Outfitting Firefighters

It has never been more clear to Americans that it is not the clothes that make the firefighter, but rather something else—an ineffable combination of courage, strength, and honor. Undeniably, however, the firefighter's uniform, imbued with tradition and fashioned from materials of the highest quality, itself embodies many of the qualities inherent in its wearer. In this feature, discover the various components of a firefighter's "turnout" gear (an antiquated term for firemen, who "turn out" for blazes) and learn how they help firefighters on the job in a high-rise-building fire scenario.—Lexi Krock

Note: This feature originally appeared on NOVA's "Why the Towers Fell" Web site, which has been subsumed into the "Building on Ground Zero" Web site.

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© | Created August 2006