12 minute read
Chiefs of the Year
Community Supports Injured Firefighter
On June 2, 2022, Southeast Bullitt Lieutenant Terrell Bryant and his wife, Rehab memberChristina, were involved in a fiery automobile accident. Southeast Bullitt Fire Department, with assistance from Shepherdsville Fire Department, were dispatched to the scene. Terrell and Christina made it out of the vehicle with significant burns to theirbodies. They were transported to University of Louisville Medical Centervia Bullitt County EMS. Sadly, Christina passed away from herinjuries on June 9, 2022. Terrell was in a coma fornearly one-and-a-half months. He was released from the hospital on July 13. The head doctorof the burn unit said he was a walking miracle. The community support has been awesome. Just keep praying for Terrell and his kids. - Submitted by Erik Butler
The Kentucky Association of Fire Chiefs has named Hopkinsville Fire Department’s Chief Steve Futrell as their 2022 Kentucky Career Fire Chief of the Year.
The Kentucky Association of Fire Chiefs is a professional organization composed of volunteer and career fire chiefs throughout the State of Kentucky. Each year, the association requests nominations for this prestigious award. Following a record number of submittals, the association ultimately selected Chief Futrell to receive this year’s award. He was nominated by Hopkinsville Fire’s Deputy Chief Bill Pyle, Deputy Chief Phillip Ferguson, Assistant Chief Chad Sivills, and Lieutenant/PIO Payton Rogers. In their nomination letter, Deputy Chief Bill Pyle had this to say about Chief Futrell: “Chief Futrell has shown great leadership throughout his career and journey to Fire Chief. He has proven himself through vision, persistence, and dedication to make the Hopkinsville Fire Department a better department.”
Chief Futrell started his career at Hopkinsville in 1999, ascending the ranks within the department, and eventually achieving the rank of Fire Chief in 2019. In addition to his role as Chief, he is also the EMS Director for the agency’s EMS Division. - Submitted by Danny Castle
Hebron Helps
Hebron Fire takes great pride in getting out to visit those in theircommunity, whetherit’s an educational opportunity at a local school orhelping out anotherNKYdepartment with a fundraiserevent! - Photos courtesy of Hebron Fire Protection District
Kuttawa’s Fire Chief Selected as the 2022 Kentucky VolunteerChief of the Year
The Kentucky Association of Fire Chiefs has named Kuttawa Fire Chief Bill Compton as their 2022 Kentucky Volunteer Chief of the Year. The announcement came at the Association's annual Leadership Conference in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Each year, the Fire Chiefs Association request nominations for this prestigious award. Chief Compton was nominated for the award by Kuttawa Mayor Barbara Campbell. In her letter of recommendation, Mayor Campbell applauded Chief Compton on his years of service to the citizens of Kuttawa and Lyon County not only in his position of Fire Chief, but in the many hats he oftentimes has to wear within the county. “Bill Compton, Kuttawa Fire Chief and Volunteer Firefighter recently received the Royal Lyon Award for his 37 years of service to the Kuttawa community and Lyon County. This man's dedication to his job and community is truly markable,” said Mayor Campbell.
Fire Chief Bill Compton has been Kuttawa Fire Chief since 2004. He has been employed with the Kentucky State Fire Marshal’s Office since 1996 and serves as a Deputy Fire Marshal in the Hazardous Materials Section. - Submitted by Danny Castle
FIRSTNETAND 5G: RELIABLY CONNECTINGFIRSTRESPONDERS TO HELPKEEPCOMMUNITIES SAFE
by Stacy Schwartz - Vice President, Public Safety and FirstNet Program at AT&T
Emergencies are unpredictable. During these critical moments, public safety needs reliable, interoperable communications. That’s why our approach to 5G for public safety is unlike anything else.
It’s not the typical approach to 5G you’ve seen in television commercials. That’s because 5G on FirstNet® — America's public safety network — is a one-of-a-kind experience. It gives our nation’s first responders the early benefits of this next-generation connectivity while continuing to use LTE, the current gold standard for reliable mobile broadband, for their mission-critical needs. First responders maintain voice communications with always-on priority and preemption on LTE, while the FirstNet network determines the best route for data traffic, whether that’s 5G or LTE spectrum.
In April 2021, we upgraded the dedicated FirstNet network core to enable reliable 5G connectivity and opened access to AT&Thigh-band 5G+ spectrum. Later that year, we expanded access to the AT&Tlow-band 5G. And now, we’re giving this vital community access to the “sweet spot” of 5G - AT&T mid-band 5G+. All public safety needs to access 5G on FirstNet is a FirstNet Ready® 5G device.
What is 5Gforfirst responders like today?
We’re delivering 5G on FirstNet using AT&Tspectrum bands. Public safety in about 100 markets across the country have access to at least 1 of the 3 flavors of 5G. And we’re continuing to roll out additional 5G connectivity for FirstNet in more communities nationwide:
• High-Band 5G+: Public safety agencies and organizations in parts of more than 45 cities and 45+ venues get super-fast speeds and unprecedented performances in these high traffic areas. This includes places like Los Angeles International Airport and Raymond James Stadium in Tampa where crowds gather for the amazing concerts or major sporting events like the “Big Game” (but what is really a massive public safety event).
• Mid-Band 5G+: Now, this vital community has access to the “sweet spot” of 5G spectrum in more than 40 cities from coast to coast, including Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Minneapolis, Nashville, Phoenix, Seattle and St. Louis. Mid-band 5G+ spectrum fills the gap between our other bands and provides a great combination of ultrafast speeds and wide geographic coverage.
• Low-Band 5G: First responders in more than 30 cities across the United States — including Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona and Knoxville, Tennessee — can connect using low-band 5G spectrum. It can travel farther, as well as penetrate through buildings and infrastructure better than high-band 5G+.
Looking ahead
Many might ask, “why can’t you deploy 5G on FirstNet like it is on commercial networks?” Simply put, when public safety is responding and lives are on the line, reliability is key. And many of the standards that protect public safety’s crucial communications from network congestion have not yet been implemented for 5G by the industry.
So, while we’re bringing this community specialized features and capabilities they’ve never had before, we also have an eye to the future. It isn’t going to happen overnight. But we’re working to develop the necessary standards and vendor support to create a 5G environment that aligns with public safety’s mission.
Our strategy for 5G on FirstNet takes advantage of the true evolution from 4G to 5G. FirstNet will continue to be a fast follower on 5G while driving innovation of and integration in tested and established mission-critical services on 4G for public safety operations today. That means first responders on FirstNet have the assurance that 4G public safety services are keeping them reliably connected for their lifesaving work, while the commercial side addresses initial start-up challenges of 5G. You know, places where viral videos and live-streaming your favorite football team’s games rule the day — not a place where a call can make all the difference in helping save someone.
On FirstNet, 5G connectivity will be ideal for IoTand video intelligence solutions. Imagine being able to deploy cameras during parades and other celebrations to help identify suspicious bags or packages. Or using 5G in an ambulance to transmit patient data back to the emergency room. That’s just a few ways 5G on FirstNet could help public safety achieve their life-saving missions in the future.
The First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet Authority) and AT&Tare committed to advancing FirstNet for all of public safety. And doing it right. We recognize that uniting the unmatched benefits of FirstNet with the future promises of 5G can unlock a whole new world of public safety potential. As new technologies become available, we understand what’s most important is taking a first respondercentric view in their deployment. That applies to 5G, augmented reality, edge computing and others. It’s our job as America’s public safety wireless communications provider.
We’re not building 5G on FirstNet for the bottom line. We’re building it for public safety’s unique mission needs. That means making sound decisions and being good stewards of public safety’s network — all to ensure we do 5G right for public safety.
Individual verified first responders not already on FirstNet can go to https://www.firstnet.com/signup/ or go to the more than 5,000 AT&Tretail stores across the country.
Georgetown FF at International SAR Challenge
Georgetown Fire Department’s FirefighterMark Bennett, who, along with his wife and son, traveled to Namur, Belgium, where FirefighterBennett competed in Grimpday. This international challenge brings togethersearch and rescue teams from around the world who compete against each otherthrough exercises involving the unique elements related to search and rescue in hazardous environments. - Photos courtesy of Georgetown FD
FireNews.com
Fire News, November/December2022, Page 25 Lexington Grant Will Help Hire 21 FFs
The Lexington Fire Department has been awarded a $4.2 million grant that will allow it to hire 21 additional firefighters.
“Public safety is my top priority,” Mayor Linda Gorton said. “This grant will make our community safer.”
The goal of the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant is to provide funding directly to fire departments to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, front-line firefighters available in their communities. “We want to ensure all response units — like fire engines, ladders and ambulances — are kept on duty at all times in order to meet our department’s mission of protecting lives and property,” Fire Chief Jason Wells said. The funds will cover the cost of the additional firefighters for three years.
The additional firefighters will also make the Lexington Fire Department a safer place to work. “Ultimately, a safe work environment is a vital condition of employment,” Wells said. “Labor, management, and the city have worked together to ensure our firefighters remain as safe as possible. This funding will have an immediate impact on reducing risk to both firefighters, and the community.” Lexington Fire’s authorized strength will grow from 599 to 620 firefighters as a result of this funding. Lexington Fire Department currently has 50 vacancies due to attrition, with 32 recruits expected to complete their academy training in mid-October. The positions funded by SAFER will help ensure that the Department is maintaining operational safety standards, minimizing firefighter burnout, and reducing the risk of injuries and illnesses due to the fatigue that results from longer shifts. The addition of 21 firefighters will allow the Department's preventative services, such as community paramedicine, community risk reduction, fire inspections, and fire investigations, to continue as intended. “The ability to improve and expand our staffing is immensely beneficial to the Department and to the community we serve,” Wells said. “We are confident that the enhanced staffing will help us respond more effectively to emergencies, reduce response time, and provide appropriate numbers of trained personnel at incident scenes,” Wells said. - Fire News story provided
Page 26, Fire News, November/December2022 The Kentucky Fire Chiefs
Leadership Conference
Assistant Chief Adam Jones and Assistant Chief David Howser presented State Representative Mark Hart with the Legislatorof the Yearaward at the Kentucky Fire Chiefs Leadership Conference. - Submitted by Danny Castle
Croydon Gets New Apparatus with Grant
The Corydon Civil Defense Fire & Rescue (Corydon, Henderson County), received a $315,650 AFGgrant from the 2019 grant cycle to replace a 1977 tanker. Due to delays caused by Covid the new tankerwas finally put into service in April 16, 2022, aftera dedication and blessing of the truck ceremony. The department replaced a 1977 International tanker. The 2022 Freightlinertanker, has a 1250gpm pump, and holds 3000 gallons of water. The new truck also has more storage, and can fill the role of an engine if one of the primary engines goes out of service. p - Submitted by Bryan Coghill Ashland Fire Department is a proud recipient of a $7,500 grant from Marathon Petroleum. The department purchased a new SONAR system with the award. The SONAR, live scope technology, increases precision and illustrates real-time movement. On its first time out on Marine 1, the system located a vehicle submerged in the Ohio Riveroff the Port of Ashland. The dive team was able to locate the vehicle within 20 minutes. The vehicle was raised to the surface by McGuire’s Towing. No bodies were found inside the car. - Submitted by Ashland FD
Zoneton Donates Surplus Engine to Wolf Coal
Zoneton Fire will be donating a surplus fire engine to the Wolf Coal Fire Department in eastern Kentucky. This department suffered terrible losses in the recent floods. Since Zoneton is having a new apparatus built, an old unit is declared surplus. There isn’t much of a market forold fire apparatus. The options are typically, selling them forscrap, purchase by a collectorordonation to a museum somewhere. We have the opportunity to put this 15-year-old engine to great use by donating it to Wolf Coal, so instead of it sitting and rusting, it can continue to help save lives and property. - Photos courtesy of Zoneton Fire Protection District
Ashland Gets Grant forNew SonarSystem
