By Bill Adams

Everyone knows the Raisin Squad is an informal group of white hairs, a bunch of past-their-prime firemen (mostly volunteers). “Firemen” is what we called ourselves before the era of political correctness.  We routinely get together for morning coffee to tell lies, relive the past, and pass judgement on everything and everyone.

At a recent trade show, I was verbally accosted by another white hair, a former apparatus dealer. He busted my stones saying I never write about older fire apparatus dealers and some of the B.S. (not bologna sandwiches) we had to put up with. I really think he was at the show passing out his resume so he can feel important again, but that’s not going to happen. Once you’ve gone over-the-hill, it’s a tough climb back.

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• Fire Apparatus Purchasing: Frustrating the Vendors
• Commentary: What Is Your Best Apparatus Line?

Later, I asked a couple former dealers what they thought of the idea. They were all for it. One actually berated me for not doing it before. And I thought these guys were my friends. We told each other stories of selling and interactions with customers, including some we referred to as “obstinate” purchasers. I ran it by one of the real raisins at morning coffee who concluded that I and they were certifiably crazy. He said: “Who gives a hoot about what you has-been salesmen say about selling,” and “What the hell are you going to call yourselves—The Prune Crew?” I didn’t think it was funny. He thought it was hilarious.

Obstinate Purchasers

The people that used to walk into fire stations peddling fire trucks were called dealers or, my favorite gender-neutral term, salesmen. Today they’re called sales professionals, sales personnel, factory direct sales staff, account managers, account representatives, and probably some non-sexist name that hasn’t been invented yet. Regardless of their handles, I wonder if they must contend with what we called the “obstinate” members of apparatus purchasing committees (APCs). Instead of APCs, back then they were called truck committees. But today some people get their noses out of joint believing a truck committee only buys ladder trucks. Times have changed.

A dealer’s biggest challenge was diplomatically telling the truth to a prospective purchaser without losing the sale. The second biggest challenge was resisting the urge to grab an intransigent APC member and, while trying to shake some sense into him, scream into his ears: “Do you have any clue what the hell you’re talking about?” I’m sure dealers today don’t face similar challenges…or do they?

Many situations caused severe angst to us and occasional heartburn to the apparatus manufacturers we represented. One was dealing with a purchasing committee or one of its members that was 100% convinced they knew more about fire tru

Officials with the Monarch Fire District in Wildwood, MO, are ready to go to court to build a new fire station, a project voters approved two years ago, according to a report published by KSDK.

According to the report the delays in the construction are jeopardizing the new fire station and a new ambulance service the department is looking to start.

The construction project is being blocked by elected officials in Wildwood, according to the report which also indicated that voters overwhelmingly approved the measure in 2020. Delays in the bond-approved construction are costing the district lots of money, the report says.

Fire district officials say the new fire station meets all the city zoning requirement and other local restrictions and fire officials are not sure what the hold up is, according to the report.

Wildwood officials say there are two reasons for the hold up, one is the fact that the new site added 10 seconds to most response time and the second is the fact that the fire district believed it was exempt from any local restrictions, according to the report. The local governance issue may have been resolved with the district complying with city requests, according to the report.

Both sides acknowledge that each wants what’s best for the community and there hope the issues can be resolved, according to the report.

Firefighters with the Ruston (LA) Fire Department dedicated a new pumper with a speech, a blessing and a push-in ceremony, according to report published by the Lincoln Parish Journal.

Although the truck is in service, it needs about $100,000 of hose and equipment, according to the report, which also said the community is supportive of the fire department and its personnel.

Pitt Meadows Fire and Rescue, in British Columbia, Canada, has a new rescue truck in service built by Pierce MFG, according to a report published by the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows News.

According to the report, the new apparatus is a Pierce Encore rescue built on a Freightliner cab and chassis and will replace a 21-year-old unit that has finished its life cycle with the department.

The new apparatus, which is characterized as a large tool box for medical calls and motor vehicle crashes, cost $360,000 and was sold by Commercial Trucks in Port Kells and was delivered on time and on budget, according to the report.

Claire Law

Portland Press Herald, Maine

(MCT)

Aug. 22—As Biddeford’s population grows, the city is considering building a new fire station to reduce response times for the community’s coastal areas.

Biddeford’s median response time for emergency medical calls citywide is about four minutes, which is lower than York County’s median of five minutes, according to Maine Emergency Medical Services.

But for calls coming from coastal areas, Biddeford Fire Chief Scott Gagne said it takes emergency responders from the Central Station downtown about 10 to 14 minutes to arrive to the scene.

“This city is exploding and growing, and we currently staff one station,” Gagne said. “We cover 32 square miles … we have a population that’s growing, we have multiple new buildings that are coming in, we have the mills that are being redeveloped … our coastal area is becoming more and more full-time residents, our college campus is growing.”

Aside from the Central Station located downtown, the city has one other station, which is in Biddeford Pool and is manned by two volunteers. Emergency apparatus from the Biddeford Pool substation usually arrive to the scene even later than the Central Station personnel — if at all, Gagne said, because there aren’t any full-time staff there.

A recommendation on whether to build a new station, including its location, cost and other details, will be made to the City Council by an ad hoc committee by Feb. 1. The City Council could then either make a decision based on the recommendations or send the question to voters as a referendum, said Mayor Alan Casavant.

Casavant said the 11 members of the committee — which was approved Tuesday by City Council — will consist of residents from across Biddeford, including former councilors, industry professionals and others.

Cost estimates haven’t been determined, Casavant said.

“Biddeford has historically been very fiscally conservative … I think today, things have changed a bit,” he said. “People are more astute to understanding how critical it is to have an ambulance get from point A to point B in an appropriate amount of time … The value of life of someone who lives at the Pool is the same as the value of life of someone who lives in the inner core.”

Gagne said for both fire suppression and emergency medical care, time is the biggest thing on their side.

“It all comes down to time,” Gagne said. “After the five-minute mark, we’re extremely concerned with quality of life … and we’re also concerned with flashover and integrity of buildings and things like that.”

A new station, however, still wouldn’t solve the Fire Department’s staffing issues, which started pre-pandemic and, Gagne said, are partly because of fewer volunteers.

“When I started 25 plus years ago, we … were budgeted for 40 call force members and we were full,” Gagne said. “I’m now budgeted for 25 and I maintain 16.”

Gagne said over the past 15 months, they’ve hired about 19 new staff members, and they still have five openings.

And their call volume has gone up. In 2021, the Biddeford Fire Department responded to a total of 5,847 fire and EMS calls, a number that has steadily been increasing since 2010, when they responded to 4,127 total calls, according to city documents.

Casavant said if the new station gets built, they’ll need to find creative ways to staff it.

“The need’s there,” Casava