"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. "
Sunday, January 15, 2012
A "Giant" Problem
We received this email a few days ago, thanks for the tips fellas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Maybe I overlooked it, but when I looked over one of the new Quints I didn't see any room for the 4" supply hose. Anyone have insight on this?
ReplyDeleteAwesome post good to know.....But why is everyone hating on the segways there good when its a slow night at the number 6
ReplyDeleteAES is currently mounting brackets for the sham wow and the gallon of oxy-clean
ReplyDeleteJust the other day, after having a conversation about this very thing, I too the time to look at the rear of a current quint. As a end user who is expected to do the job I agree that it would make more operational sense to place at least another 2 section ladder or 2 16-18 foot roof ladders in the same spot. I know i would throw alot more of those for our saftey. But what do I know, I am just a self proclaimed firefighter. What has happened to our profesion, I bet the men in the background pic would be really impressed with what we have done to their department.
ReplyDeleteJust another flaw with the quints. A normal truck has a much larger assortment of ladders. This allows firefighters to place a ladder and then return to the same truck and grab another one. Often one truck can provide enough ladders for the entire incident. In our case after one 24 foot ladder is placed you have to search the scene for another truck sometimes an entire block away. After getting there you realize that ladder is gone and its off to the next truck. Great system! Keep it up Chief your doing great.
ReplyDelete