NJ Firefighters Online Blog-NJ Fire News/Events from around the web

All firefighters should watch this video:

http://www.wisn.com/video/17971947/

Local fire departments wary of hurricane windows

By NICHOLAS HUBA
MANAHAWKIN BUREAU

Asbury Park Press
http://www.app.com

Approximately four years ago, Joe Paolo of the Stafford Township Volunteer Fire Company was assisting with a fire call in Harvey Cedars, when a call came to ventilate the house.

“I took out the sledge hammer and tried to swing, and the window would not break,” Paolo recalled. “Then I had to go back and get a saw to cut through the window. If I would have known that the window was hurricane-proof and the window had some type of marking, I would have saved the five minutes that it took to get the saw. During a situation like that, every second counts.”

While hurricane-proof windows provide homeowners with protection from dangerous storms, they can cause problems for firefighters trying to gain entry to the house. Homes with the windows are not required to have any markings to notify first responders of the windows.

The windows, featuring two sets of glass, can withstand sustained winds from 110-120 miles per hour within 1 mile of the coast and 120-129 miles per hour greater than 1 mile from the coast.

When broken, the first pane of glass “spiders” like a car windshield. The only way for firefighters to cleanly break through the first pane is to cut it with a saw.

The issue of gaining entry to homes with hurricane windows has become a concern to local fire departments.

“It’s something that concerns all of the departments,” said Sean Marti, chief of the High Point Volunteer Fire Company. “You never know when you are going to encounter these windows, and during the times of a rescue, every second counts.”

The High Point Fire Department services all of Harvey Cedars and sections of North Beach and Loveladies in Long Beach Township.

“There needs to be some type of marking on the windows to make sure that we know the equipment that we need,” Marti said.

In order to educate departments on hurricane windows, WindowRama and Super Enterprises demonstrated how to get through the windows Thursday at the Stafford Volunteer Fire Company. The event drew fire departments from all over the area, including Barnegat Light, Surf City, High Point and Harvey Cedars.

“When a department gets to a call, they do not know what type of windows they are,” said John Barbagallo, director of business development for WindowRama. “We thought it would be nice to come to the departments and show them the windows and the best way to get into them.”

Heidi Michel, township fire official, said the township has recently started looking into developing some type of marking system for hurricane windows.

“Having a marking system would make it easier for firefighters to know that these are hurricane windows and they will have to use a saw to get through them,” Michel said. “Right now, we are currently in talks with the building department about possibly developing a system to let the departments know that these windows are in the house.”

Township Administrator Paul J. Shives said the township would be in favor of looking into developing a system to notify departments that a home has the windows.

“Maybe we can look into starting a public information campaign, where we can have businesses sponsor the creating of stickers that would allow the department to know right away what kind of window it was,” Shives said.

Time is of the essence during a fire call, said Paul Morris, a commercial division manager for Super Enterprises.

“Come a call at 2 a.m. and it’s dark out, there should be a marking on the window that lets you know if the windows are hurricane proof. Every second counts” Morris said. “That is why getting an international marking system is so critical.”

Morris said the International Building Council, the group that develops the International Building Code, is in the process of developing a marking system for the hurricane windows, but that could still take some time.

“So right now, it has to fall on the township to develop some type of system to mark the homes that have these type of windows,” Morris said. “The international code is going to take some time, because the different council has to come to a common marking system for these types of windows.”

May 28, 2008

First responders test their alertness at Fort Monmouth disaster drill

By KEITH BROWN
Asbury Park Press: http://www.app.com
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080528/NEWS/80528069

FORT MONMOUTH — Three people died and another 13 were taken to local hospitals after simulated cyanide gas was released just before 10 a.m. in an office building auditorium where a faux awards ceremony was being held.

All are feeling much better now.

The “casualties” were the result of Timely Alert VII, a mass casualty disaster
drill involving more than 100 first responders designed to test the response of
emergency personnel reacting to a terrorist scenario.

The drill was conducted at the giant Myer Center in the fort’s Charles Wood area, where about 1,500 people were evacuated beginning at 9:52 a.m. following reports of a gas that was released in a first-floor auditorium.

“What this does is really puts a test to what you already have in writing,” said
Harry Connover of the James Thomas Group, a garrison contractor that designed
Wednesday’s scenario.

YouTube video of a department drill on Wall Breaching….