What were these for again?

Just wasteful...

A "Giant" Problem

We received this email a few days ago, thanks for the tips fellas.

"To 411,

Recently we took a trip to the radio shop and while we were there had a chance to see two of the new trucks. We were able to take the grand tour and if you take into account that they are quints, the concept, the extremely high price tag and the constraints placed on the individuals spec’ing them, they came out good.  No wasted space and very user friendly.  I can honestly say that the individuals took their time and it shows.  One item that was par for our recent course and not a decision of the committee was found in the rear compartment of the 105’ quint.  A Little Giant Ladder now occupies the space of the stokes basket.  This ladder has absolutely no place on a fire ground and was described as being purchased for smoke detector installations.  If you remember these ladders were first purchased for the RFD midi pumpers because after we purchased them we remembered that ladders are an integral part of our job, but normal firefighting ladders were too big for the newly purchased “pick-up” engines.  The space on the quints is limited and the purchase of a ladder made famous by infomercials, is just another example of the complete separation between the Fire Chief and operations.  This open space could have housed another 24 ft. NFPA approved ladder for fire ground operations.  A 3 ft. Lowe's step ladder purchased for $39 would have sufficed for smoke detectors and taken up a lot less space.  I know this may sound like a small issue but it is just one more example of the bigger problem.  We need more focus placed on firefighting operations and less on gizmos and gadgets.  Also on the 75’ they took up an entire compartment until the  apparatus committee (people in operations) caught it and tucked it under the aerial in some unused space.  No more “industry pioneering” gadgets please.  Take the new ladders and store them next to the Segway’s that never get used and replace them with a 24 ft. ladder that may save someone’s life one day. Just a comment I thought you might be interested in.  Thank you for keeping this site professional and giving firefighters a way to be heard. "

The rescue engine experiment

We've had the Quint concept. Now we are working with a rescue engine experiment. RFD is buying a rescue engine with no real plan on where its going or what it is going to do. It seems if its going to be a bandaid for whatever rescue piece is out of service or provide 24 with another piece to jump on based on the call.In other words spending $750,000 on something we don't have any plan for? Whats your thoughts?