Africa Fire Mission Receives Major Grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation

October 17, 2023

Africa Fire Mission Receives Major Grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation

Africa Fire Mission (AFM) is a Cincinnati-based non-profit organization with team members of firefighters, chief fire officers and other first responders from across the United States, Canada and Europe. For eleven years, AFM has provided fire training and equipment in various parts of Africa.  AFM has announced they have received a $25,000 grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation, the charitable arm of Motorola Foundation, to help continue its training programs and to provide a national Fire and EMS Training Symposium and Competition in Kenya in November 2023.

This grant will support hands-on Fire Training and distribution of firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE).  In November, a team of thirty-five firefighters, EMT’s paramedics and other professionals from the United States will train over 500 Kenyan firefighters and EMT’s at the Jomo-Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya.

AFM’s training team members volunteer their time and pay their own expenses to travel to Africa to teach their fellow firefighters the latest techniques in firefighting, rescue and emergency medical services.

“Africa Fire Mission is grateful to Motorola Solutions Foundations for its continued support of our programs through this grant. It is because of dedicated volunteers and partners like Motorola Solutions Foundation that we are able to continue to impact communities and support firefighters in Africa as they strive to save lives and property” says Nancy Moore, Executive Director for Africa Fire Mission.

The Motorola Solutions Foundation, which has donated $100 million over the past 10 years, focuses its giving on three key areas: First responder programming, technology and engineering education, and programs that blend the two. The Foundation has a long-standing commitment to supporting programs that benefit underrepresented populations and aims to partner with organizations that align to its values of accountability, innovation, impact, diversity and inclusion.

"The Motorola Solutions Foundation is honored to partner with organizations like Africa Fire Mission that are actively driving positive change within the community," said Karem Pérez, vice president of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and executive director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. "We are immensely proud of the work that Africa Fire Mission is doing, and we look forward to seeing their continued impact."

For additional information on the Motorola Solutions Foundation grants program, visit: motorolasolutions.com/foundation-grant-partner.

For additional information regarding Africa Fire Mission visit: www.africafiremission.org  - Contact Nancy Moore at 513-620-4236 or nancy@africafiremission.org

About Africa Fire Mission

Africa Fire Mission is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the sustainable capacity of Fire Departments in developing communities. We accomplish this through training, empowerment, support and encouragement.

• Train – We partner with governments, NGO’s, missionaries, schools and corporations to provide education and training to firefighters and local communities. We use Community Health Education to teach firefighters and community members in Africa to protect themselves from the dangers of fire. We provide fire prevention training and fire safety assessments to schools ensuring the students are able to learn in an environment safe from fires.

• Empower – We work to increase the ability of communities in Africa to respond to disasters and provide relief when disasters occur.

• Support – We provide personal protective equipment and communication tools to fire services throughout Africa to allow fire departments to operate in a safer and more coordinator manner.

• Encourage – We build the capacity of African fire services so that local communities are able to provide sustainable public safety and disaster management services.

Where does AFM work?

Africa Fire Mission currently works throughout Africa including: Nigeria, Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia.

About the Motorola Solutions Foundation

As the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola Solutions, the Motorola Solutions Foundation partners with organizations around the globe to create safer cities and equitable, thriving communities. We focus on giving back through strategic grants, employee volunteerism and other community investment initiatives. Our strategic grants program supports organizations that offer first responder programming and technology and engineering education, and align to our values of accountability, innovation, impact, diversity and inclusion. The Foundation is one of the many ways in which the company lives out its purpose of helping people be their best in the moments that matter. For more information on the Foundation, visit: www.motorolasolutions.com/foundation

Celebrating our Volunteers!

On October 14, 2023 during our Annual Fundraiser, the Chama, Africa Fire Mission will honor volunteers Chief Bradley Banz and Chief Michael Kull.

Volunteer of the Year

Africa Fire Mission thrives on volunteers. Volunteers are at the heart of our organization. We have dozens and dozens of volunteers. We have volunteers from all across the North America, Africa and Europe that help allow AFM to serve on a daily basis.  These men, women, firefighters, civilians and children are all a vital part of Africa Fire Mission being able to achieve its goals and objectives. 

Chief Michael Kull – Volunteer of the Year

Chief Mike first joined Africa Fire Mission team in 2021 and has been all in with us ever since. Mike has participated in missions to Kenya and Malawi and facilitates AFM’s weekly virtual trainings. This past year, Mike stepped further into leadership co-leading our Malawi training trip! Mike just get’s it. He understands that the fire service in Africa is limited in physical resources and rich in people resources! Mike uses his creativity to help solve problems and helps the fire service advocate for what they need. This week we learned that the Zomba, Malawi fire brigade received its first uniforms from their local government as a result of the advocacy that their team learned from Mike. Mike’s dedication to facilitating our online trainings and lead to steady growth of our trainings from 60 participants a week at the beginning of 2023 to more than 100 participants a week now.

Mike fully embodies our mission to train, empower, support and encourage firefighters in Africa and his leadership has allowed us to continue to grow!

Thank you Mike for all that you have done for Africa Fire Mission! We are looking forward to serving with you for year’s to come!!

More about Chief Michael Kull: Chief Michael Kull is from Pennsylvania where he recently retired as the Fire Chief for the Valley Township Fire Department, Forest Fire Warden for Weiser State Forest and as a Township Supervisor for Valley Township. As a volunteer firefighter with over 25 years of experience, Michael has learned creative strategies for meeting his community’s needs for fire and rescue services.

Instructor of the Year

When Africa Fire Mission travels with a team to provide training in Africa or other parts of the world, our team members volunteer their time, talents and treasures to provide world class training to our partners.  Our instructors undergo training in advance of the trip to prepare of the mission and prepare the lessons that they will teach in our week long fire training events. We are fortunate to have many instructors return year after year who continue to build each year on the training that they have been providing as well as to build strong relationships with firefighers and our overseas partners. 

Chief Bradley Banz, Instructor of the Year

Chief Banz heard about AFM from our partner at Missions Of Hope International after providing CPR and first aid training there. Brad’s been involved with AFM since 2015. Brad has traveled with AFM on missions to Kenya, Zambia, and Malawi. Brad has been instrumental in the development of our Community Health Evangelism curriculum on Fire Prevention and Safety which has impacted millions of lives across Africa. Brad notices needs and responds making sure that curriculum developed for classes he teaches meet the needs of the fire service. This past year, he developed a Hazardous Materials class for firefighters in Africa after seeing the dangers firefighters were exposing themselves to attempting to respond to some Haz Mat incidents.

Brad encourages our team members and advocates for the firefighters. He takes time to get to know the firefighters we are serving and what their needs are. His heart for Africa is abundantly clear!

Thank you Brad for serving with heart and passion! We are grateful to have you on our team!

More about Chief Bradley Banz: Chief Banz is a firefighter with over 38 years of experience. Brad retired as a Captain for the Wichita, Kansas Fire Department and retired as Fire Chief from Colwich Kansas. Brad continues to serve his community as a volunteer firefighter in addition to training firefighters in Africa.

Interested in volunteering with AFM in administrative roles or as one of our international instructors?

Ambulance Services and Its Importance in Society

Ambulance Services and Its Importance in Society

 By: Kelvin from Swift Emergencies Response Unit - Kenya

Increase in medical ailments has led to the rise in hospitals and emergency medical services assisting patients who require emergency medical assistance at critical moments, helping them to reach the hospital on time thus saving their life.

Private and public ambulance transport services are operating in more numbers today as an inevitable service providing care to critical patients at crucial moments. In Kenya, ambulance operating centers are set up at every hospital and private EMS organization. These Ambulance operating centers function with adequate ambulance transport services to offer immediate medical care for patients. Private ambulance transport services depict a consistent rise in the growth curve each year offering non-emergency services unlike hospital ambulance transport services which primarily function for emergency needs. Some of the non-emergency services include shifting patients from one hospital to another, transporting patients for any scanning or laboratory services to the relevant facilities, or patients with any travelling disabilities in normal vehicles to hospitals for treatments.

Emergency ambulance services are usually equipped with adequate medical equipment and paramedical professionals. Sometimes, non-emergency ambulance transport services are also equipped with some basic medical aids and a para medical staff to cater the needs of immediate medical care to patients.

Let us discuss a few points about the pre-hospital medical professions - paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who are the spine of ambulance transport services:

• Paramedics or EMTs are first treating patients even before doctors (pre-hospital care) thus saving patients through immediate medical procedures ensuring the vitals stable before reaching hospitals for further treatments.

• Paramedics and EMTs are trained healthcare professionals, authorized to attend patients with required medications and procedures based on their training level.

• Education level, standards, functions and skills of paramedics and EMTs vary with countries. However. certain standard functionalities remain common such as being trained to practice CPR procedures for cardiac arrest patients, usage of defibrillators, certain analgesic, paralytics and sedative medications for pain control, first aid to treat burns, fractures, childbirth complications, spine injury, airway management, blood control etc.

• One should respect the noble service of prehospital providers who form an integral part of ambulance services.

• The youth of our nation should involve themselves in such noble service, joining community life saving teams and can considering a career as a paramedic or EMT.

• The government could benefit from taking initiatives to support volunteer community first responders at the community level and to empower them to continue saving lives at the scene before qualified personnel arrives.

Kenya Stairclimb 2023

Kenya Stairclimb 2023

On September 16, 2023, firefighters gathered for a day of remembrance of fallen firefighters and a day of camaraderie and awareness of the fire service in Kenya.

Heels on Mountains collaborated with Africa Fire Mission for this year’s Annual Firefighter Stairclimb event in Kenya, which had a had a total of 65 participants! We are grateful to all the participants and sponsors of this event.

Heels on Mountains has continuously supported firefighters in Kenya since 2019, supporting 4 stairclimb events for firefighters at the Kenya International Conference Center . Thank you to everyone that participated: Mombasa County, Kenya Airports Authority, ICT Fire and Rescue, West Pokot County. We are grateful to individual Firefighters and EMT’s as well as supporters of First Responders.

Asanti sana. You helped Kenya be on the map as the only African country that commemorated the Twin Tower bombings with a stair climb activity.

Check out photos from the Kenya Stairclimb event here:

Africa Fire Mission Supports Fire Service Development with White Papers

Africa Fire Mission Supports Fire Service Development with White Papers

by Nancy L. Moore, LISW-S, LCSW, CPCC, Executive Director and Co-Founder of AFM

It’s hard to believe that Africa Fire Mission has been working in Africa for over a decade. Since 2012, we have been working closely to provide training and consultation to the Fire Service in Africa. While our largest program is in Kenya, we have also worked directly in Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia. We have provided consultation or equipment in other countries across Africa as well.

As we support the fire service, we continue to look for ways that we can grow our impact. Our next step in supporting the African fire service in developing communities is by providing more advocacy resources that will help leaders in Africa to be able to support a well functioning fire service. In order to support our advocacy efforts, AFM is drafting white papers to help provide quality information for African leaders to support decision making with developing programs, making equipment purchases or accepting used equipment donations.

All too often AFM has seen situations when fire service leaders know what they need and have a hard time articulating the need or justifying the costs of quality programs and equipment to the government officials making the budgetary decisions. Our hope is to provide quality information that is designed to support these advocacy efforts.

Our first white paper is now available and addresses the need for a quality Breathing Apparatus Program. Let us know what you think. More importantly, please utilize the white paper as a tool for advocacy when you need support!

Recognizing our Volunteers

On October 22, 2022 during our Annual Fundraiser, the Chama, Africa Fire Mission was pleased to honor Judy Johnson and Howard Cohen.

Africa Fire Mission thrives on volunteers.   Volunteers are at the heart of our organization.   We have dozens and dozens of volunteers. We have volunteers from all across the North America, Africa and Europe that help to make AFM run on a daily basis.  These men, women, firefighters, civilians and children are all a vital part of Africa Fire Mission being able to achieve its goals and objectives. 

Judy Johnson – Volunteer of the Year

Judy has been critical to helping developing AFM into the organization that it is today. Judy was the person who introduced Dave and Nancy to Missions of Hope International and she was instrumental in ensuring that we had a solid plan for taking team members to Africa - from training team members to helping to write our application Judy prepared us to do the work we do. As a board member to AFM, Judy has helped to ensure that AFM was connect with other organizations around the world so that we can collaborate with others to do our work.

Thank you Judy for all that you have done for Africa Fire Mission! We hope you’ll continue to enjoy your retirement!

When Africa Fire Mission travels with a team to provide training in Africa or other parts of the world, our team members volunteer their time, talents and treasures to provide world class training to our partners.  Our instructors, undergo training in advance of the trip to prepare of the mission and prepare the lessons that they will teach in our week long fire training events.   We have been fortunate to have many instructors return year after year and continue to build each year on the training that they have been providing as well as to build strong relationships with firefighers and our overseas partners. 

Howard Cohen, Instructor of the Year

Howard has been pivoting and helping to grow AFM since he signed up for his first trip in 2020 - which turned into a virtual trip/training. Howard then went to Kenya with AFM in 2021 and signed up to coordinate our weekly online trainings. With Howard’s leadership and planning, we have grown from an average of 16 participants a week in 2021 to 65 weekly participants in 2022!  Howard is headed back to Kenya with AFM in November 2022 and is looking forward to reconnecting in person with those he has been building relationship with. Check out what Howard has to say about being part of AFM below!

Interested in volunteering with AFM in administrative roles or as one of our international instructors?

Africa Fire Mission Receives Major Grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation

For Immediate Release

August 29, 2022

Africa Fire Mission Receives Major Grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation

Africa Fire Mission (AFM) is a Cincinnati-based non-profit organization with team members of firefighters from across the United States, Canada and Europe who for ten years have provided fire training and equipment in various parts of Africa.   AFM has announced that they have received a $25,000 grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation to help continue its training programs and to provide a national Fire and EMS Training Symposium and Competition in Kenya in November 2022.

This grant will support hands-on Fire Training and distribution of firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE).  In November, a team of twenty-two firefighters, paramedics and nurses from the United States and Canada will train over 350 Kenyan firefighters and EMT’s at the Jomo-Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya.

AFM’s training team members volunteer their time and pay their own expenses to travel to Africa to teach their fellow firefighters the latest techniques in firefighting, rescue and emergency medical services.

“Africa Fire Mission is grateful to Motorola Solutions Foundations for its continued support of our programs through this grant.   Through continued partnership, we will be able to continue to impact communities and support firefighters in Africa as they strive to save lives and property” says Nancy Moore, Executive Director for Africa Fire Mission.

The Motorola Solutions Foundation, which has donated $100 million over the past 10 years, focuses its giving on three key areas: first responder programming, technology and engineering education, and programs that blend the two. The Foundation has a long-standing commitment to supporting programs that benefit underrepresented populations and aims to partner with organizations that align to its values of accountability, innovation, impact, diversity and inclusion.

The Motorola Solutions Foundation is proud to partner with organizations like Africa Fire Mission that share our values and passion for driving positive change in the community,” said Karem Perez, Executive Director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. “We believe in the work that Africa Fire Mission is doing and look forward to seeing their continued impact.

For additional information on the Motorola Solutions Foundation grants program, visit: motorolasolutions.com/foundation-grant-partner.

For additional information regarding Africa Fire Mission visit: www.africafiremission.org  - Contact Nancy Moore at 513-620-4236 or nancy@africafiremission.org

About Africa Fire Mission

Africa Fire Mission is a nonprofit organization committed to increasing the sustainable capacity of Fire Departments in developing communities. We accomplish this through training, empowerment, support and encouragement.

·        Train – We partner with governments, NGO’s, missionaries, schools and corporations to provide education and training to firefighters and local communities. We use Community Health Education to teach firefighters and community members in Africa to protect themselves from the dangers of fire. We provide fire prevention training and fire safety assessments to schools ensuring the students are able to learn in an environment safe from fires.

·        Empower – We work to increase the ability of communities in Africa to respond to disasters and provide relief when disasters occur.

·        Support – We provide personal protective equipment and communication tools to fire services throughout Africa to allow fire departments to operate in a safer and more coordinator manner.

·        Encourage – We build the capacity of African fire services so that local communities are able to provide sustainable public safety and disaster management services.

Where does AFM work?

Africa Fire Mission currently works in 6 countries throughout Africa including: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Sierra Leone, and Zambia. In 2022, we are expanding our consultation work into Nigeria.  In 2018, a request to expand our services into Ukraine has led us outside of Africa and into Europe.

About the Motorola Solutions Foundation

As the charitable and philanthropic arm of Motorola Solutions, the Motorola Solutions Foundation partners with organizations around the globe to create safer cities and equitable, thriving communities. We focus on giving back through strategic grants, employee volunteerism and other community investment initiatives. Our strategic grants program supports organizations that offer first responder programming and technology and engineering education, and align to our values of accountability, innovation, impact, diversity and inclusion. The Foundation is one of the many ways in which the company lives out its purpose of helping people be their best in the moments that matter. For more information on the Foundation, visit: www.motorolasolutions.com/foundation

Experiencing Kenyan Firefighting First Hand

by Josh Bardwell, Glimer Texas

As an American firefighter, I have always had some level of awareness of how fortunate I have been to have decent equipment, funding, and training provided to me in my volunteer and career fire agencies. With that said, I have oftentimes fallen into the all-to-common quagmire of being jealous of what other departments or agencies have that mine did not and feeling a level of frustration that I now feel guilty of. Sure, my home department and agency could enhance our response capabilities with more funding and training than we have, but after my time in Kenya with Africa Fire Mission (AFM) I realize that I have had it pretty darn good.

I came home from Kenya with a renewed perception of the fire service as a whole and the part I play in it thanks to the camaraderie of my fellow AFM instructors and the selfless students we met.

From walking through the Nairobi slums that are prone to fatal fires, to sitting on a football pitch discussing Wildland Urban Interface issues with our students, it quickly became apparent that many of our Kenyan counterparts are dealing with fire service issues that we rarely encounter in the United States. Pre-trip research prepared me to address typical firefighting issues like unreliable water supplies, staffing deficits, need for pre-planning for incidents, and implementing public outreach programs.

In less than two days in-country conversing with our Kenyan colleagues, I was exposed to the hard truth: that most of those firefighters face more danger from the public than the fire itself. While American firefighters are typically revered as local heroes and ranked as one of the most trusted professions, our Kenyan colleagues are not afforded the same level of public trust. This issue is complex stemming from national politics, creating a public distrust of government employees and a history of fatal fires, with delayed emergency response due to staffing shortages, no timely report of an incident, congested highways, lack of building codes, etc. Despite numerous tales of fire engines being stoned, fire hoses being cut and firefighters being assaulted, these brave Kenyan firefighters show up every day to do their duty.  It was incredibly humbling to see their devotion to the firefighting profession override their fear of harm.  

One of the things every firefighter is told is to never stop learning and refine their craft in the fire service. From structural to wildland, firefighters in the United States should be accustomed to cheap and readily available in-house, regional and virtual courses to build on their current skillset and qualifications. Often times we take for granted the ease of accessibility and cost efficient classes we have at our disposal. Talking to our students at the symposium, we learned that many of them traveled from hundreds of kilometers away on their own dime, cramming into single-cab fire engines or even hitching rides from the public traveling to the capital. Once in Nairobi, some even camped out because they couldn’t afford lodging. Despite the hardships in travel and lodging, many consistently showed up everyday to learn new skills and to take that knowledge back to their fire brigades across the country. From initial introductions to the capstone live-fire exercise five days later, we were inundated with questions and real-world scenario situations from our students looking for more than book answers; they wanted our personal advice and it challenged us to step into their shoes and look at things in a different perspective. These questions ran the gamut of what to do about dangerous wildlife encounters on a wildfire to troubleshooting equipment issues without parts available. They were hungry to learn and open to thinking outside of the box. I found myself redirecting questions back to them to spur discussions, which helped getting these firefighters from different regions to begin collaborating. By the end of it, we were all fellow students learning from each other. I found that I probably learned more from the Kenyans than they learned from me, and that’s ok.

After being home for a few weeks and back on the job, I am recognizing a few personal changes that I can contribute to my AFM journey. The biggest, and probably the most natural one, is recognition that we have too much frivolous stuff compared to people in the developing world. My wife and I have already begun culling out things we do not use or wear, attempting to scale back our purchasing, and reduce eating out as much. Another big change for me has been reevaluating what training we do (or have not been doing) at my local volunteer fire department and state fire agency. From back-to-the-basics fire tactics to trauma response, we have to maximize our efforts refining our craft so we can provide the best service possible to the public, every time. The third big change has been a renewed sense of brotherhood/camaraderie throughout the fire service and recognition that everyone from volunteer to career, structural to wildland, and Kenyan to Kansan has their place in this profession and something to contribute. We are all in this together and hopefully striving with the same sense of duty, respect and integrity to do the job to best of our ability. If we can maintain that, then we might just be able to make some citizen’s worse day just a little bit better when we serve.

I encourage anyone, no matter your years of service, rank, title, or status to consider attending an AFM trip in the future, because you will find that you have something to offer and you will definitely come away better for it.

AMBULANCE SERVICES AND THEIR IMPORTANCE IN SOCIETY

By Kelvin, Seru Kenya EMR

An increase in medical ailments has led to the rise in hospitals and emergency medical services. These services assist patients who require emergency medical assistance at critical moments, helping them to reach the hospital on time and thus saving their life.

Private and public ambulance transportation services are operating in large numbers today to serve patients in critical condition.

Ambulance operating centers are set up at every hospital and private EMS. These operating centers function with adequate ambulance transportation services to offer immediate medical care for patients. Private ambulance transportation services depict a consistent rise in the growth curve each year offering non-emergency services, unlike hospital ambulance transportation services which primarily function for emergency needs.

Some of the non-emergency protocols include shifting patients from one hospital to another, transporting patients for any scanning or laboratory services to the relevant facilities, and having patients with traveling disabilities ride in normal vehicles to hospitals for treatments.

Emergency ambulance services are usually equipped with adequate medical equipment and paramedical professionals. Sometimes, non-emergency ambulance transportation services are also equipped with some basic medical aids and paramedical staff to cater to the needs of immediate medical care to patients.

HERE ARE A FEW THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PARAMEDICS, WHO ARE THE BACKBONE OF AMBULANCE TRANSPORTATION SERVICES.

1) Paramedics or paramedical professionals are the first to treat patients, even before doctors. They save patients through immediate medical procedures ensuring the vitals are stable before reaching hospitals for further treatments.

2) Paramedics are trained healthcare professionals and sometimes have equivalent training to doctors. They can be authorized to assist patients with required medications and procedures.

3) Paramedics roles were established before World War I and their services were mostly rendered to soldiers on the battlefield. In those days their function was closely associated with the military. Later, ambulance services with paramedics were put into function to offer immediate medical care for civilians as well.

4) Education level, standards, functions, and skills of paramedics vary by country. However, certain standard functionalities remain common. Such as being trained to practice CPR, procedures for cardiac arrest patients, usage of defibrillators, certain analgesic, paralytics, sedative medications for pain control, first aid to treat burns, fractures, childbirth complications, spine injury, airway management, blood control, etc.

6) Paramedics and physiotherapists have one of the noblest professions in Kenya Africa and the world at large. Earlier physiotherapy did not gain as much recognition as today where physiotherapists are looked at as saviors offering treatments as an alternate to surgical procedures in most of the cases and post-surgery maintenance for a quick recovery to a normal lifestyle.

7) One should respect the noble service of pre-hospital providers who form an integral part of ambulance services.

8) The youth of our nation should get involved in such noble services by joining community life-saving teams and getting careers rather than wasting their resource and potential indulging in unwise activities.

9) Moreover, the government should take initiatives to support the volunteer first responders at the community level and to empower them to continue saving lives at the scene, before qualified personnel arrives.

WHY SHOULD BOTH A FIRE TRUCK AND AN AMBULANCE ALWAYS SHOW UP FOR A MEDICAL EMERGENCY?

When a call comes in, dispatchers often are not given precise or complete information.

As such, units are dispatched ready for the worst-case scenario. To ensure the highest level of care, the closest fire engine station is dispatched, and EMS sends an ambulance (staffed with two paramedics).

No medical call is “routine.” At a minimum, most emergencies require assessing the patient, obtaining their vital signs, providing oxygen therapy, and moving them.
EMS may also need to place an advanced airway, administer drugs intravenously, or monitor cardiac conditions. All of these procedures are completed more efficiently when the appropriate amount of help is on the scene.

Efficient care is our goal, and it is often the difference between life and death.

Unfortunately, units have no way of knowing what they will encounter on a call until they arrive. They work in a “what if” and “all-risk” business.

Responding to the unknown is public safety.

Emergency hotlines are your instant go-to when the need arises. That’s why it is important that you keep a copy of each of the important ones with you.

Africa Fire Mission Receives Major Grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation

For Immediate Release

September 28, 2021

Africa Fire Mission Receives Major Grant from Motorola Solutions Foundation

Africa Fire Mission (AFM) is a Cincinnati-based group of firefighters from across the United States who for nearly a decade have provided fire training and equipment to several African nations.   AFM has announced that they will receive a $ 30,000 grant from the Motorola Solutions Foundation to help continue its outreach to train several fire brigades in Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia through 2022.

This grant will support hands-on Fire Training and distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) turnout gear scheduled for delivery in Kenya, Malawi and Zambia.  The 2021 Kenya trip that will take place from November 10th to 21st, will be partially supported by this grant, as well as four other scheduled team trips in 2022.

This distribution of needed fire equipment and training is only possible through the generosity of such organizations as the Motorola Solutions Foundation funded through the Motorola Corporation, a world-wide leader in the field of emergency communications equipment.  The AFM training staff consists of firefighters from departments that span across America, who volunteer their time and pay their own expenses to travel to Africa to teach their fellow firefighters the latest techniques in firefighting, rescue and emergency medical services.

“Africa Fire Mission is grateful to Motorola Solutions Foundations for its continued support of our programs through this grant.   We will be able to continue to impact communities and support firefighters in Africa as they strive to save lives and property” says Nancy Moore, Director of Programs for Africa Fire Mission.

AFM is a 501c3 corporation headquartered at 1373West Galbraith Road in North College Hill, Ohio.

Each year, the Motorola Solutions Foundation’s awards grants to charitable organizations such as Africa Fire Mission to support three primary areas of focus: first responder programming, technology and engineering education and programs that blend the two.

"The Motorola Solutions Foundation aims to partner with organizations that align to our values of accountability, innovation, impact, diversity and inclusion," said Karem Perez, executive director of the Motorola Solutions Foundation. "We are proud to support organizations like Africa Fire Mission that embody these values while driving positive change in their communities.” 

For additional information:

Motorola Solutions Foundation grants program: www.motorolasolutions.com/foundation - Contact Sarah Packard at sarah.packard@motorolasolutions.com


Africa Fire Mission: www.africafiremission.org  - Contact Nancy Moore at 513-620-4236 or nancy@africafiremission.org, or Robert Rielage at 513-728-9978.

Boots on the Ground: Recognizing our Volunteers

On September 25, 2021 Africa Fire Mission during our Annual Fundraiser, the Chama, Africa Fire Mission was pleased to honor Shandy Seastone and Ed Collet.

Africa Fire Mission thrives on volunteers.   Volunteers are at the heart of our organization.   We have dozens and dozens of volunteers. We have volunteers from all across the United States, Africa and Europe that help to make AFM run on a daily basis.  These men, women, firefighters, civilians and children are all a vital part of Africa Fire Mission being able to achieve its goals and objectives. 

Shandy Seastone – Volunteer of the Year

Shandy has been helping to prepare AFM’s team for travel for 3 years. She convinced her husband Jon to come to Africa in 2017 while he was gone, started recruiting other firefighters in the Denver, CO area.   Shandy helps to connect interested team members to AFM, assists with orientation and overall communication to the team.

Thank you Shandy for all that you have done and all that you will do for Africa Fire Mission and those that we serve around the world.  

When Africa Fire Mission travels with a team to provide training in Africa or other parts of the world, our team members volunteer their time, talents and treasures to provide world class training to our partners.  Our instructors, undergo training in advance of the trip to prepare of the mission and prepare the lessons that they will teach in our week long fire training events.   We have been fortunate to have many instructors return year after year and continue to build each year on the training that they have been providing as well as to build strong relationships with firefighers and our overseas partners. 

Ed Collet, Trainer of the Year

After traveling to Kenya with AFM in 2019 to train firefighters in water supply, Ed was disappointed that we couldn’t go to Kenya in 2020. He was watching his wife, Jill, a school administrator, transition students and teachers to virtual classrooms and called Nancy to say - hey we need to do a virtual academy. That idea lead to 20 instructors providing classes to over 600 students from 19 countries - online!  Ed is headed back to Kenya with AFM in November 2021 and has made plans to help advance what he started 2 years ago. Ed said: “We don’t accomplish any of this alone. We always have people helping us. That’s ultimately our whole goal at AFM. We support the firefighters in Africa so they can do this on their own, and we are there as their support.”

Interested in volunteering with AFM in administrative roles or as one of our international instructors?

Meet Firefighter Kennedy

by Nancy Moore

I traveled to Isiolo, Kenya in July 2021, our Fire Safety Advocate, Jose and with Raphael and Steve from Missions of Hope International. It was finally time to meet with Fire Chief Wako and see face to face the young fire brigade in Northern, rural Kenya. They have formed a new fire brigade and are less than three years old.

While we were getting to know the firefighters there we noticed Kennedy. He stood out with a friendly grin and a confident presence. He also stood back - tucked behind some of the other fire fighters. José noticed right away that Kennedy had an amputated leg. As we talked with Kennedy and Chief Wako we learned that Kennedy was in a motor bike accident that resulted in the injury that led to his leg being amputated - while he was in the process of becoming a firefighter.

Chief Wako said he could see the spirit that Kennedy had and decided that he could use Kennedy on his team - in spite of his amputation. Kennedy serves as the Isiolo Fire Brigades Public Information Officer, Pump Operator and supports his team in any way he can. He wants to be fully restored to serve his community.

Will you help Africa Fire Mission by supporting this project to help get Physical Therapy and a Prosthetic for Kennedy? We are raising $10,000 to help make Kennedy’s dreams for serving his community come true!

Read Kennedy’s story in his own words:

“I applied for a vacancy of fire when I saw that advert on daily nation newspaper on August 2018 being complete with my two legs. I applied because I had passion for helping the community by fighting fire. I was given an interview in November 2018. I attended the interview and in February 2019 I received an appointment letter to report as a firefighter on 15 April 2019.

My accident occurred between my the day of picking my appointment letter and that period of reporting to my working station.

The accident was a rare accident, I was on motorbike and it happened to get a mechanical issues and we had fell into a drainage furrow. I got a normal fracture of the bone of my right leg. I was rushed to the Isiolo Referral Hospital where things turned to be worse. The doctors in charge of orthopedic messed up with my leg and the blood stopped circulating in my right leg after they put on plaster which was too tight. This resulted in the nerves not to function.

I had hoped to be transferred to one hospital but due to lack of funds I was unable to go. Later on I was transferred to a mission hospital. Things turned to be worse and worse after everyday. So there wasn't any alternative since my leg started getting worse and got rotten. I was in bad condition almost died.

It reached a point where one of the doctors came and advised me, instead of you loosing your life whereas you can get amputated and life be as normal as possible. I accepted the amputation and that things would be as normal as before even if I would not be having one leg.

So that's how I accepted for the amputation and life continued and I reported to job even if I reported late than others due to the recovering period.

So I went to work. Chief Wako shifted me to the office as an IcT manager of the fire dept of Isiolo. Sometimes I also help with pump operations and I do it to my level best regardless of being an Amputee. In some instance the county government wanted to do away with me due of me loosing the leg stating I will not be able to work as fire fighter but God fought for me and I retained my vacancy and Chief Wako insisted a lot he needs me in the department due to PASSION I had towards my career.

When I officially reported to work, I felt demotivated. Seeing others who we had applied with them same job had two leg whereas me I don't have. I was feeling much depressed and stressed but Fire Chief Wako was always there for motivating me and giving encouragement alot big morale for the job.

I want to get a prosthetic leg which can improve my performance as a firefighter. I am from a humble background which can't raise all that money to get that prosthetic. I am the one who is taking care of my family with that small amount of salary I get and am the one who pays school fees for my little sister who is in high school.

Am much humbled and may Heavenly God will Bless you Abundantly. Thank you alot as you look forward to help me.”

Yours Kenneth Mugambi Orutwa Isiolo fire and Rescue Department ICT Manager.

What's in Your Pockets?

by Chaplain Howard A Cohen, deputy chief (ret.), Bennington Fire Department

 It is very important for us, as firefighters, to be as effective, efficient and fast as possible on the fire ground. One good rule is to never enter the fire ground without a tool in each hand.  The situation will determine whether you grab an axe, halagan bar, thermal imaging camera, rescue rope, flashlight, gas meter or some other tool. Just make sure you have one in each hand.  It’s a waste of precious time if you have to run back to your truck to get a tool.

 Another good rule is to carry small tools like a screwdriver, wire cutter, prying tool, extra chocks, webbing, rope, carabineer, and a knife in the pockets of your turnout gear.  One of my favorite conversation starters when I meet a new firefighter is to ask what they carry in their pockets.  I’m often amazed by what they tell me.

 For me, it was learning the value of multi head screwdriver that persuaded me to pay attention to what I carry in my pockets.  It was late one evening when an air vent on the roof of a nursing home malfunctioned and started filling a wing with smoke.  We needed to ladder the building to access the vent.  No big deal except that it was about 100 yards from our truck to where we needed to get on the roof.  We got the ladder up and clamored up on the roof. We needed to loosen six screws to get the malfunctioning vent off. Alas, no one had a screwdriver on them.  So back to the truck someone had to run.  Fortunately, there was no longer a fire risk because the power was shut off. 

When he returned, the firefighter climbed back up the ladder and onto the roof.  Oh no! He grabbed the wrong kind of screwdriver. Once again, down he went back to the truck, then back up the ladder to us on the roof.  If only one of us was carrying a screwdriver! What should have been a five minute task took thirty minutes!  Ever since, I carry a multi head screwdriver with me. I’m glad to say I’ve used it many times since.

 Here is a very simple, educational and fun “drill”.  Ask one another what they carry in the pockets of their turnout gear.  There is no right or wrong answer.  I guarantee you’ll learn something in the process.

Volunteer Highlight - Cyrus Kalemunguruk

By José Ngunjiri, AFM Fire Safety Advocate, Nairobi, Kenya

The late Elbert Hubbard used to say: “if you want anything done, asks a busy man to do it.” Cyrus Kalemunguruk is that man. Selfless, dedicated and loves to serve God’s people. Cyrus is among the instructors who took me under their wing when I was in fire training school and trained me to be a firefighter. 

In December 2020, Cyrus agreed to volunteer his time to support Africa Fire Mission as we worked to advance firefighter trainings on how to conduct basic community fire prevention sessions. (crawling under smoke, stop drop and roll, calling the fire brigade amongst other lessons) Check out AFM’s fire prevention curriculum  

Cyrus was a true teammate.   He provided instruction in a professional manner and his contribution will be contributing to the fire service in Africa for years to come. 

During the training, a fire call came in and we were asked to join the firefighters who were on duty. It had been a long time since I rode in a fire truck. Cyrus sprung up and become the mentor I relied on in school. He reminded me to buckle up, to check the breathing apparatus and also to follow his instructions as soon as we reached the fire scene. It was a tough call. However, the calmness of Cyrus Kalemunguruk made me work with ease. 

Working with volunteer Cyrus is always an awesome experience. Thank you Cyrus for volunteering!

AFM continues to grow dedicated volunteers to serve!!! If you are interested in volunteering in your community, contact your local fire brigade.

Reflections on AFM’s first Virtual Fire Training Symposium

by: Hank Clemmensen, Board Member AFM; Retired Fire Chief, Palatine Rural Fire Protection District, IL

What a year 2020 has been in the United States, from COVID-19 to the protests and riots to some of the worst Western wildfires and hurricanes in the golf shores.  At times, we forget that it hasn’t been any better in other parts of the world and some of those places are not as prepared to handle these types of disasters.  

This is one of driving forces behind what we do at the Africa Fire Mission, why since 2012 we have traveled halfway around the world to help support the fire service in Africa. I’ve been participating in team trips with AFM since 2015.  During the fall of 2019, I spent more than 5 weeks in Africa working with fire fighters in Zambia and Kenya, sharing leadership skills that I have learned in the United States during my career in the fire service.  As difficult as that was for 5 weeks being in different countries and away from family, I would almost prefer it then teaching virtually.  

Although Kenyans speak English, they prefer to speak Swahili with their own dialytic.  When teaching in person, you pick up quick on their expression when you say something that they don’t understand.  However, when doing a virtual class, not until you get their homework or quiz back that you realize they missed some of main points of the lecture.

It was not until late summer that the final decision was made that we would not be traveling, and we were going to do a virtual symposium for the firefighters in Kenya.  Now how do we this virtual online training with volunteer instructors, no budget for IT support, little or no experience with putting together a virtual training symposium, and about 4 months to put it all together.  Not to mention the 9-hour time difference and the limited internet access in Kenya.

My first thought was that if my grandkids can do remote learning at home, I should be able to handle one forty-hour class.  A big thanks to Nancy Moore and the hours she put into setting up Google Classroom for this virtual learning.  The first challenge was to learn all I could about Google Classroom, and then figure out how to record the training since it would not be practical to try to do this live with the time difference.  Then of course, editing of those videos we recorded, which was a real learning process.   Let us not forget we had to come up with the class content, quizzes, and homework.  Now I remember why I gave up on secondary education and went into the fire service.

The good news was that most of the instructors for the different classes worked in teams.  I was fortunate enough to have Chief Kevin Milan, with the South Metro Fire Rescue in Colorado and Rick Best from the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation working with me on the Leadership class.  We created are videos with Zoom, which allowed us to have guest speakers join in and with some of my new video editing skills, it looked like we did it all in one take.

Another big issue was Internet access for our students and having enough band width to play all the videos and being to download the Google Classroom documents.  It appeared that most of the students used their cell phones to access Google and complete their homework assignments/quizzes.  It was amazing to see how hard they worked to make sure that homework was completed and submitted.  Although we may have better Internet access in the US, the firefighters in Africa really have the drive to make the technology work for them.

Being the first virtual Fire Symposium in Africa by Africa Fire Mission with more than 600 students from around the world (more than 16 countries represented), 20 volunteer instructors, and in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic, I believe it was a great success.  Firefighters in Africa have proven again that they are extremely motivated to continue their mission to learn and improve the fire service their countries.  Every year I make new friends and learn so much from our brothers and sisters in Africa which is why I look forward to returning to Africa in the Fall of 2021.

For more information about AFM’s Mission’s in 2021 check out: Join a Mission

The New Normal: Virtual Fire Training Symposium

Errol Sianga, ICT Fire and Rescue, Kenya

14 December 2020

The year 2020 began on an extremely high gear and as in previous years, I was looking forward to having a great and wonderful experience in the world of firefighting.  Suddenly the world was hit by the strange virus known as the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) that affected and infected many people and countries making the whole world come to a standstill because of the rapid spread and highly contagious virus.

Traveling was impossible and social gatherings were also not happening.  Everyone was restricted and advised to STAY AT HOME, wash their hands with soap and water, sanitize as well and not forget to put on their mask, so that became the NEW NORMAL.

Life took a different turn in which I had to adjust my way of life. The coronavirus was spreading like a wildland fire.  I was trying to be safe and at the same time many countries were trying to figure out what type of a virus it is and the rush to come up with a vaccine started.

At this point, Africa Fire Mission began weekly VIRTUAL classes that were being held each Wednesday.  The weekly virtual classes were very informative and very refreshing. As the weekly classes were ongoing that is when the major announcement was made for the AFM VIRTUAL FIRE TRAINING SYMPOSIUM that was going to be held in the month of NOVEMBER from 16th-20th.  I was so excited and very anxious and looking forward to attending my first ever virtual symposium ever.   So, we were urged to register for the class through GOOGLE CLASSROOM.

The virtual symposium was very exciting with great and very knowledgeable instructors and wonderful reading materials. The sessions were very engaging and not forgetting the HOMEWORK part that was a good indicator to gauge how well I understood the subject and the content being delivered.

The awesome experience I gained from the symposium was a unique one and a memorable one in my firefighting career.  It was also a great networking platform. I have been sharing with my friends and colleagues the materials that I got from the symposium and the notes that I gathered from the symposium. I am looking forward to next year and more virtual training from Africa Fire Mission.

Mission Critical: Recognizing our Volunteers

On October 10, 2020 Africa Fire Mission during our Annual Fundraiser, Africa Fire Mission was pleased to honor Amelia Smith and Jonathan Seastone.   (watch the 2020 Chama on Facebook >)

Africa Fire Mission thrives on volunteers.   Volunteers are really the heart of our organization.   We have dozens and dozens of volunteers. We have volunteers from all across the United States, Africa and Europe that help to make AFM run on a daily basis.   In 2019, Africa Fire Mission logged 8851 volunteer hours!   These men, women, firefighters, civilians and children are all a vital part of Africa Fire Mission being able to achieve its goals and objectives. 

Amelia Smith – Volunteer of the Year

Amelia is resourceful, relentless, takes on tasks with little direction, helps us to implement new projects that expand our mission.   Amelia traveled with LifeSpring Christian Church and Africa Fire Mission to Kenya several years ago and since then has been a dedicated volunteer along with her husband, Andy.  Thank you Amelia for all that you have done and all that you will do for Africa Fire Mission and those that we serve around the world.  Amelia says:  “It has been great to watch Africa Fire Mission grow and adapt through the years.  I’m grateful to be able to support AFM behind the scenes.”

When Africa Fire Mission travels with a team to provide training in Africa or other parts of the world, our team members volunteer their time, talents and treasures to provide world class training to our partners.  Our instructors, undergo training in advance of the trip to prepare of the mission and prepare the lessons that they will teach in our week long fire training events.   We have been fortunate to have many instructors return year after year and continue to build each year on the training that they have been providing as well as to build strong relationships with firefighers and our overseas partners. 

Jonathan Seastone, Trainer of the Year Denver Fire Department –

Jon has gone above and beyond the call of duty.  He has been on multiple missions and has recruited instructors for our work in Kenya, Zambia and Ukraine.   He has led new instructors to challenge themselves to teach the right material at the right level for the firefighters we serve.   Jon pushes and encourages the firefighters he teaches at our training events to push themselves beyond their limits, to be stronger than they think they are.   Jon is not afraid to hold Chief Fire Officers, in the countries where we serve, accountable for safe and advanced training for their firefighters so that their firefighters are able to serve their communities and to protect themselves from the dangers of fire. Jon and his wife Shandy, who serves as AFM’s volunteer Mission Teams Coordinator, have both helped to grow AFM’s programs in countless ways.   Jon says: “With every trip I’ve wanted to something bigger (with the training) and we are accomplishing that.   This award means alot.” 

Interested in volunteering with AFM in administrative roles or as one of our international instructors?

Importance knowing the Fire Department Emergency Contact

By Kelvin, Seru Kenya EMR

Picture how you would react in your local area, home, learning institutions, office or work one day when a fire broke out and you hadn’t the faintest clue where to start, what to do or who to contact about the situation. Imagine running to the area local administrator, manager or director’s office to obtain a point-of-contact information about the fire department only to be told there is none available.

Or maybe you are headed home and a fire broke out. Concerned bystanders try to help and would like to contact the Fire and Rescue Services but no information is found. This is often the case for many in Kenya, Africa.

Fire emergency contact information and numbers are very important for every individual, institution and organization to know, yet it is easily overlooked and forgotten by many—both employees and managers. Fire emergency contacts are the phone number or numbers for your local Fire and Rescue Services (access emergency numbers for Kenya here) . It is also important to know what to say when you call, using 4WCT.

W- who you are

W- what you need

W- what happened or is happening

W- where the incident is

C- confirmation of the information

T- time the incident took place

It is important to ensure each employee, local community group or volunteer, organization, institution, and office has accessible, well-written fire department emergency numbers placed at every corner; and also an action plan which indicates a step-by-step procedure of what to do in case of a fire outbreak. Also, having individuals who are trained as fire marshals in your local community, company, organization or institution will help in a long way.

From experience, it is also advisable for every County’s fire service to have a toll-free Emergency number for everyone in the community to reach them.

Most of the time the fire department would respond to a fire late due to the delay in contacting the fire department. As a result, the fire engine ends up being stoned by the local community and even at times even stealing items from the fire engine. Community members tend not to understand our response time starts from the time we receive the call but not when the fire starts. It is critical that we educate community members on the local contact numbers (see Kenya fire brigade numbers here)

For every individual, community volunteer, organization head, and institutional management: please make this a part of your monthly announcements to your employees and the general public the importance of having with them their respective area’s fire department emergency numbers, which will make it easier for everyone to reach First Responders.

As a Chinese proverb says, “Better a thousand times careful, than once dead”, so please do what you need to do to be safe, rather than sorry.

#TogetherForSafety

Collaborating During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kevin Milan, Assistant Fire Chief, South Metro Fire Rescue Authority, Colorado, USA

The lessons learned as an Africa Fire Mission instructor are many. Arguably, I learned much more from the Kenyan fire chiefs attending leadership training in November of 2019 than they possibly could have learned from me. I also learned a great deal teaching alongside Chief Hank Clemmensen who essentially wrote the book on emergency service leadership. What I didn’t realize while immersed in the Kenyan experience was the lessons learned were preparing me to deal with the COVID-19 virus as a leader in my fire department. Establishing common goals, aligning vison, and increasing respect are lessons from a leadership ‘game’ in Kenya that applied directly to managing our pandemic response. 

Through a leadership exercise Hank lead, the Kenyan Fire Chiefs tried to Win All You Can. Small groups worked together to choose options and negotiate with other teams to maximize their returns. The short-term gains and losses in the first rounds showed the Chiefs they could anticipate, but not guarantee success by looking out for their own best interest. One simple change of heart or decision by an individual dramatically altered the ‘plan’ and often ended in disaster for several groups. The final round brought the realization that only through cooperation and collaboration can everyone benefit. An attitude of winning collectively paid far greater benefits than winning for your team. 

Fast forward 90 days from Kenya, and I attended the first planning meeting for my agency’s response to COVID in the United States. The Win All You Can game was replaying before my eyes. The attitude in the meeting was we had to win; win N-95 masks, gowns, personal protective equipment, even toilet paper. The group schemed ways to end run systems, triple order, and even considered paying 800% mark ups for hard to get resources. The short-term losses and disappointments showed us very quickly that winning as a department was not going to benefit the collective response to the pandemic.  

I was able to share the lessons I learned in Kenya in a non-threatening manner. I explained how the Kenyan Chiefs learned to work together for the common good. We even ran an abbreviated version of Win All You Can with our incident support team. This ultimately led us to looking across disciplines, industries, and borders to take care of all responders.  

We were able to share the supplies we had in excess and accept alternatives proven out in private industry. We shared our strategies with hospitals and came to a common understanding: We are all in this together. This collaborative attitude with goals, vision, and respect is a recipe for success. I am forever in debt to my Kenyan sisters and brothers for teaching me a lesson of a lifetime. Thank you, AFM, for all you do – you are making a difference every day.   

Improving Water Supply for the Fire Service in Africa

Edward Collet, Jackson Township Fire Department Firefighter/EMT, Ohio; Ohio Fire Chiefs Association Water Supply Technical Advisory Committee Co-Chair

I spent a week in November 2019 as part of the Africa Fire Mission’s training cadre teaching at the 2019 Kenya Fire and EMS Symposium.  Brian Burkhardt from Greenville, Indiana Fire Department and I taught water supply and pump operations.  Wow, what an experience!  It definitely made me appreciate all we have available to us both as firefighters and in everyday life.  Unfortunately, the fire service in Kenya does not have the level of respect and support from the community we enjoy.  People will throw rocks and cut lines when they feel the fire department takes too long to respond or runs out of water.  But the firefighters I met are not deterred by this.  Just like us, in the United States, the job is a calling to serve the community.   This was a driving force for the level of participation at the training symposium put on by Africa Fire Mission and its local partners.  There were over 300 participants for fire and EMS classes and roughly 30 in the pump operations and water supply class wanting to learn how to better service their communities.  It was an awesome week of training and learning for the students and the instructors. 

The Kenyan firefighters were eager to learn how water supply is managed in the US.   Few departments have hydrants and rely on wells and storage tanks for water.  They are very reluctant to use lakes and rivers as water sources to avoid contaminating the tanks on the fire apparatus.  Many students were drinking from the tanks, so this probably a reason they only want to use clean water.   Tanks on engines are normally 3000 liters, about 800 gallons, and tenders carry 11,000 liters, 2,900 gallons.  Pumping operations are done mainly from the tank, fortunately the tank to pump plumbing is roughly 4” which allows full pump capacity to be supplied form the tank.  When the engine’s tank runs dry, tenders fill the attack engine’s tank through one of two direct tank fills.  Unfortunately, engines have larger pumps than tenders meaning the tenders were the limitation in flow.  Due to this difference in pump capacity, I broke the cardinal rule of offloading one tender at a time during our high flow scenario.  To keep the engine’s tank level over a quarter full while flowing roughly 750-1000gpm we had to fill the engine’s tank with two tenders at once.  This is not a tactic normally used in the US, but it worked well to maintain a high flow with these apparatus.   This emphasized a key concept of the class, know your apparatus, how to optimize what it can do to minimize the impact of things it cannot.

Standpipe hydrant

Pump plumbing

Schematic

Tank Interior

Relay pumping was something new to most students.  None of the apparatus at the training had an adapter to go from the large threaded pump inlet to the quick release style 65mm (2 ½”) supply line.  The students said their departments did not have these adapters.  Most apparatus do not carry any adapters since both 65mm and 35mm hose use the same 65mm couplings.  I was fortunate to find the proper adapter in the airport training facility.  The students were intrigued by relay pumping as it demonstrated the additive potential of centrifugal pumps.  While it is not a tactic they will normally use, it was a good learning experience.  Several students even said they were going to get the adapter for their fire brigade in the future. 

 We had access to a self-supporting dump tank for drafting practice.  This was the first time many students drafted from an external source.  Self-supporting tanks are not something I normally work with so there was a bit of a learning curve for everyone.  It would definitely be difficult to fill with a rapid dump chute like US tenders have.  The tank had a connection for a fill line at the bottom.  We used this connection to fill the tank using the tender’s pump.  This limited the flow rate to that of tender’s pump.  This tactic will suffer from the same issue caused by the difference in tender and engine pump capacity seen when nurse the engine.  Equipment configuration definitely requires rethinking tactics we tend to take for granted. 

Engine

Hose Couplings

Low level strainer

Priming pumps

The closest thing to a low-level strainer available was a river strainer with a check valve.  These are made to hang vertically in a river or pond from a bridge.  Without a swivel it was difficult to keep the strainer upright.  Once it tipped over, it drew air if the water level was not over 12” high.  Without a means to support the suction hose it crushed down the side of the tank limiting the fill level. Priming the pumps was different from priming American style pumps.  These pumps have an automatic priming system using two diaphragm pumps connected to the fire pump.  The priming pumps engage when air entered the fire pump.  Since the operators had never drafted before, getting a prime was a learning experience for all.  Back filling the pump and suction hose from the tank, increasing RPMs, and feathering the tank to pump valve till the prime took ended up being the best method we found to get a prime.  

We integrated drafting, nursing, and relay pumping into one drill to allow students a better understanding of how all the elements of water supply fit together.  They learned a water supply evolution does not come together quickly.  But with teamwork they were able to put everything together very few issues.   

The students took a lot away from this class.  Many said they would use things they learned to improve the water supply for their fire brigade.  I am grateful for this opportunity to join Africa Fire Mission and to represent the Ohio Fire Chiefs Association Water Supply Technical Advisory Committee and pass knowledge of water supply to the firefighters of Kenya.  I learned and grew as a firefighter, instructor, and person from this experience.  It is hard to describe the impact of seeing students gravitate to a subject and start teaching others in the group.  The work AFM is doing in Kenya and other countries is having a positive impact on empowering firefighters to improve their ability to serve their communities. 

Drafting and relay evolution setup