ROBOPAKS - Power when you need it

Tired of running out of power at critical times? Frustrated with constantly purchasing different types of batteries that quickly fail and need replaced? Would you like a single battery system that will run all your DC tools, lights and equipment with more reliability and longer run times?



Lightweight and easy to transport, Robopaks® are heavy-duty all weather systems that provide stable and reliable DC power – WITH EXTREME RUN TIMES. With advanced battery technology, providing multiple voltage capabilities, a single Robopaks® can power an infinite number of different brand and voltage tools, lights and equipment. Robopaks® also solve charging problems associated with other types of batteries. Charge friendly, Robopaks® do not have memory problems, allowing recharge at any point of discharge and they can be left on charge when not in use. Additional features include cost saving refurbish battery replacement programs.




XL 9210
Cat. No. 3482

Able to power hundreds of DC powered tools, lights and equipment with voltage requirements of 6-to-28v (Milwaukee, DeWalt, Hilti, Bosch, Makita, Greenlee, Huskie etc.), this very popular Robopak is encased in a heavy-duty all weather high impact plastic casing and includes durable "O" rings with a shoulder strap. The 6-7/8" base supports a quick-connect side mount lighting system for the "SuperBrite" light (allowing you to run your tool and light separately or at the same time). Charge friendly, the XL 9210 can be recharged at any point of discharge without memory problems and can be left on charge when not in use. Additional features include a cost savings refurbish / battery replacement program and AC or DC charging.

Increase the run times of your tools 6 - 10 times!

Amp Hr @ 24-28v---------12
Amp Hr @ 18v--------------12
Amp Hr @ 14.4 & 12v---24
Amp Hr @ 6v-----------------48


10-5/8"L x 9-11/16"W x 6-7/8"D
Weight: 22 lbs.
Build your own kit with a charger and tool adapter or see our many cost saving combo kits.

Price: $399.00

Designed for RAPID INTERVENTION, EXTRICATION, CONFINED SPACE, SHORING, STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE and numerous other needs, Robopaks®, Robotools® and Robolights® will provide long lasting portable power that will save you money and - FINISH THE JOB!

Largest California wildfires at a glance

Photo by Bob O'Connor Del Puerto Canyon Fire
Five largest wildfires in modern California history:

Cedar Fire, San Diego County, October 2003, 273,247 acres, 427
square miles.
Matilija Fire, Ventura County, September 1932, 220,000 acres,
343 square miles.
Marble Cone Fire, Monterey County, July 1977, 177,866 acres, 278
square miles.
Laguna Fire, San Diego County, September 1970, 175,425 acres,
274 square miles.
Day Fire, Ventura County, September 2006, 162,702 acres, 254
square miles.
---
Source: California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The CDF does not list fires prior to 1932 because records are
unreliable.

GeoMac - Real time wildfire information and maps

Get real-time forest and wildfire information from GeoMAC, part of the US National Interagency Fire Center.

The Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Group or GeoMAC, is an internet-based mapping application originally designed for fire managers to access online maps of current fire locations and perimeters in the conterminous 48 States and Alaska. Using a standard web browser, fire personnel can view this information to pinpoint the affected areas. With the growing concern of western wildland fires in the summer of 2000, this application has also become available to the public.

Via the interactive map, you can see which fires are closest to you, identify fires, even view past fire history. This is especially timely during prime forest fire season here in the Northern hemisphere.

Scientists are predicting a continuing cycle of severe forest fire seasons for the foreseeable future, The year 2002 saw three huge fires that stretched firefighting resources to the breaking point: Biscuit burned 500,000 acres in southwestern Oregon, Rodeo-Chedeski burned 462,000 acres in Arizona, and the Hayman fire burned 136,000 acres in Colorado.

In 2006, 89,000 fires burned across 9.5 million acres. The U.S. Forest Service spent $1.5 billion fighting those fires - about $100 million over budget.

Study Links Wildfires to Ocean Temperatures

By JEFF BARNARD
Associated Press Writer

Using fire scars on nearly 5,000 tree stumps dating back 450 years, scientists have found that extended periods of major wildfires in the West occurred when the North Atlantic Ocean was going through periodic warming.

With the North Atlantic at the start of a recurring warming period that typically lasts 20 to 60 years, the West could be in for an extended period of multiple fires on the scale of those seen in 2002 and 2006, said Thomas W. Swetnam. He's the director of the Laboratory of Tree Ring Research at the University of Arizona and a co-author of the study published in the Dec. 26 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"This study and others have demonstrated that there is an underlying climatic influence on fuels and then on the weather conditions that promote fires," said Dan Cayan, climate researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who did not take part in the study.

Ron Neilson, a U.S. Forest Service scientist who has developed models that predict wildfire danger based on climate models, agreed with the study's conclusions, and noted all the oceans are affected by global warming. And that in turn could exacerbate the wildfire cycle.

Scientists have long seen a relationship between weather in the United States and El Nino, a warming of water in the South Pacific.

When El Nino is strong, the Northwest typically has drought and severe fire seasons, and the Southwest has rain. When the cycle reverses, known as La Nina, the South Pacific cools, the Northwest has more rain, and the Southwest has drought and fires.

Less well understood are two other climate drivers, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, known as the PDO, centered in the North Pacific, which typically changes every 10 to 20 years, and the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, or AMO, which is marked by warming and cooling periods of 20 to 60 years in the North Atlantic.

El Nino-La Nina is thought to be the most influential cycle, but the Atlantic and Pacific oscillations can magnify or diminish those effects when strong phases of the three cycles come together, Swetnam said.

"Over the last 400-plus years in our fire history study, when the AMO was positive (producing warm temperatures in the North Atlantic), then you would get big fires breaking out synchronously across the West," Swetnam said. "That's what we saw in 2002 and 2006."

The year 2002 saw three huge fires that stretched firefighting resources to the breaking point: Biscuit burned 500,000 acres in southwestern Oregon, Rodeo-Chedeski burned 462,000 acres in Arizona, and the Hayman fire burned 136,000 acres in Colorado.

In 2006, 89,000 fires burned across 9.5 million acres. The U.S. Forest Service spent $1.5 billion fighting those fires - about $100 million over budget.

Another factor in the larger fires, said Swetnam, is that after a century of fighting wildfires, fuel is building up in the nation's forests.

The study gathered data from 241 logging sites around the West, compiling the dates of 33,795 fire scars on 4,700 stumps to develop a history of fires in the West dating to 1550.

The fire history was compared to a reconstruction of the Atlantic Decadal Oscillation, the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and El Nino.

The most severe fire seasons fell between 1660 and 1710, when the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation was at its warmest, the study found. The least severe fire seasons happened from 1787 to 1849, when North Atlantic temperatures were at their coolest.

The study comes after another published this year in the journal Science found that a sudden and dramatic increase in western wildfires in the late 1980s was related to a pattern of earlier springs and warmer summers. Swetnam and Cayan both took part in that study.

Greg McCabe, a climatologist for the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, said his research has been showing a connection between North Atlantic Ocean temperatures and the drought that is gripping much of the West, which creates conditions for major fires.

"I think what Tom has written is really good," McCabe said. "More and more people are starting to see there is something there. We do know the tropical Pacific (home to the ocean warming condition known as El Nino) is a key player in global climate. But on longer time scales it looks like the Atlantic also has some influence."

Got to love the Technical/Tactical rescue rigs

Nice article on new rescue rig for the The Kingman Fire Department

This article is reprinted from: kingmandailyminer.com

KINGMAN - The Kingman Fire Department has added a new $198,000 rescue truck to its life-saving fleet this month.

The truck, the first of its kind in the area, was designed and built from the ground up to provide a single vehicle that would hold all the department's more than $33,000 in specific rescue equipment.

"The concept isn't unique to the fire industry," Kingman Fire Battalion Chief Patrick Moore said. "Kingman just got to the size for it."

The funds for the truck were budgeted by the KFD. It took a year to design and build the vehicle.

"It was kind of interesting doing the design because we've never done anything like this before," Kingman Fire Capt. Roger Dixon said. "We pretty much went into the process wide open."

The fire department now has five fire engines, one ladder truck, two brush engines, one hazardous materials engine, one water tender, one utility vehicle and the rescue truck. The department is planning to add another standard response fire engine next year around December with budgeted funds.

In 1997, the KFD started a technical rescue program.

It was responsible for rope, swift water, confined spaces, trench and building rescues, as well as vehicle extraction.

With the launch of the program, the department started budgeting and obtaining the equipment and training necessary to accomplish technical rescues. The equipment was spread out at each station.

The fire department had a standard-size truck with some equipment before. The new truck lacks a hose, pump and water tank, which allows it to have larger compartments to carry equipment such as basket stretchers that are too large to fit on a regular fire engine.

"It gives us just so many more abilities to have positive outcomes," Moore said. "We're definitely excited to have it."

The truck has a five-person cab with each seat having a breathable air tank hook up. It also has its own air supply on board, which can be used to refill firefighters' air tanks.

The KFD has placed extraction equipment, commonly known as the Jaws of Life, on every truck and the new rescue truck has the Jaws of Life - only bigger. The electric power equipment on the truck can be turned on by a flip of a switch, as opposed to the gas-powered equipment on the other trucks that have to be cranked to start.

The truck also has a 25-kilowatt built-in generators, with is at least five times larger than the generators on the standard fire trucks. Floodlights, outlets and cord reels insure the KFD will be prepared to respond to calls in pitch-black locations.

Dixon is currently a part of the technical rescue program and explained they receive less calls than normal fire trucks.

"It's not like there's a high volume," Dixon said. "But, it's usually of significant impact."

Dixon estimates the truck will conservatively get 20 years of use due to the lack of frequent calls.

Right now the truck located at Station No. 3 is not staffed due to the low volume of calls. When a special call comes in for the rescue, a driver from the station will take it out to the scene while a trained cross staff of off-duty firefighters will be called in to meet the truck at the scene.


Tags: "Kingman Fire Department", "rescue truck", "technical rescue program", rope, "swift water", "confined spaces", trench, "building rescues", "vehicle extraction"

The good the bad and the ugly - Water Tenders

In the west they are called "water tenders" out east "water tankers" to the general public they are "water trucks" either way they bring water to areas without a sufficient water supply to fight a fire.

The California Department of Forestry (CDF) now officially known as "CalFire", The United States Forest Service (USFS) and other cooperators such as Bureau of Land Management (BLM), depend on these vehicles to fight fires in areas with limited or no water supplies.

Picture taken at Del Puerto Canyon Fire

Picture by Robert O'Connor 2006

Picture taken at Del Puerto Canyon Fire this summer from the window of my water tender.

FIRE EQUIPMENT SUCCESS STORIES

WSAZ NewsChannel 3 Midday
WSAZ-TV CH 3 (NBC) Charleston/Huntington
FIRE EXTINGUISHER SUCCESS STORIES

Firefighters were on the scene of a small fire at a nursing home in Marmet. A dryer caught fire at Marmet Health Care, but workers were able to put it out with a fire extinguisher. Nobody was hurt, but workers had to move a few patients around as a precaution.

SUPPRESSION SYSTEM SUCCESS STORIES

At 10:30 a.m. at Prince Georges Community Hospital, employees noticed that the fryer in the main kitchen began smoking and the fryer burst into flames. The cooking equipmentÕs automatic fire suppression system detected the fire and activated. The fuel supply to the defective fryer was turned off by the system and a signal was sent to the local fire department. Upon arrival, the fire department found the fire completely extinguished. There was no property damage and an evacuation of hundreds of people was avoided.

STANDPIPE FIRE HOSE STATION SUCCESS STORIES

22News At 11:00
WWLP-TV CH 22 (NBC) Television Springfield, Massachusetts

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a fire at a Ludlow shop this afternoon, with the fire being slowed by workers with fire hoses. Capt. Mark Rabineau, Ludlow Fire Department, says the fire was quickly contained.

HAZGUIDE - HazMat resources in the same place

HAZGUIDE. Now for the first time, the major HazMat resources are all in the same place and at your fingertips. HazGuide is Internet independent which allows you to use it anywhere, anytime.

Now NIOSH, ERG, USFA, CHRIS and over 1,000 corresponding MSDS sheets are fully searchable and cross-referenced. Search by chemical name, UN or CAS number, NFPA or DOT placard.

The training officers at one of the nation’s leading fire training schools, Louisiana State University’s Fire and Emergency Training Institute, use HazGuide in their HazMat training classes.

The FDNY, the East Baton Rouge Fire Department, the NYPD Emergency Services Unit, Boston Fire Department and the U.S. Capitol Police all use HazGuide as part of their standard operations.

And now, HazGuide can be integrated into RespondWare and instantly cross references with all your Tier2 Data. That’s what in-the-line-of-duty technology is all about. See what HazGuide and RespondWare can do for your operations.

RespondWare Mobile Navigation & Data Sharing Technology can be integrated with HazGuide Chemical Explorer.

HazGuide allows responders to search for hazardous materials not only by chemical name but also by: UN number, CAS number, DOT placard or NFPA placard.

The fully searchable and cross-referenced HazGuide includes:

* NIOSH Pocket Guide
* ERG 2000 Guide
* Over 1,000 Corresponding MSDS Sheets
* USFA HazMat Guide
* US Coast Guard CHRIS Guide

Now with greater speed and efficiency you can:

* Identify chemical reactions
* Review at a glance, NIOSH respirator recommendations
* Quickly access procedures and recommendations for chemical classes
* Determine chemical properties such as: flash point, boiling point, lower explosion limit

System requirements for HazGuide

* Windows 98/2000/XP Operating System with the latest service packs & updates
* Minimum 64 MB RAM
* Minimum 500 MB free hard disk space
* 400MHz or faster processor

Please comment on any experience you have with the featured tools

I am creating this site to share information on equipment used by first responders such as Firefighters, Paramedics, Search and Rescue, Police Officers with the idea that everything I feature can be commented on good or bad.
I hope the comments section will be valuable for purchase decision makers and the grunts in the field.
High angle, confined space, white water, and other technical rescue gear along with wildland fire fighting equipment will be featured.
Please comment on any experience you have with any of the featured tools, devices, tactical rescue rigging, firefighting equipment featured on this site.
All experiences negative or positive, hints, tips and tricks, new uses for old equipment, tricks of the trade, actual field experiences with equipment will be highlighted so please feel free to comment or submit articles to be published.