Residents of Toronto and Brampton (Canada) will soon see a fire engine passing them on the street without the heavy roar of a diesel engine. That is because the fire services for both cities will soon have fully battery-electric pumper trucks in their fleets, Wheels.ca reported.

In late August, Toronto Fire Services announced that two all-electric Vector fire trucks have been ordered from Spartan Emergency Response, a U.S.-based designer and manufacturer of specialty vehicles, the report said.

Toronto will be one of the first fire departments in Canada to operate the Vector pumpers, which will be powered by 327 kilowatt-hours worth of automotive-grade batteries, according to the report.

While Toronto’s decision to go with an electric pumper was big news, it is not the first fire service in the province to do so. That honor goes to the Brampton Fire and Emergency services, which ordered an electric pumper truck in June 2021, the report said.

It has opted to purchase a Rosenbauer RTX, a unit designed by Rosenbauer America. The pumper has 132-kilowatt-hours of power but is smaller and different in overall appearance from a traditional fire truck, the report said. 

By Bill Adams

Over morning coffee, the Raisin Squad was addressing the day’s major problems – inflation, threat of war, rising school taxes, re-paving the streets in town and what’s for lunch at the senior center. One vertically challenged geezer started moaning and groaning – again – about the chair heights at the kitchen table. We pay him little attention.

But he was on a roll – not even coming up for air: “I looked in the cab of that new rig but the damn step was too high to get in.”  We told him only active members belong in the cabs. He kept complaining “I pulled myself up on the rear step but them folding steps are so far apart I couldn’t get higher.” One white hair told him to sue his parents for giving him short legs. “I can’t – they passed years ago.” We said he shouldn’t be climbing that high or he’d get a nosebleed. “There’s actives in here shorter than me. They gotta have a hard time too.” 

Then out-of-the-clear came this: “Yesterday I used the handicap facility at the center. My legs were dangling in the air. It was higher than them damn fold down seats in the that pumper you sold us 30 years ago.”  I said I didn’t sell it. “It don’t matter; you were on the committee. Why can’t you people build fire trucks for short people?” I left.

NFPA 1901

Stumpy (his new nickname) made a couple good points. The first is the step heights on fire trucks and the second is the seat height in the crew cabs. The National Fire Protection Association NFPA 1901 for Standard Automotive Fire Apparatus says under 15.7.1.1 “The maximum stepping height shall not exceed 18 in. (460 mm), with the exception of the ground to first step, which shall not exceed 24 in. (610 mm) when the vehicle is loaded to its estimated in-service weight.” 

Those are maximum distances. How did the NFPA come up with those figures? What’s the best comfort height for climbing access steps on a fire truck? Can a purchaser specify steps less than 18-inches apart and the first one less than 24-inches from the ground? 

Risers

A step riser is the height from one stepping surface to the another. Researching them on the web shows numerous regulatory, or recommended, or industry accepted standards including some from OSHA, the NFPA, and the International Building Code. They address workplace stairs, commercial stairs, steps for the fire service and general public, homes, step ladders, and you name it. 

Nothing says if their requirements have to be are in synch. One OSHA requirement says step risers should be no less than 6 inches in height and no more than 7.5 inches; another says 4-inches to 7-inches. The step risers in most houses are around 7½-inches.

NFPA 1931 and Common Sense

NFPA 1931 Standard for Manufacturer’s Design of Fire Department Ground Ladders under 4.1.3.6* states: “Rungs shall be uniformly spaced ±3 mm (±1∕8 in.) on centers that are between 305 mm and 356 mm (12 in. and 14 in.).” 

I venture the NFPA assumes firefighters in full protective clothing will be climbing up and down ladders as well as climbing

HME Ahrens-Fox—Ogdensburg (NJ) Fire Department pumper. HME 1871-W MFDxl cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm pump; 500-gallon polypropylene water tank. Dealer: Sean Desjardins, Emergency Equipment Sales, Ewing, NJ.

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One person is dead after being hit by a fire truck that was responding to a fire in Colorado Springs, KOAA.com reported.

It happened around 3 p.m. Sunday in the area of Dorchester Park, the report said. That park is located south of downtown, near I-25 and South Nevada Avenue.

According to Colorado Springs police, the fire truck was responding to a report of a tree stump on fire when it hit the person. When firefighters went to check on the individual, they found that person was deceased, the report said.

The CSPD Major Crash Team has now responded to the scene to take over the investigation, according to the report.

A firefighter and five other people were injured following multiple crashes that shut down the Eisenhower Expressway for a couple of hours Sunday morning, according to Illinois State Police, CBSnews.com reported.

Illinois State Police District Chicago responded to a two-car hit-and-run crash on I-290 near California Avenue around 4:54 a.m., the report said.

While on the scene, a sliver Infiniti struck the ISP squad car and a Chicago Fire Department truck around 5:29 a.m. Shortly after, a silver Chevrolet Malibu caught fire after striking a tow truck that responded to the crash scene, according to the report.

ISP says six people, including a firefighter, were taken to a local area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No Illinois State Police personnel were injured, the report said.