The Oakland Volunteer Fire Co. (Johnstown, Pa.) won TRI Air Testing’s 2013 Volunteer Fire Department Grant Program grand prize. Photo: Oakland VFC
Nearly 70% of the firefighters in the United States are volunteer firefighters, and roughly two-thirds of all fire departments are volunteer fire departments (VFDs). That is more than 750,000 emergency service personnel and 21,000 VFDs!
VFDs play an essential role in the national emergency response network. While departments everywhere—VFDs and standard fire departments—have increasingly been pressured to do more with less, one place they should never be asked to cut back is on safety, such as checking and verifying the integrity of their breathing air supplies.
Volunteer departments, however, generally operate with significantly lower funding; so safety checks (such as equipment age/use and sampling of breathing air) are less frequent or not conducted at all.
TRI Air Testing held a contest in 2013—the TRI Air Testing Grant Program—to honor VFDs by seeking nominations of departments and awarding numerous free air tests to help these smaller departments validate the integrity of their air supplies.
Our grand winner for the 2013 year has been selected:
Ronald Helsel,
Oakland Volunteer Fire Company
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
TRI Air Testing will provide the Oakland Volunteer Fire Company one free NFPA 1989 Compressed Breathing Air Test and one $500 cash grant.
Volunteer fire departments are just as likely to encounter life-threatening situations, but their resources are nearly always far more limited–including limitations on basic testing to ensure safe breathing air. Photo: Oakland VFC.
FIREFIGHTERS, BREATHING AIR & TESTING
There are purchase and loan options for various air testing kits. Seen here: the Compressed Air Sampling Kit from TRI Air Testing. This kit is available on loan and captures breathing air samples at the source.
TRI Air Testing is an AIHA Accredited Laboratory specializing in the analysis of Compressed Breathing Air Quality Testing for firefighters and SCBA Air.
Our compressed air testing kits—which are available for purchase or on loan—help fire departments collect compressed breathing air samples at the source to yield accurate, detailed understanding of their compressed air quality and SCBA air. Compressed air plays a huge role in keeping firefighters safe. TRI Air Testing is proud to be part of this field, NFPA and the annual FDIC event. Visit with us at the FDIC Show 2014 and get updates on Twitter @FirefighterAir
We serve fire departments everywhere, offering high-quality compressed air test kits that uniquely collect samples at the source, 24-hour turnaround of results, and online access to reports. TRI provides testing for SCBA breathing air for NFPA 1989, Grade D, OSHA and more!
Stay safe! Test your air.
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TRI, an AIHA-accredited laboratory, provides compressed air testing with excellence in quality and science.www.airtesting.com
