IFAMA NEWSLETTER
February 2012

IFAMA NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2012 As I write this newsletter, it is February 5, 2012 SUPER BOWL SUNDAY. I’ll bet the atmosphere in Indianapolis is full of anticipation of who this year’s winner will be. Just like our IFAMA members are wondering what our planning committee has lined up for us in 2012.

While we all await what our Planning Committee has in store for us this year, let’s do a little recap of our 2011 season.

We started off 2011 with a meeting and training event at the Frankfort FD Training Center on January 25th. The training was given by Paul Newton, who is the National Sales Manager for Harrison Generator. Paul’s in depth knowledge of generators and their use in the fire industry was very informative. Everyone who attended (almost 60 guests) certainly came away with a better understanding of how to spec-out, maintain, and operate generators from this very professional, hands-on trainer. We thank Mike Yurgec from Harrison for setting this up for IFAMA. In keeping with our regular format, EVT testing was done after our pizza lunch and proctored by our Liaison Officer Brian Pepich.

Our second quarterly meeting was held at the Bolingbrook FD-Station 5 on April 19th. The training portion was done in two parts by Bridgestone Tire Company and Transportation Support –Lite Service. The first trainers were Al Saucedo-Fleet Sales Manager and Bill McKechnie-Field Engineering Technician for Bridgestone. The subject matter was tire construction, application, causes of failure and maintenance. There were about 50 attendees, who found out that there is a lot more to tires than what they previously knew. This was absolutely great training and we thank our Vice-President Mike Smollen for getting the Bridgestone gentlemen to do this for IFAMA.

The second part of the Bolingbrook FD training was handled by the President of Transportation Support-Lite Service, Paul Cimaroli. The topic was regarding Linig fan clutches. This design of fan clutch employs a much different technology from the fan clutches that our industry is familiar with. This new design truly revolutionizes standard technology with a greater impact on economy and maintenance. I have personally known Paul Cimaroli for close to 40-years in the transportation industry and am very grateful to have such a professional friend to rely on, when transportation knowledge is needed. Look to see more Linig fan clutches in use by the OEM’s in the future! Oh yes, EVT testing was also part of the curriculum and proctored once again by Brian Pepich. (What would we ever do without him?)

Something I promised when I became President was to start having more than one meeting a year downstate. Since IFAMA’s inception, most meeting were held in the Metropolitan Chicago area with the exception of annual training once a year in Bloomington and now Peoria. This concept served well for the apparatus technicians in the northern part of the state, but did very little to support the need of technicians in the lower two-thirds of Illinois, except once a year! With some much needed advice from IFAMA member Tony Arnold from Urbana Public Works, I was able to come up with a centralized city to try our first mid-year downstate IFAMA meeting. The city would be Decatur and after asking Chief Matthew Sekosky of the Decatur FD where we could have such a meeting, he volunteered his training center for this purpose.

The very first IFAMA mid-year downstate meeting and training event occurred on June 2nd. in Decatur. Again, with the help of Mike Yurgec from Harrison Generator, we were able to duplicate our January training with Paul Newton again doing an amazing job explaining the ins-and-outs of generators. There were almost 50 technicians in attendance for our first meeting downstate and quite a few stayed after lunch for EVT testing again, proctored by none other than, who else, Brian Pepich! All went off without a hitch until it came time for lunch. Somehow, the local Jimmy John’s got our dates mixed up and they had to really scramble to come up with 50-box lunches in record time. We apologize to those who could not wait the extra 30-to-40 minutes until Jimmy John’s came through.

Our third quarterly meeting was held at the Elmhurst Public Works facility on July 28th. Our training for this event was courtesy of Snap-On Tools regarding Next Level Diagnostics / Beyond Codes & Data. Our trainers were David May, Greg Castelleto and Dave Mersman. The training was excellent, but because there was a major storm that came through the area the night before, we had no electricity for the first few hours of our meeting and training. As most of you know, July in the Chicago area can be very hot and humid and it certainly was that day! All in all, we weathered the storm (literally) and had another very successful IFAMA event. By now I don’t have to tell you who proctored the EVT tests in the afternoon under an air-conditioned environment, do I? (Brian Pepich-who else?) Brian was also the person responsible for landing Snap-On for this training. Lunch was catered in by Fontano’s and we all (again about 50) enjoyed a wide array of delicious submarine sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Only the best for IFAMA!

Next up was our annual October meeting and training in Peoria to coincide with the IFCA seminar and show. Our training committee headed by our Vice President Mike Smollen, along with his team, put together another great package of world-class training for us. We had Ford Motor Company with their new police vehicles, International with a rolling-classroom tractor-trailer rig for their Engine training, Cummins also came through with an Engine they had shipped in, and Darley shipped in a water pump assembly. Along with those manufacturers we also had Alexis for Apparatus Spec Writing, Spartan for Air Brake training, Loctite for adhesives training, Amsoil for Lubricants, Oil Analysis, and Filtration, and Ford Motor Company for their Diesel Engines. There were also local Distributors such as P & G Keene who did Alternator Diagnostics, Inland Diesel for Allison Transmissions and Equipment Management Company that did Hydraulic Tool Maintenance training. To round out the curriculum, one of our own members, Ben Brown formerly of Lisle-Woodridge FD and currently with Wood Dale FD, taught a class on Ambulance Spec Writing. This training schedule filled our Monday thru Thursday time slots quite nicely. We had one trainer cancel at the last moment for our HVAC training but the Spartan trainer doing our Brake Class saved the day and also did HVAC just as if he was the trainer we expected or even better! A real special thank you to Gary May-Technical Service Advisor for Spartan Chassis, Inc. for coming to our rescue. There were 97-technicians in attendance for this week long training seminar and almost half of them stayed on Friday for EVT testing. The good news was that there were two gentlemen from the Peoria FD to proctor the EVT tests, thus giving our own Brian Pepich a much needed break!

There were far too many trainers to list all of their names for the October conference but they were all very knowledgeable about their products. Our IFAMA members and the departments that sponsored them, truly got their money’s worth out of all the training provided.

On behalf of all of us at IFAMA, we especially want to thank Chief James Grady and Lieutenant Kevin Linhart for the use of the Frankfort FD Training Facility, Chief David Litton and Chris Sarcletti for the accommodations at Bolingbrook Station 5, Chief Matthew Sekosky and AC Jeff Abbott for the use of the Decatur FD Training Facility, Fleet Manager Chanel Caron for the use of the Elmhurst Public Works Facility, and last and certainly not the least, Chief Kent Tomblin and AC Gary Van Voorhis for the use of Peoria FD’s Headquarters Station and adjacent parking lots along with their Station 8 for our off-site training needs. Without the support of all that were involved, IFAMA could not have run the agenda’s we mentioned above. We truly thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts!

God Bless America and All of You!

Larry J. Polas IFAMA President