Sleep Deprivation in Firefighters

The study of sleep deprivation is extremely important in many regards. Humans don't perform at peak levels without adequate sleep. It will affect you not only physically but mentally as well. There are many reasons behind sleep deprivation but the reality is there is a correlation between the amount of sleep one gets and their overall level of performance. Fire fighters are one of the highest at risk careers for sleep deprivation.

There is a great video (choose New Video 2) and report that illustrates the background basics of sleep patterns and the health and performance effects of sleep deprivation. They are a project that was supported by a cooperative agreement between the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFC) and the United States Fire Administration (USFA), with assistance from the faculty of Oregon Health & Science University.

Click here to view The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Fire Fighters and EMS Responders.


Becky Harmata
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Cooking with bravery

When last we met Winnipeg firefighter Jeff Derraugh, our intrepid local hero had just released his first cook book, Fire Hall Cooking With Jeff the Chef. Now, just over two years have passed and Derraugh has released a second cookbook, Where There's Food There's Firefighters: More Surefire Recipes to Feed Your Crew (Touchwood Editions, $19.95).

This husband and father of five and grandfather of two attributes the popularity of the first book to good old-fashioned-word-of-mouth. Six months after the first printing, a second was ordered.

"I wrote it to have it be conversational, so that the book is kind of "talking to you," says Derraugh, "I think it should read like a conversation, like you're there and you're kibitzing in the kitchen. It seemed to be what people liked about the first book."...[read more]

Source: Winnipeg Free Press (click for full story)

Becky Harmata
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Firefighter Tribute Commentary

After all the years I’ve been dispensing advice and preaching the gospel according to me, I can’t believe I have never yet expressed appreciation and admiration for firefighters. What an oversight!

Firefighters are unique in our society…the only people whose job it is to go into an inferno, when common sense and every human instinct tells us to get out and stay out. If you come to grief, whether in a traffic or water accident, storm, flood, earthquake…you name it…you are most likely to be saved by a firefighter.

We were sitting at dinner with a firefighter on the weekend when a guest began to choke and collapsed. Immediately, our friend began using the Heimlich maneuver, a technique used to dislodge an object blocking someone's airway. I’m sure you know it works by sending a blast of air upward through the windpipe. But there’s a big difference between training practice and the real thing. It took considerable physical strength, it took considerable emotional strength and it took what seemed like forever! But it saved a person’s life which is why I vowed to take another St. John Ambulance course and went on line to print out a copy of the 4-step Heimlich procedure.

Earlier in the week, this same firefighter went through incredible anguish when two of his closest friends ran into trouble inside the burning Reed’s Restaurant in Meaford. And just the week before, he fought the toughest blaze of his thirty-year career at Chapman’s Ice Cream in Markdale.

Boy, this would not be the job for me! Honestly, until the other night I didn’t understand why a person would risk life and limb going into a building where you can’t see and you can’t breath and the flames lick at you. I told him it doesn’t make any sense to accept the cumulative damage of inhaling smoke and other toxins fighting fire after fire.

No, it’s not for me, but at least I get it now. This man doesn’t see himself as a hero, but there’s no other word for it. They are heroes and this is my salute to firefighters…thank you…because you really do put others first…you care beyond my mere words.

Source: Bayshore Broadcasting News Centre
September 15, 2009
by: Ross Kentner

Becky Harmata
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New Wildland Firefighter Plaque

New Wildland Firefighter Plaque

With all the wildfires currently burning in BC, we thought it fitting to add a Wildland Firefighter Plaque to our line of Firefighter Plaques. To view our full line of Firefighter Plaques click here.


Becky Harmata
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Brampton Firefighters Claim 3 Regional Championships

Brampton firefighters claim three regional championships
By Pam Douglas The Caledon Enterprise

Brampton firefighters claimed three regional championships in the FireFit Challenge at Chinguacousy Park this past weekend, taking every event in which they competed.

The Brampton 1 team won both the relay and team competitions, while the Over 40 team topped its relay event.

Brampton Fire Chief Andy MacDonald, a member of the winning Over 40 team, said the wins set the stage for next year when Brampton will host the big event— the FireFit Canadian Championships.

“It was a tremendous success,” MacDonald said of the regional competition.

This year, the national championships will be held in Gaspe, Quebec, Sept. 3-6.

The sixth annual Blazin’ Summer Weekend FireFit Regional Challenge brought thousands out to the stands to watch, despite a downpour Saturday afternoon.

The Brampton 1 team consisted of Brad Welsh, Steve Keegstra, Drew Heurter, Sean Romanek and Chad Abra.

The Over 40 team included MacDonald and Peter Reid, Mark Evans, Dan Rowland (three former Canadian champions) and Marcel Fournel.

The FireFit Challenge is a race against the clock performed in full firefighting gear. They climb, pull, spray and drag their way to the finish line in team, individual and relay competitions.

The competition simulates firefighting tasks often required during emergency situations, such as running up flights of stairs carrying a hose and dragging a ‘victim’ across the finish line.
Participants run up a five-storey FireFit tower, fully clothed in heavy firefighter gear, breathing apparatus and boots and carrying a 20 kilogram roll of hose, pull a rope attached to another 20 kilogram roll of hose up from the ground and run down again.

Competitors then must move a 65 kilogram weight nearly two metres with a hammer, run a slalom course to pick up a fire hose that weighs 150 kilogram when extended and hit a target with the water stream.

They then pick up a life-sized dummy, the weight of an average man, and drag it a distance of 30 m.


Becky Harmata
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West Kelowna Fires - Terrace Mountain

Crews confident Terrace fire is out
by Kelly Hayes - Story: 48830
Picture by Stew Alcock on Castanet.net

Crews on the front lines fighting the Terrace Mountain fire are feeling optimistic that the worst is over.

With a drop in the temperature and a rise in humidity, the hundreds of fire fighters are making headway on the 9,000 hectare blaze that broke out nearly a month ago.

As of Wednesday, the fire was 75 per cent contained and crews are feeling upbeat.

"Things are much calmer now. It's way colder than it used to be," says Hugo Bergeron of Quebec.

"Right now we're at the mop up stage and the area above Fintry and La Casa Resort is protected. This area is secure and if anything should happen, we'll wait for it."

BC forest fire fighter, Quinton Barabesh, is confident the Terrace Mountain fire is on its last legs.

"I think we've put it out. I don't think she's going to take another run on us. I would be surprised if it took off on us again."

Only a handful of residents remain on evacuation order.

Becky Harmata
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National Firefighter Health Week Aug 17-21

Whether you are just considering adopting better health habits or already maintain a healthy lifestyle, National Firefighter Health Week, August 17-21, is your opportunity to focus on your total health – heart, mind, and body – so that you can keep it strong all year long for those who depend on you: your family, your department and your community.

Each day during National Firefighter Health Week is dedicated to a different part of an overall healthy lifestyle, tailored specifically for fire and emergency service personnel. To view the topics for the 2009 National Firefighter Health Week and for useful links click here.

Article from EHS Today magazine.

Becky Harmata
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Gorman Bros. Mill saved from flames in West Kelowna

Gorman Bros. Mill saved from flames
By Don Plant The Daily Courier
Kelowna, BC Canada

Employees, firefighters and Mother Nature have helped defend the Gorman Bros. mill from catastrophe -- so far.
The massive lumber mill, West Kelowna’s largest employer, has been at the epicentre of the Glenrosa fire since it broke out above the site Saturday afternoon. Aside from fire damage to the roof of a finger-jointer and some burned lumber piles, the mill was still intact Sunday afternoon.
"We’ve been very fortunate. A lot of people have been working very hard," said Nick Arkle, the company’s chief forester.
"The damage can be repaired. There might be an impact on production for awhile."
A crew of about 20 employees worked Saturday night and Sunday morning to douse the property and make sure spot fires didn’t break out. Despite their efforts, several piles of 1-by-10- and 1-by-12-inch lumber near the forest edge went up in flames.
Helicopters resumed bucketing water around the mill and a fresh crew of 15 to 20 employees replaced the overnight brigade after daybreak Sunday. Firefighters with the forest service and structural fire departments ensured flames nearby didn’t spread.
The wind was fairly calm in the morning. It blew from the southeast Sunday afternoon, which took the fire away from the mill but uphill toward Gates and McIver roads.
"The fire is fairly stable," Arkle said at 3:30 p.m. from the Gorman Bros. log yard. "All we need is strong winds and it will all blow up again."
The Okanagan has been hit with a fiery cocktail of low humidity, heat and strong winds.

Picture by Stew Alcock from Castanet.net.

Becky Harmata
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New Artist added to Firefighter Print line

New Firefighter Print Artist added to product line

As we are always searching for new and exciting products to add to our collection we are very excited to introduce an artist whose work is new to us! You can check out her work in our Firefighter Prints section at http://www.fireemporium.com/ and follow the catagory link to Firefighter Prints.

Jodi Monroe has been drawing portraits for over 20 years, but over the past 6 years she has truly found a passion for rendering works celebrating the profession of firefighting. Her goal and passion for each work of art is to make it so incredibly life-like that you can feel the energy of the subject.

She is married to a career firefighter, Jeremiah, and together they have a son and a daughter. Because of her husband, her mother, who repairs turn-out gear for fireman all across the country(www.fixturnout.com) and her Uncle, who was fire chief for many years in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, she has been associated with the profession of firefighting most of her life.

She also makes a donation of 20% from each print that she sells to the Hoosier Burn Camp to help children in Indiana who have been affected by fire.


Becky Harmata
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'Line of Duty Death' - Firefighters give cancer victim grand sendoff.

Alberta firefighters buried one of their own yesterday while urging the province to add to the list of "presumptive" job-related cancers it recognizes for compensation. That includes esophageal cancer, the disease that killed Capt. Alexander Fred Harris a week ago.

The union has declared Harris's death "a line of duty death" and gave him a grand send off yesterday afternoon as hundreds of firefighters marched through downtown to the First Presbyterian Church to bid farewell to the 53-year-old who died June 20.

A fleet of fire trucks lined 100 Avenue and 105 Street and a large Canadian flag fluttered in the air, hoisted by two fire truck ladders, while a bagpiper played a solemn tune.

Mourners hugged, held hands and looked on with tears in their eyes as a group of eight pallbearers unloaded Harris's casket from a fire truck adorned with a funerary wreath and black drapes.

After the service, a flag-folding ceremony was held. The Maple Leaf and Harris's cap were presented to his wife, Sharon Harris, followed by a Last Bell Ceremony. His body was later interred at Glory Hill Cemetery.

"Capt. Harris was the type of man where within 10 mins of meeting him, you felt like he had been your best friend your whole life," said Greg Holubowich, president of Edmonton Firefighters' Union. "He was a firefighter's firefighter who was always concerned about the people he helped. You always trusted he had your back in a fire."

Holubowich said Harris, a married father of two grown children and a 30-year fire veteran had been preparing for retirement and had even planned to open a business restoring antique cars before he was struck by the illness.
Article from the Edmonton Sun

Becky Harmata
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