General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Fibreglass composite helmet/ Synthetic parts/ Fabric lining and parts/ Metal parts

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

41.0 cm

Width

32.5 cm

Height

18.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Fire Fighting

Category

Clothing & personal safety apparatus

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Cairns

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Pennsylvania

City

Pittsburgh

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

This example: 2001-2004

Canada

An example of a modern type of fire helmet worn by Canadian firefighters. Some fire departments still choose the classic leather type of helmet, but made in a modern material like Kevlar or fibreglass composites. Cairns brothers has always been an important provider of fire helmets to Canadian fire departments since the early 1990’s. MSA, the current owner of Cairns, was another. This helmet (no. 2813) belonged to the firefighter Richard Malton of the Ottawa Fire Department. He began in the service in March 1984, In May 2005 he became a lieutenant and the helmet was no longer used. Usually, by regulation all firefighting protective clothing must be changed after five years of service. If the condition is good, The Ottawa Fire Department sends such items to the training centre for a second life. This helmet had been used for only about 6-7 months. It was Mr. Malton’s second or third helmet.

Function

A piece of equipment worn to protect a firefighter form injury during firefighting.

Technical

This type of helmet became available circa 1980 in Canadian fire departments. In Ottawa, it was used since the later 1970’s to meet the new OHSA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) regulation for firefighters’ helmets. It was probably the 660 Phoenix helmet then. The Metro 660 was introduced in 1981. It was the first helmet produced by Cairns with a fiberglass-reinforced composite shell. It also meets the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) regulation. The face shield of Polyaralyte was introduced in1983 for this type of helmet but had existed before in other materials. Until about the 1950’s, Canadian firefighters used leather, plastic (polycarbonate) or aluminum helmets. The plastic ones melted despite the manufacturers’ claims and were not stable in elevated areas with wind. The aluminum ones, first introduced by Cairns in the 1920’s, were comfortable but heated up in fires. During WWII their production was discontinued. In 1836 H.T. Gratacap of NewYork designed the first American fire helmet. The Cairns brothers operated a metal badge, button and insignia making company in NYC and came up with the idea of mounting an identification tag to the front of Gratacap’s helmets. The two companies cooperated until Gratacap’s retirement after which the Cairns took over production in 1868. With time, they diversified their production to other firefighting equipment. In 2000 Cairns was bought by Mine Safety Appliance Co. (MSA), which had specialized in safety products including firefighter’s helmets for decades.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Interior label with lettering reading ‘MODEL A-MOD SHOP ORDER NO. 100295822/ ORDER NO. 640208 SEQ. COUNT 10 COLOR 155 YELLOW/ SIZES ADJ EARFLAP - CHINSTRAP C922/ EYE PROT. S905 LINER LK2B MOD. WEIGHT 4.3 LB/ MISC. 005898 MISC. - CUST NO. 300975/ DATE OF MFG.: 05/23/2001/ CAUTION: CLEAN WITH SOAP OR MILD/ DETERGENT AND WARM WATER. FOR/ MORE INFO. SEE USER’S GUIDE’ and ‘CairnsHELMETS/ MSA Fire Service Products MSA/ P.O. Box 426, Pittsburg, PA 15230/ Phone: 1-877-MSA-FIRE Fax: 973-473-1357/ THIS HELMET WAS MANUFACTURED IN THE USE/ DANGER/ DO NOT READ THIS HELMET UNTIL YOU READ AND/ UNDERSTAND THE USER INFORMATION BOOKLET. FIREFIGHTING IS A DANGEROUS ACTIVITY. YOU MAY BE KILLED OR INJURED WHILE USING THIS PRODUCT. / NFPA 1971, 2000 edition/ DO NOT REMOVE THIS LABEL/ 0001 (L)/ ©MSA 2000/1001002’/ Second interior label reads ‘660C’, ‘CairnsHELMETS’ and ‘1966 Fire and Emergency Manufacturers and Service Association, Inc. 1997 CairnsHELMETS MSA P/N 1001016’ with warnings/ Black appliqué ‘2813’ on exterior back

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Yellow with pale yellow synthetic strips and black velcros strips/ Colourless, transparent face shield with black mounting units/ Grey synthetic interior/ Yellow and black fabric strap, lining and padding/ Black strap with yellow clasp/ Plated metal clasps

Decoration

Multicoloured label on front reads ‘FIRE – INCENDIE’ with fire department emblem and City of Ottawa logo