Quote:APPLETON, Wis. (November 18, 2014) Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, has sold seven Pierce® Arrow XT 100-foot heavy-duty aerial tiller apparatus to the Los Angeles City Fire Department (LAFD) in California. These seven apparatus comprise the initial installment of an ongoing 10-year tag on contract.

11/15/14 New Haven, CT – Companies were dispatched for reported smoke and fire in the area. Upon their arrival they found heavy smoke in the area. A further investigation found a vacant, three-story, wood frame with heavy smoke and fire showing. Companies assumed a defensive attack using master streams and hand lines. Truck 1 was special called and went to work with their tower ladder darkening down the heavy volume of fire. There were no exposure issues or life hazards. The blaze took about an hour to bring under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation and is being called suspicious.

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Any photos of DCFD's new Pierce engines?

Caught this worker about 2 miles from my house tonight. Wichita Fire Department Battalion 4 was fire due and gave heavy smoke showing. Squad17/Quint 17/Engine 16 were fire attack. Truck 4 was vertical ventilation. Battalion 1/Fire Training Officer were safety. Quint 21 was water supply.

 





 



 



 

The college that I teach firefighting at purchased 30 MSA air packs in September.  We bought the M7XT model, with 4500 PSI.

 

2 small volunteer departments near us also bought these, for a total of 30 between them, also being received in September.   All these packs are in service.

 

We have had a number of issues at the college with these.  We have had 7 Bypass knobs turn gritty and jam, not being able to open or close any longer.  We had 1 strap completely lose its stitching and come apart at one end, and had 2 others with regulator issues.  The straps twist very easy and get jammed or twisted around on a daily basis.  Our packs here are used a lot and are used quite hard.

 

I checked with the smaller departments near us and neither has had any issues. at least up until the time I spoke with them.

 

What also concerns me, is the department that I work full time with, has 500 packs on order, and I am fearful that we might be getting a whole lot of problems.

 

Does anyone here have any experience with these packs or know of departments that have them?  What are the issues, if any, and are they similar to ours?

 

I would appreciate any and all comments on these packs. When speaking with the manufacturer's representative, they said they have no other issues such as these that they are aware of.  Perhaps it is just a bad batch of a particular part, and there will be a recall to fix. 

 

Sunday me and a few other photographers shot with the Exception of 1 engine and a few chief gigs all of Parsippany 

 

First up is District 1 Mt Tabor Here we missed the 1 engine we didn't get.

 

Mt Tabor Tower Ladder 611 is a 1995 Pierce Lance 

 

<div>I took in a tragic 3-11 alarm EMS Plan 1 fire early Sunday morning at 5727 Kimball. This is the far north side of the city in an area that seldom sees any fire. The building was a very large u shaped fully occupied apartment building, and the fire ocurred about 0300. By listening to the radio traffic they reported jumpers on the ground, people trapped and a burned out stairwell. This was a nasty job. I arrived shortly after the 2-11 , and observed some heavy fire conditions. Judging by the radio traffic the fire had posession of most of the top floor and cockloft. They did go defensive for a while but the majority seemed to be tough interior work pulling ceilings and attempting to access the heavy fire conditions in the cockloft area. An 8 year old child was killed and numerous others were injured..some by jumping. I am enclosing a selection of images and a link to the video as well. I also have an aerial view from Apple maps that gives a good idea of the size of the building.
 In November of 2007 I was at a 2-11 in the same building...</div>
Steve

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Looking for WBFD photos of apparatus from late 1960's to early 1970's.

Images from a trip to the Motor City during Devil's Night activity. Arrived in the city the evening of the October 28th and departed around noon on October 31. Caught a few good jobs and missed a few others.

 

First up was the first fire of the trip. McCllellan Street betwen Moffat & E. Warren. Fire in a vacant dwelling.

 

 

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Some of my DC friends were supplying me virtual on-the-scene reports.

View from the Charlie-David corner