Aerial Apparatus: Use and Training Drills for the Truck Crew

District Chief (Ret.) Louis Sclafani, Pinellas Park (FL) Fire Department

This class will review the types of aerials available today–ladders, platforms, tractor-drawn aerials, water towers, rear mounts, and mid mounts–including pros and cons and operational differences. The class will review some of the important concepts of aerial operations including positioning for rescue or fire attack, stabilization issues, understanding your load capacities, and override and emergency lowering procedures. It will look at a number of aerial device failures and make available a series of training drills students can take home to practice with their crews and with their truck. These drills emphasize teamwork and operator skills.

FDIC International 2022 takes place April 25-30, 2022.

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Wednesday morning, a FedEx driver was transported to the hospital after his truck hit the back of a Prince William County (VA) Fire & Rescue apparatus.

At 10:01 a.m., just after arriving at the scene of a vehicle fire on the PW Parkway south of Balls Ford Road, Engine 522 was struck. No firefighters were injured.

The FedEx driver was transported to an area medical facility, and his truck sustained “extensive damage,” the department says. Engine 522 sustained moderate damage.

The incident is being investigated by the Prince William County Police Department.

Following city council’s approval, the city of Ogdensburg (NY) is set to purchase a 75-foot quint via a state grant, reports nny360.com. The cost will not exceed $949,700, and the winning bid was from Churchville Fire Equipment Corp.

The apparatus, which will replace 29-year-old Q-1, could arrive in 30-60 days, as it’s a demo model, the report says. Once it does, the predecessor will be sold.

Its cost is less than that of an engine and truck combined, but it has the capabilities of both, officials say.

The quint is a single-axle apparatus—Q-1 was a double—and has a 500-gallon booster tank and foam capabilities, the report says.

The purchase will be covered by a state Financial Restructuring Board for Local Governments grant of $950,000, according to the report. In addition, a separate $550,000 grant was authorized to help offset the cost of incentives that were given to early-retirement-taking firefighters.

February 2, 2022- 1100 block 65th Ave. Engine 29 reported a #WorkingFire in 2-story apartment. E29 secured a h2o supply & with help from E18 stretched the rear 1 3/4” dead load attack line to the fire building.
Engines 29, 18, 23, 20, Truck 7, Batt 3, Investigator 1. #oakland pic.twitter.com/2Y0VYKM5We

— Oakland Firefighters (@OaklandFireLive) February 2, 2022

Oakland firefighters shot this footage as they arrived on scene at a fire in a two-story apartment in the 1100 Block of 65th Avenue.

By Alan M Petrillo

The Tolland (MA) Fire Department is an all-volunteer agency with 15 volunteer firefighters operating out of a single station covering nearly 33 square miles of a mostly rural fire district with only dry hydrants as water sources beyond the water they carry on their pumpers and tankers (tenders).

Jeff LaCasse, Tolland Fire’s deputy chief and chair of its apparatus committee, says Tolland wanted to replace a 1996 custom cab Spartan Laverne engine, which had been donated to the department, with a new rig that could function as a rescue-pumper and also carry a significant amount of water. LaCasse says the department went to Jon Cares, chief executive officer of Granite Fire Apparatus Inc., who sat down with the committee, learned its particular needs, and offered a rescue-pumper with a large water tank built by 4 Guys Fire Trucks.

Cares points out that the Tolland apparatus committee, “Wanted to carry more water than usual, wanted a bigger pump than typical, a top-mount, and a foam system on the vehicle. The resulting rig is on a Spartan Metro Star chassis and cab with a 10-inch raised roof and seating for six firefighters, five of those in H.O. Bostrom 500 SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) seats.” Cares adds that the rescue-pumper is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.