Boston FD turnout gear questioned

[grumpyff 1,159]

IN yesterday's Boston Hearld, an article brought into question the effectivness of Boston FD's turnout gear, which does not meet the NFPA standards. Here is a link to the article :http://www.bostonherald.com It states the bunker gear is lighter weight than other brands of gear, and also cheaper. Some of the gear in use is also close to 15 years old.

There is also a second article in the Hearld: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/...ticleid=1031163

My question for everyone here, is do you/your department inspect your gear? Is there a plan to replace gear in your department?

I know in my department, one of the chiefs had us fill out a one page survey on our turnout gear. We had to right down the manufacturer, date it was made, serial number, model number, and condition. There is no 'plan' to replace gear, it is done on an as needed basis. Back in the early 90's when I was in Pleasantville, when the first purchases of bunker gear were made, it was 4 sets per company per year. In speaking with some members there, I know a lot of gear was replaced in the last few years.

Edited September 14, 2007 by grumpyff

[Future Fireman 4]

And to that, Viking has this to say.

Mike

Manufacturer Responds to Criticism Over Boston Turnouts

The Boston Herald published a story two days ago about concerns raised over the type of turnout gear worn by Boston firefighters.

The story said that the gear purchased by the city -- manufactured by Denmark-based company Viking -- doesn't met NFPA standards.

Two Boston firefighters perished battling a restaurant blaze on Aug. 28, and while the story did not directly attribute the gear to the deaths, it talked about concerns of safety relating to the incident.

Here is the response to the story sent by Viking to Firehouse.com:

Viking Life-Saving Equipment extends its deepest condolences to the families, co-workers and friends of Boston firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne, who lost their lives in the line of duty.

Media reports involving this unfortunate event have been rife with speculation, which is of course taxing to families and colleagues. Very few facts about the actual cause of death and equipment used have yet to be confirmed.

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment regrets that the quality of the fire suits have been brought into question. We are not interested in fueling more speculation, however we feel it is necessary to clarify many of the factual inaccuracies in the Boston Herald's September 12 article.

Over the last 10 years fire departments have recognized that reducing the risk of injury or death by heat stress is a major issue for firefighters. Heavy, bulky suits have unfortunately contributed to the problem. Many professional fire departments have been looking to marry superior thermal protection with a lightweight suit that provides increased THL (Thermal Heat Loss) properties.

VIKING has provided two versions of fire suits to the Boston Fire Department: the original EN469 version supplied three years ago and the new dual certified EN469/NFPA version supplied from this year. Both of these suits exceeded the NFPA requirements at the time (NFPA 2000 and NFPA 2007) for thermal protection while offering several other advantages for reducing the risk of heat stress.

Important industry standards, such as a product's TPP (Thermal Protective Performance) rating and its THL (Total Heat Loss) rating, are key to product performance. The challenge is to provide a balance that offers good thermal protection while reducing the risk of heat stress-related injuries. The VIKING fire suits chosen by the Boston Fire Department in 2002 have EN469 approval with TPP ratings of 39, which are higher than the US national NFPA standard of 35.

Fire suits with extremely high TPP ratings are typically bulkier and heavier and increase the risk for stress-related injuries and death, including heart attacks. The U.S. Fire Administration's 2006 report of firefighter fatalities in the U.S. concluded that of the 106 deaths recorded that year, 50 were the result of heart attack, while 8 were caused by burns. The agency's provisional report for 2007 so far records 86 firefighter deaths, with 35 attributed to heart attack and 5 to burns.

Fire departments consider numerous safety and performance variables when selecting the best gear for their hardworking firefighters. In statements from the Boston Fire Department, extensive studies of multiple suppliers were conducted by their Joint Safety Committee, which included high-ranking officers and Union-appointed representatives. Six months of field testing by multiple fire stations followed, after which the decision to purchase Viking gear was made.

"The Boston Fire Department viewed the purchase of Viking fire suits as a success story," said Fire Commissioner Roderick Frasier. "After reviewing multiple suits, we chose Viking. The suit exceeds NFPA standards and we've had good feedback from people in the field."

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment is a global market leader in personal protective equipment. We produce high-quality fire suits with superior overall protection. Our concern for firefighter safety has led to constant improvements in gear that have now become industry standards, such as raglan sleeves. This year, we introduced the prototype of the world's first turnout gear with built-in Thermal Sensor Technology, which alerts the user to dangerous temperatures both inside and outside the suit.

We remain committed to meeting the needs of firefighters, and to preventing firefighter injury and death by producing safe, high-quality and affordable equipment offering a supreme overall protection.

Al Osle

VIKING Life-Saving Equipment

President of Americas

Edited September 14, 2007 by Future Fireman

[jloftus 28]

I know this wont go over big for those PC firefighters , but Id gladly go back to hip boots again.

We are so wraped that its hard to feel the enviorment around you, climbing is not easy, and that

lack of freedom makes you work harder and you wind up using air quicker because of it.

Just my thoughts,also I forgot, we dont have extra sets so steam burns can get ya to.

[Remember585 815]

I have a couple of questions that is for everyone, paid and volunteer.

Does your FD have a gear replacement schedule?

Does your FD provide you with "spare gear" in the event your primary gear is soaking wet or in need of repair, you have something to wear?

I hate seeing speculation into FF LODDs before facts of the incident are confirmed. Nothing more painful then having to live with nothing more then question after question about what happened and what went wrong. In the case of the Boston fire, I don't think a falling AC unit would have made a difference in the outcome based on the gear the men were wearing. Right?

I only wore the 3/4 boots and long coat for a couple of years, and I don't know if it was because I was younger, dumber and in better shape but I don't recall feeling like I had taken as much a beating as I do now in the full envelope. The gear protects us and it does give us the ability to do more and push our limits - but something we have to drill into peoples' minds is that it doesn't make us invincible. Knowing our limits is critical - the days of breaking someone's chops because they choose to wear a hood or mask up are gone (I hope). We are all soaking in the information out there of the harmful things in smoke, the recognition and avoiding of flashovers and backdrafts, survival tactics, the benefit of the coordinated attack (venting / line placement, etc.) and the importance of good fireground rehabilitation.

An Incident Commander should be putting people in charge of rehab at all prolonged or hard-working incidents to make sure we get the breaks we need. Chief Officers should provide the training to all of thier personnel to know when to say when, before that Chief is speaking at a funeral that could of been prevented.

[Mac8146 61]

The FDNY has a 10 year replacement policy on bunker gear. Each member is provide 2 sets of gear for use. Every 6 months or so a set is sent out for cleaning and if needed repair or replacement. In the event of contamination or other issues a loaner set of gear can be obtained for temporary use until regular gear is returned.

[IzzyEng4 427]

I posted in a previous topic that the BFD did a turnout gear study back in the later 1990's, I wanna say back in 1997 to be exact. As the Globe's articles said, the BFD was looking into "lighter" gear, gear that would reduce the amount of stress on a firefighters' physical condition, to cut down on the number of hypertensive heart and heart attack issues. They had it set up to the best of my knowledge that they could wear full turnouts for structural attack or 3/4 boots and long coats for outside truck work (just to be brief, there were more specific outlines for this).

I couldn't believe the article when I saw it when the BFD upper ranks were charged with buying inferior PPE. The Bristol gear the BFD used was great gear, some of the departments around me actually followed similar specs and that gear provided NFPA compliant protection. Sad to see this charge but you have to protect the troops.

Seems to be time for a new study since its been more than 10 years they conducted the last one.