McConnell's firefighters turn up the heat

Published April 9, 2012
By Staff Sgt. Maria A. Ruiz
22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- Temperature rising. "Keep moving, remember your training." Facemask fogging. Muscles straining along the beat of an exhausted heart.

A firefighter's body and mind is often placed in harm's way for the safety of others. Improvements on vehicles, gear and equipment have improved their fight against fires.

The 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron has added a P-34 Rapid Intervention Vehicle to it's fleet of 13 command, crash, structural and hazardous materials response vehicles. The P-34 RIV is the Air Force's first crash response vehicle to use ultra high pressure firefighting technology.

It uses a front bumper-mounted turret to discharge 100 gallons of firefighting agent per minute at 1,350 pounds per square inch at a range of 100 feet.

UHP expels small water droplets that increase up to four times the total water surface area, which allows the P-34 RIV to perform more effectively than conventional firefighting vehicles and increases the length of time a vehicle can remain on the scene without having to resupply.

"A 1,000-gallon vehicle that discharges 1,000 gallons per minute yields one minute of firefighting capability at the scene. With new UHP technology that same 1,000-gallon vehicle now has firefighting capability equivalent to a 3,500-gallon vehicle," said Jim Podolske, Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency firefighting subject matter expert, in a AFCE magazine issue of.

The P-34 RIV is primarily designed as a crash response vehicle, but could be used for other firefighting applications due its versatility.

According to the AFCE magazine, the Air Force plans to buy a total of 238 P-34 RIVs; with each Air Force installation receiving at least one vehicle.

Not only is the new vehicle being added, but new structural gear will be supplied as well.

Until now, McConnell had 67 civilian and military firefighters with only proximity suits to use for structural, rescue, medical and aircraft training and real-world emergency responses. Proximity suits are created with an aluminized outer coating to reflect high temperatures away from the firefighter. The suits are mainly used in firefighting applications of extreme heat such as aircraft and some chemical fires.

In contrast, structural gear is lighter material fitted to the firefighter's body frame for flexibility and comfort. This gear is more commonly used for fighting interior fires, structural, car and rescue operations.

"The structural gear gives our guys a huge morale boost and does help us integrate with mutual aid fire department counterparts since the majority of our calls are off-base, medical and fire alarms," stated Tech. Sgt. Joseph Mauro, 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department logistics NCO in charge. "The gear's comfort makes it ideal for day-to-day operations, training and emergencies."

All gear and suits consist of outer shells, moisture barriers and thermal liners made with insulated and reinforced fire-resistant fabric blends to protect the firefighter from the heat.

"Being inside lighter and more flexible gear will help us [firefighters] not get tired as fast, save more lives and grab more people during a structural fire," said Airman 1st Class Dale Petty, 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter. Petty has approximately 4 years of civilian and military firefighting experience.

The change in comfort-level for some is the difference of suit fitting. A proximity suit worn by an Air Force firefighter must be large enough to accommodate wearing a chemical protective overgarment suit. While bulky, the CPO makes the proximity suit suitable to wear in CBRN threat environments.

On the contrary, since the structural gear cannot be used in CBRN environments, the Air Force firefighter can wear the gear custom fitted to their body.

The addition of the structural gear, which has a service life of 10 years, will also help extend the service life of the proximity suit, which only has a service life of about five years.

"Putting the structural gear into service will extend the life of the proximity gear because the [proximity] gear will only be used for crash emergencies," said Mauro.

McConnell firefighters have re-energized their force with the P-34 RIV and structural gear. As Petty would say, "The structural gear is awesome!"