"Tools and Everything for first responders including Federal Government, Municipality, Volunteer, Private contractors, Hazardous materials teams, structual Firefighters, wildland Firefighters and Rescue crews. Also articles on training and educational opportunities for the Fire Service, EMT, Rescue, disaster response. Please submit and comment on stories. Firefighting related Stories."

This site will focus on first responder safety equipment and gear including Fire fighting tools, personnel protective equipment, high angle gear, safety equipment anything and everything for first responders including Federal Government, Municipality, Volunteer, Private contractors, Hazardous materials teams, structual Firefighters, wildland Firefighters and Rescue crews. Also articles on training and educational opportunities for the Fire Service, EMT, Rescue, disaster response.

Thursday, December 28, 2006

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

Del Puerto Canyon fire-By Robert O'Connor

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."

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This site will focus on first responder safety equipment and gear including Fire fighting tools, personnel protective equipment, high angle gear, safety equipment anything and everything for first responders including Federal Government, Municipality, Volunteer, Private contractors, Hazardous materials teams, structual Firefighters, wildland Firefighters and Rescue crews. Also articles on training and educational opportunities for the Fire Service, EMT, Rescue, disaster response.