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Posted: Oct 29, 2025

Specifying Lighting with SoundOff Signal

In the realm of fire apparatus specification, one of the most important things to get right, yet one of the most difficult to understand sometimes, is lighting. Firefighters are well accustomed to understanding gallons per minute and pounds per square inch, but lux and lumens are not always terms easily understood, nor is understanding the nuances of getting a scene light, for example, to shine light where you think it will. Along the way there are numerous types of lights, among them silicone lighting, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) compliance, and writing the specs themselves. But, companies like SoundOff Signal offer support when specifying the lighting on your next rig.

For more information, visit www.soundoffsignal.com.

The post Specifying Lighting with SoundOff Signal appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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Posted: Oct 29, 2025

Single Rig Replaces Two Hazmat Vehicles

Special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo

ALAN M. PETRILLO

The Green Bay Metro (WI) Fire Department had been running a tractor trailer unit and a small rescue truck that carried hazardous materials equipment to its hazmat calls but decided to purchase a single vehicle that could carry its necessary hazmat equipment and gear to a scene and transport more firefighters.

Green Bay Metro found the answer to its predicament when it had E-ONE build a walk-around hazmat truck that perfectly met its needs.

Mike Vanden Avond, Green Bay Metro’s hazmat battalion chief, says the department needed a new tractor for its fifth wheel hazmat trailer but couldn’t find one that would work, so it changed its thinking and decided to go with a single vehicle dedicated to hazmat responses. “While our new truck is dedicated for hazmat, it also responds to box alarm fire calls because it has a mobile fill station and an air bottle cascade system for 10 spare MSA one-hour bottles and 10 MSA air packs,” Vanden Avond points out.

The hazmat truck

1. The hazmat truck that E-ONE built for the Green Bay Metro (WI) Fire Department is built on a three-door Typhoon cab and chassis with a 24-inch Vista raised roof and seating for four firefighters and a command area at the back of the crew cab. (Photos courtesy of Fire Service Inc.)

Michael Purvis, E-ONE’s director of sales, says the Green Bay Metro hazmat truck is built on a Typhoon chassis and three-door cab with a 24-inch Vista raised roof and seating for four firefighters, three in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA); a command center in the crew cab with two workstations; a severe duty interior; RollTek air bags; and barrier style doors. The rig has a 274-inch wheelbase, is 41 feet 8 inches long, and is 11 feet 5 inches high.

Purvis notes the truck is powered by a 500-horsepower (hp) Cummins X12 engine and an Allison 4000P EVS automatic transmission and has a formed 304L stainless steel body that includes a side climb integral ladder in the body for a protected climb in blocking mode. It also has six coffin compartments on top holding six DOT 6,000-pound-per- square-inch (psi) breathing air cylinders and a fill station in a compartment below. “The stainless steel body allows for a longer body in a one-piece design, which improves its durability,” Purvis says. “And, the longer body also allows for a significant amount of storage space in the compartments and on top of the vehicle.”

Jim Castellano, vice president of sales for Fire Service Inc., who sold the hazmat truck to Green Bay Metro, calls the rig “a big, huge toolbox. Besides the command area in the cab for research and control, the hazmat truck has 11 exterior compartments, five on each side and one at the rear.

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Posted: Oct 29, 2025

Fire Chief Gets an Offer He Can’t Refuse

When South Milwaukee (WI) Fire Department Chief John Litchford answered a phone call from the Vintage Fire Company in Slinger, Wisconsin, he was asked this question: Would you like to have your old fire truck back?

The Vintage Fire Company had been tasked with finding new homes for four pieces of fire apparatus that were part of a fire collection whose owner had passed. One of the fire trucks was a 1938 American LaFrance type 450 RDB, registration L-973, with a 500-gallon-per-minute pump and double bank quad ladder truck. The truck had been shipped in 1938 from Elmira, New York, to the South Milwaukee Fire Department.

The quad ladder truck would serve South Milwaukee well into the late 1950s. The truck was then sold to a neighboring fire department. Later, the truck would be sold twice to Wisconsin fire apparatus collectors. The vehicle, always kept inside, was in fair condition but probably had not been run in more than 30 years. Considering that it was now 87 years old, it was remarkable that the quad was complete with a full complement of wood ladders and all the tools that a truck company needed to be in service back in the day. The truck would be a gift from an anonymous donor.

Wow! What an offer! Litchford heads a paid fire department of 26 firefighters. It operates out of one central fire station. Its apparatus includes two pumpers, one mini pumper, one aerial quint, two rescue boats, and three MED units. The department serves 20,000 residents in an area of 4.78 square miles. The city of South Milwaukee borders Milwaukee to the north and Lake Michigan to the east.

Litchford had a couple of concerns. One, where would they store an old rig? Second, how would his firefighters take to another piece of apparatus to maintain? Litchford was able to find storage space with the South Milwaukee Street Department. He learned that the firefighters were enthused with the thought of the ’38 quad coming home. So, Litchford advised the Vintage Fire Company caller that, yes, South Milwaukee would welcome the truck back home.

The truck had not been run in many years and would have to be trailered from the Slinger area to South Milwaukee. The Bucyrus Foundation donated funds to cover the cost of transporting the rig. The mechanics at the street department were able to get the rig running. Last July, the rig made an appearance at Brats-n-Tots, a Heritage Days event in South Milwaukee. This was the first opportunity for South Milwaukee residents to see this iconic piece of local history up close.

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Posted: Oct 28, 2025

Measuring Performance in the Fleet Division, Part 1

BY JOSEPH MURRAY

Performance measurements have long been used by successful private sector businesses and corporations to stay ahead of the competition, ensure efficient operations, and maximize their shareholders’ profits.

As publicly funded services, municipal fire departments and fire authorities mostly operate under very different circumstances. Typically, municipal fire departments and fire authorities provide a service that is without competition and without an unrelenting pressure to meet a bottom line of profitability. Without the pressure to meet profit margins, governmental agencies, including fire departments, often place less emphasis on measuring performance as they struggle just to keep up with the demands of daily activities.

When the topic of “performance measures” is brought up within the fire service, it is often met with some level of consternation by those comfortable with the status quo. Others—specifically those responsible for budgets—may also avoid the topic of performance measurements as they could reveal performance shortcomings, which could require a significant financial investment to rectify. As a result, fire service performance measurement programs have historically taken a back seat to other initiatives and programs. While the use of performance measures may expose weaknesses within current operations, fleet divisions that place a high priority on measuring performance often provide the most efficient and highest-quality services.

Performance Measurement Program Benefits

When properly developed and implemented, performance measurement programs can provide the fleet division supervisor with vital information in support of management functions. Performance measurements can be used to assist in maintaining accountability, improving operations, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and making certain that resources are properly allocated to meet the fleet division’s goals and objectives.

Increased Transparency and Accountability

High-performing fleet division supervisors must ensure accountability for those under the command while being accountable to the fire chief for their own actions. Performance measures are a way for the fleet division supervisor to document what work was completed, the quality of the work, and the impact the work had on the department’s overall mission. The resulting transparency that comes with the documentation of fleet division performance often leads to an increase in trust between the fleet division and internal and external stakeholders. When fleet divisions demonstrate accountability through performance measurements, firefighters may feel more confident that their apparatus are being well maintained, fire chiefs become more trusting when budget requests are made, and the residents feel confident that the fire department fleet is being well maintained, and tax dollars are being spent wisely.

Managing Fleet Division Operations

Fleet division supervisors equipped with a quality set of performance measures are better equipped to determine operational strengths and weakness, allowing them to determine the effectiveness of current procedures or to better provide feedback to fleet division employees. By using performance measurement reports, the fleet division supervisor can understand what processes may need to be altered to improve performance or even where they may need to provide closer supervision to ensure the division is meeting its goals. Fleet divisions that use a performance measurement system are more likely to detect operational deficiencies at an earlier stage, allowing them to make changes before a small problem becomes a bigger, and often more expensive, problem. Performance measurement reports also allow the fleet supervisor to determine if corrective actions to address problems have been effective. They can also assist the fleet

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Posted: Oct 28, 2025

Energy Drink Shatters Fire Apparatus Windshield, Arrest Made

Butte County-CAL FIRE Law Enforcement officers have arrested a suspect in connection with a June 29, 2025, incident that left a Butte County pumper inoperable while en route to a vegetation fire, the fire department said in a press release.

On the day of the incident, Butte County Engine 72 was responding with lights and sirens northbound on Upper Palermo Road when it was struck by an object thrown from the roadside. The impact shattered the windshield, rendering the engine unable to respond to the emergency. Investigators recovered a 20-ounc unopened Red Bull can and a sticky substance consistent with the beverage from the scene.

Following a joint investigation by CAL FIRE Law Enforcement, Butte County Sheriff’s Office, and California Highway Patrol, officers identified 31-year-old William Miller Jr. of Palermo as the suspect. A warrant was issued and Miller was taken into custody on October 20, 2025. He was booked into Butte County Jail on multiple felony charges.

The damaged pumper remained out of service for several weeks and required repairs costing several thousand dollars.

Anyone with additional information is encouraged to contact the CAL Fire Butte Unit Law Enforcement Bureau at (530) 538-7888.

The post Energy Drink Shatters Fire Apparatus Windshield, Arrest Made appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

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