Streamlight‘s Director of Sales, Industrial and Fire Divisions, Aaron Freund, delves into the importance of durable and dependable lighting tools for firefighter safety

Portable lighting is an essential tool in the fire sector, providing critical visibility and safety for firefighters in the most challenging environments.

Streamlight, a leader in the field of portable lighting solutions, has consistently delivered products that meet the rigorous demands of emergency services.

Aaron Freund, the Director of Sales for the Industrial and Fire Divisions, has been instrumental in this effort.

In this interview, IFSJ Editor Iain Hoey sat down with Freund to explore the role of lighting technology in fire safety and emergency response.

What advancements in lighting technology for the fire sector have you observed over the past decade?

When I first started, we were still discussing the need for incandescent bulbs because some end users believed they cut through smoke better than LED bulbs.

The lighting industry has evolved incredibly, as we have long since demonstrated that LEDs perform just as well, if not better, in smoky atmospheres.

Battery technology has also advanced significantly.

Our lights have become more efficient, using less energy while providing brighter and more consistent illumination.

The weight of our products has decreased dramatically by using newer lightweight batteries; example, the weight of our Survivor® X light has dropped considerably by 164 grams.

We recently relaunched our E-Spot® LiteBox® with a lithium-ion battery, reducing its weight by almost 3.6 kg.

This weight reduction is crucial for firefighters, given the amount of gear they must carry.

These advancements have been incremental but substantial over my time with Streamlight.

We’ve made steady improvements.

One such improvement is the addition of battery indicators on top of Survivor® X lights.

This allows users to see a green indicator for a full battery and a red one when it’s time to change or charge batteries.

What are the critical challenges firefighters face in low-visibility environments?

I think the obvious challenge is visibility.

At its simplest, a flashlight makes a dark area brighter, but there’s more to it.

It’s also about having the right type of light and ensuring it’s focused correctly.

For instance, in a low-visibility, smoke-filled room, using a floodlight is like driving through fog with your high beams on – the light will reflect back at you, making it harder to see.

A focused light that cuts through the smoke is crucial.

Another major aspect is visibility for others.

Sometimes, you might only see as far as your arm’s length because of the dense smoke, but someone else across the room can spot your light and locate you, which is incredibly important in fire scenarios.

Marking points of entry and exit with light also helps in navigating and identifying potential hazards.

Having the right light greatly enhances safety by allowing firefighters to see and be seen in hazardous environments.

How has the trend of hands-free operation evolved, and what innovations are emerging?

Whether it’s forcible entry, pulling hose, or handling an extrication call, the need for firefighters to keep their hands available is crucial.

We are seeing a continuous increase in the demand for hands-free lighting solutions.

This includes traditional headlamps and our helmet-mounted firefighting lights.

There has been significant growth in this category, and we are dedicating more time and innovation to developing products that allow for hands-free operation.

For example, our Vantage® 180 X light can be mounted on a helmet but also removed and used as a handheld light in a 90-degree angle.

 As demands grow for hands-free lighting, it continues to be essential for us to create advancements in this area allowing for user versatility.

Why is durability and reliability, supported by standards, important for Streamlight?

Whenever you walk into a firehouse and talk about any tool they use, they often mention whether it’s “firefighter-proof” or not.

Firefighters take pride in being tough on their products and tools.

You cannot introduce a product to the fire service that isn’t durable and made of highly resilient materials.

In the design process, durability is a key focus for Streamlight.

We ensure our products can withstand being dropped or exposed to extreme conditions, such as 500 degrees for five minutes as per the NFPA 1971-8.6 (2018).

Testing to these and other standards is critical.

We drop test our products, test for IP ratings, ensure they don’t interfere with other radio waves, as well as a magnitude of other tests, making them reliable in all situations.

Our products are tested both in-house and by third-party agencies.

This includes various laboratories to ensure we meet standards set by agencies like NFPA, UL, ATEX, and INMETRO.

Our products consistently exceed these standards, which is crucial for those in the fire safety industry.

How should fire departments select lighting tools to best meet their unique needs?

We aim to be as involved as possible in this process by meeting with departments to discuss their needs.

Flashlights are a hands-on product; you need to touch and feel them.

I always joke with our customers that they have to shine the light in their eyes to understand its brightness and have that “aha” moment of realisation about how they’ll use it.

No two fire departments are the same, and each has different applications and responses based on their unique communities.

It’s important to understand this aspect, and I believe it holds true in Europe as well.

Engaging with the department, learning about their specific needs, and then making tailored recommendations is crucial.

Additionally, we have a testing and evaluation programme where we put the product in the hands of the users at a departmental level.

This allows them to touch, feel, and test the product to ensure it meets their needs and applications before making a purchase.

How can advancements in portable scene lighting improve emergency response effectiveness and safety?

The faster you can light up a scene, the quicker you can assess the situation and respond accordingly.

Scene lighting has become vital to our product line.

We now have multiple products, including the Portable Scene Light, Portable Scene Light EXT, and Portable Scene Light II.

These products are quick to deploy, battery-operated, and fully waterproof.

This combination of features is unique to us and allows for rapid illumination of an area.

We are continually advancing in this area, creating more products within the scene lighting category because it is so essential.

On the fire ground, you don’t want cords everywhere creating trip hazards.

There’s also a growing demand from fire departments for sustainable solutions.

What emerging trends and technologies do you think will shape the future of emergency response?

I believe we will continue to see flashlights becoming brighter, running longer, and weighing less while maintaining durability and functionality.

The focus will remain on creating tools that allow firefighters to do their jobs efficiently and safely.

I foresee continued innovation in scene lighting and helmet lighting for the fire service.

We are also developing more versatile lights.

For instance, we recently launched the Survivor Pivot®, which has a head that pivots up and uses the same universal battery platform as our Survivor® X.

 This means multiple lights can run off the same battery platform.

I believe the future will bring more efficient products with diverse applications, allowing users to meet their needs in various ways.

What innovations or developments can we expect from Streamlight

As previously mentioned, our newest innovation is the Survivor Pivot®, with both spot and flood beams in the same pivoting head.

The feedback from the fire service has been tremendous.

The ability to have a light attached to your gear that can rotate and direct light where you need it is incredible.

Additionally, it can be removed from your bunker gear and attached to the side of a vehicle with its powerful magnet, illuminating areas during extrication calls.

Major departments are buying the Survivor® X for all their rigs.

The ability to now add the Survivor Pivot® with its shared battery platform as an additional lighting tool has been very well received.

We are excited about this product and believe it will be very successful.

We’ve also made improvements to our legacy product, the LiteBox®, which has been in our product line for over 40 years.

Enhancing this tried-and-true technology to make it lighter, brighter, and more efficient has been a significant achievement.

The response to these improvements has been very positive.

Streamlight will continue to innovate.

Innovation drives us, and we are constantly listening to feedback from departments around the world.

This feedback is an integral part in understanding the type of products we need to manufacture and develop for various market applications.

This article was originally published in the August 2024 issue of International Fire & Safety Journal. To read your FREE digital copy, click here.