By Bill Adams
My latest cause célèbre is ensuring safe climbing to the tops of pumpers to access rear hose beds and any ancillary equipment stored under, in, or above it. Whatever method is used should make firefighters’ lives easy and less prone to injury. That isn’t always the case, especially for vertically challenged or ready-for-retirement crew members. Permanent or flip-down access steps of various sizes are common methods. I don’t particularly care for any that “just meet” regulatory standards and wouldn’t specify them unless there was no other alternative. At FDIC International 2021, many pumpers had permanently attached access ladders at the rear of the apparatus—an excellent idea.
Not New
Most ladder trucks (platforms, aerials, towers, trucks, or whatever you opt to call them) feature access ladders to get to the turntable or platform. Access ladders became a necessity ever since someone decided to put doors, roofs, and enclosed cabs on ladder trucks. Gone are the days of standing on a seat and stepping up to the turntable of a midship mounted aerial.
Mike Ciampo’s article has some excellent photographs of access ladder construction by six aerial ladder manufacturers: E-One, Ferrara, KME, Sutphen, Seagrave, and Spartan. Most are permanent structures built into the apparatus bodywork with flip-down, fold-down, or pull-out-and-drop-down lower step sections. It’s worth looking at them.
Construction
It could be my imagination (somewhat fuzzy these days), but it appears access ladders on ladder trucks are more “robust” than those provided on pumpers. On pumpers, they’re also used to carry up or hand down equipment stored topside such as hard suctions mounted on top of exterior side compartments and equipment kept in coffin compartments. They are often used as a “standing area” when reloading hose. This raises several questions. Why the difference in access ladder construction between pumpers and ladders? In trying to find out why, more questions were raised than answered. We old people can get confused very easily. Are ladder company firefighters bigger, heavier, or fluffier than those assigned to engines? Can—or should—access ladders on pumpers be incorporated into the body work? Most pumpers incorporate “swing-out” ladder designs that pull away from the rig at the bottom. Some appear to be last minute “add-ons”—not a criticism, just an observation!
Confusing Standards?
The National Fire Protection Association NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus Section 15.7 Stepping, Standing, and Walking Surfaces addresses access ladders. NFPA 1931 Standard for Manufacturer’s Design of Fire Department Ground Ladders is mentioned for comparison purposes only. How come? Because I don’t understand why—or if—there should be differences in steps, standing surfaces, and rungs between ground and access ladders. NFPA 1901 does not say access ladders should have rungs or steps—unless they’re considered one in the same. Are they?
NFPA 1901 General Definitions 3.3.3 Access Ladders: “One or more rungs (of any shape) for climbing that have a degree of inclination between 60 and 90 degrees.” The degree of inclination is technospeak for the climbing angle. NFPA 1931 sentence 3.3.1 Angle of Inclination: “The angle incorporated between the beams and a level plane.” Duo-Safety’s and Alcolite’s ground ladder catalogs refer to 75.5 degrees as the recommended climbing angle. NFPA 1931 Figure 4.1.4.5 “Ladder Positioning Label” required on all ground ladders has an illustration showing ground ladders should be positioned at “approximately”