I consider a rescue truck a support vehicle a fire department uses to augment its firefighting resources. Rescue trucks are not formally recognized by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1901, Standard for Automotive Apparatus. The standard identifies and has specific criteria for apparatus it classifies as pumpers, initial attacks, mobile water supply, aerials, quints, mobile foam apparatus, and special service fire apparatus, which is described in Chapter 10. Sentence A.3.3.164 in the appendix notes the services that could be performed by a special service apparatus, including “rescue, command, hazardous material containment, air supply, electrical generation and floodlighting, or transportation of support equipment and personnel.” In this article, a rescue truck is any support vehicle meeting Chapter 10’s requirements.
Chapter 10 provides a list of basic equipment that special service apparatus must carry regardless of the rig’s function or what it is called. The appendix also provides two lists of equipment that “could be considered” for a rig for “hazmat containment” and one for a rig to support “rescue operations.” I believe NFPA 1901 acknowledges that it is a local decision—as it should be—to establish the definition of, mission to accomplish, and equipment to be carried on a rescue truck. And, the fire department can call the rig whatever it chooses. (In many parts of New England and, in particular, Rhode Island, a rescue truck is a fire department operated ambulance.)
Whether a rescue truck is job-specific is also a local decision that should be contingent on the size and makeup of the fire department, available staffing, and the hazards in a response district. I do not address urban search and rescue (USAR) apparatus or regional (i.e., countywide) hazmat vehicles. Many large departments with unique hazards can justify and staff support vehicles on a 24/7 basis. My comments address small and midsize departments operating rescue trucks to complement fire suppression units.
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
The Rochester (NY) Fire Department is a typical midsize city department with 15 fire stations and career staffing for 13 engine companies, six truck (ladder) companies, and a heavy rescue with minimum staffing of four firefighters per company. It also provides a career driver for a volunteer-staffed salvage truck. Rochester’s hazards are typical of most midsize cities. The number of responses to “unique calls” requiring specialized apparatus doesn’t appear great enough to justify fully staffed job-specific support vehicles.
According to Captain Andy Lonthair (Special Projects), the fire department cross staffs specialized job-specific apparatus with the line companies they are housed with. Internally, they are called “jump” companies. Engine 2 jumps with Water Rescue 1. Engine 3 jumps with Foam 1. Engine 13 and Truck 10 jump with Technical Rescue 1 and Technical Rescue 2. Engine 17 and Rescue 11 jump with Hazmat 1 and Hazmat 2. The support apparatus are job-specific in design and equipment carried. In addition, Engine 19 staffs Gator 1, Truck 3 staffs Gator 2, and Engine 2 staffs Boat 1.
Job-specific apparatus saves overloading Rochester’s heavy rescue, which is primarily used for extrication and