agree there has been a lot of change, both good and bad. I always understood the cabs were enclsoed for the above reason, until I went to the maryland fire museum. THey have a number of rigs from the 1930's & 1940's that were enclosed, the real question then, is why did we go to open cabs, then back to closed for urban rock attacks.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

19. Diesel exhaust extraction systems: finally after decades of sucking in fumes in the barn, the members have good extraction systems. No more fans, no more open the barn door, etc. Probably everybody in the the business knows of brothers who checked out of this life early because of some strange cancer. We had ours. And hopefully never again.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

George, I agree there has been a lot of change, both good and bad. I always understood the cabs were enclsoed for the above reason, until I went to the maryland fire museum. THey have a number of rigs from the 1930's & 1940's that were enclosed, the real question then, is why did we go to open cabs, then back to closed for urban rock attacks.

Thanks for that info Barry. I didn't know that. Always thought the rigs were open to the cool breezes for eternity until we somehow became the enemy and had to fortify the rigs.

[Bnechis 3,961]

4. Certification and training standards..... In today's service it is commonplace to have firefighters certified by the State through an accrediting agency such as ProBoard or IFSAC to a standard level of competency (on paper anyway...lol)

While this is true for many states, in NYS what has happened since 1959 is that laws have been put into place requiring minimum training for career firefighters, minimum training for officers and testing for advancement. The requirements for volunteers are not much different today then in 1959.

5. How about preconnected lines on the rigs Although this practice has been around for at least 30-35 years in general, back in 1949 most lines were pulled from a dead load and then connected to the pump

Pulling lines from deadloads insures you will have enough hose to get to the fire. Another common problem with preconnects is they often make it too easy for the driver to line them up with the front door and block out the truck. We prefer deadloads, as does FDNY and others.

[Bnechis 3,961]

12. Building Construction

A lot has changed in construction but very little has helped firefighters. Light weight trusses, wood I beams, "c" joists and more combustible interiors. The good thing is firefighters are more aware of the hazards.

[Bnechis 3,961]

19. Diesel exhaust extraction systems: finally after decades of sucking in fumes in the barn, the members have good extraction systems. No more fans, no more open the barn door, etc.

George, we fought hard for this one and it was a great improvement. Interesting note with the new EPA requirements on diesel exhaust our newest rigs (E25, 30u1 and unknown about R-4) can not use these systems or it voids the warrenty on the engines. On the good note, they are so much cleaner, that its not the same issue.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

On a side note in relation to bunker gear.

In a discussion on this subject yesterday it struck me how contradictory these recent developments in our turnout gear are. What I mean by this is that we now have gear that let's us get further into burning buildings in a relatively safer manner personally, yet construction practices have come to the point where many of these very same buildings are far less safe for us to be in faster, thus making entry farther into them more dangerous overall.

Stay Safe

Cogs

That's a good point; especially when you consider truss construction.

[rbuchjr 0]

20. How about no more riding on the back step of rigs? This was tradition for guys to come running into the firehouse and jump on the back step as the truck pulled out of the barn. I know of some departments who allowed this all the way into the mid 90's...

[Remember585 815]

21. Apparatus design.

22. LDH

[efdcapt115 1,511]

23. Hand held CO detectors: Took the death of Vitas Geralitis the tennis star, for the general public to freak out about the dangers of CO. The manufacturers followed with a bevy of detection devices, and then instead of having to light a match above the hot water tank to see if it was getting a draft, firemen got hand held units to check CO levels.

Added to the runs as well.

[moggie6 54]

24. The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation and Firefighter Close Calls.com

[NJMedic 96]

A lot has changed in construction but very little has helped firefighters. Light weight trusses, wood I beams, "c" joists and more combustible interiors. The good thing is firefighters are more aware of the hazards.

I was going to say "some good, some bad" but I left it at that.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

25. NIOSH/OSHA

26. Fire Prevention and Safety Grants

[gamewell45 258]

going from tube radios to solid state; thus improving communication, transmitter/receiver stability and allowing numerous capabilities.

[efdcapt115 1,511]

28. Automatic transmissions in the apparatus.

I can just imagine some of the old timers, when standard shift transmissions were the norm, and how smooth they must have been in the face of pulling up to a job, and having to press the clutch, throw the pump mpo, and engage the clutch smoothly.

We had a 55 La France pumper three speed, gas motor, and even though it was by then the spare engine, we drove it and practiced, and occassionaly used it in service.

Now who remembers their early days as a Chauffer, and you got in the rig for a run and your legs were all shaky? And I'm talking modern automatic transmission days now. Still was a challenge right?

That's what gave me the appreciation for all the guys before us, who drove those standard shift pumpers, open cabs, through snowstorms, frozen plugs, and cotton lined hose and still got those aerials up and the water flowing.

On a side note: GO YANKEES!