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Posted: Jun 1, 2018

Fire Apparatus and Other Emergency Vehicle Modifications

Christian P. Koop

Christian P. Koop

There is no question that necessity is the mother of invention. Modifying emergency response vehicles (ERVs) is closely related to this ancient factual statement.

In my 35 years of being involved with maintaining and repairing fire and rescue apparatus, modifications to the equipment were required many times to keep the units safe and operational. Now there are several categories that these modifications can fall into. The simplest is just mounting new tools and equipment or simply mounting loose equipment for the sake of safety. Today there are a number of companies that provide specialty mounts for just about anything carried on ERVs. Second is installing electronic gear such as radios, laptop computers, thermal imaging cameras, and a host of other electronic equipment being installed as upgrades or new equipment to keep up with new technologies. The third category involves correcting a system or part that is either failing prematurely or one that never worked properly since the vehicle was purchased or placed into service. Some of these issues can be incipient and don’t rear their ugly heads until the warranty has expired or even years later.

Some of these issues can be corrected through the warranty, but with others, unfortunately, either the dealer or manufacturer flat out refuses to repair or is not able to. There are a number of reasons manufacturers will not become involved. Sometimes it may be because the equipment’s specifications were technical vs. performance type. Other times, it may be because preventive maintenance was not done according to schedule or there was abuse involved so either the dealer or manufacturer won’t agree to cover repairs. Whatever the case may have been, the following are examples of some of the numerous modifications performed over the years at the shop I managed for Miami-Dade County, Florida. The main reason I am writing about these modifications is to provide insight into the reasons they were done with the hope that they can help others in similar circumstances. As I have mentioned in past articles, history seems to repeat itself—even when it comes to ERV service and repair—and usually not in a good way. With each case, I will give background information to give the reader the greatest insight possible.

Short Alternator Life

In the early 1980s, the Miami-Dade (FL) Fire Department had a fleet of Ford E-350 type III rescue trucks with 460 gasoline engines. The main problem that kept reoccurring was very short alternator life. They were equipped with 160-amp alternators, and the internal bridge rectifiers (converts AC to DC voltage) were failing because of extreme heat. It was so bad that the solder holding the diodes in the rectifier would melt. Some of the hard run units had alternators failing almost daily. The fix was to remove the internal bridge rectifiers and install an external unit. The external diode pack was mounted behind the grille where the adequate air flow kept the diodes cool. The entire fleet was retrofitted, and this major headache went away. Subsequent new replacement fleet units were specified from the factory with a 200-amp alternator and with the external diode pack. Today some alternator manufacturers offer their own versions of the externally mounted diode pack.

Brake Life Issues

Between 1982 and 1983, the fire department purchased $27,000,000 worth of fire apparatus, aerials, and specialty units. Included were s

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Posted: Jun 1, 2018

Apparatus Purchasing: The Confusing World of Fire Apparatus Specification Exceptions

By Bill Adams


Addressing exceptions in a set of purchasing specifications is a tedious task most purchasers give little thought to.

Exceptions are usually addressed in the boiler plate (aka front sheets) of purchasing specifications under the legalese and bidding requirements. Neither are particularly interesting subjects to most apparatus purchasing committee (APC) members. After all, what firefighter wants to address mundane verbiage describing an exception when stimulating job-related topics such as pump sizes, tank capacities, hose loads, and the number and type of sirens can be debated. In the majority of apparatus purchases, APCs readily adopt verbiage describing exceptions that is recommended by a favored vendor. That could be a mistake. There should be a common understanding by both the purchaser and potential bidders as to what an exception is and how exceptions will be addressed during the bidding process. Misunderstandings may result in discord and conflict. Prospective bidders may be unduly influenced in their decision to submit or not submit a proposal.

The dictionary defines an exception as an exclusion or an omission. Simply put: When a buyer specifies something in a purchasing specification and a bidder isn’t going to supply it, an exception must be taken by the bidder. Unfortunately in the fire truck world, it is not that simple. There are far too many variables. Purchasers and bidders may have their own interpretations of an exception. Some may be disingenuous.

Vendors

There are two classifications of vendors in the competitive bidding arena. One is the preferred vendor who helps write or entirely writes the purchaser’s specification document. It also can be a vendor whose apparatus the purchaser is favoring in its specification. The other classification includes everyone else. There is no intent to disparage preferred vendors or question their integrity. It is logical and common for a preferred vendor to encourage purchasers to write “No Exceptions Allowed” in as many places as they can when the preferred vendor’s product is being described. The more exceptions competitors have to take in their proposals, the better the chances are for the favorite vendor to secure an order. Don’t blame the vendors; that’s their job. Purchasers should just be aware of it.

Purchasers

There also are two classifications of purchasers. The first includes purchasers who write proprietary specifications around an apparatus manufacturer (OEM) of choice—typically with the help of the previously mentioned preferred vendor. These people usually make nonpreferred bidders “jump through hoops” to justify taking any exception to their specifications. Some make liberal use of the phrase “No Exception” to discourage them. Whether favoring one vendor or discouraging others is ethical, morally correct, or even legal is not being debated. However, it does occur quite often. Purchasing the exact rig wanted is the wish of almost every purchasing committee member. It is utopia. Some purchasers may believe the end justifies the means.

The other classification of purchaser includes those who do not purposefully write proprietary specifications. They seek honest and open competitive bidding. Sometimes this group of purchasers inadvertently discourages competitive bidding by not adequately addressing exceptions. That can cause vendors to refrain from submitting a proposal, thereby unintentionally negating the objective of open competitive bidding.

The purchaser mandates what a bidder Read more

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Posted: Jun 1, 2018

Keep Hose Testing Safe by Not Using Fire Apparatus

By Gregg Geske

Fire Apparatus Manufactures Association logo

Members of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) are experts at building big trucks with big horsepower and big water flow.

These capabilities are exactly what the fire service needs for putting out big fires. It is not, however, what you either need or want for testing hose, nozzles, and couplings.

Annual Testing is Essential

While the importance of proper equipment testing and maintenance is indisputable, it still seems that there are departments where this is message is often ignored. Several years ago, I visited a large fire department and was surprised that it did not perform annual hose or pump testing. When it comes to putting water on a fire, you need a pump and you need hose. Failure of either will mean you can’t get the job done. If you are not testing both at least annually, you risk failing at the main thing you need for fire suppression.

Another important reason to test hose annually is because it is required by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) system. Proper hose testing records are one of the check boxes on an ISO audit. Loss of an ISO rating not only means you are less effective as a department, it can also mean money out of your tax payers’ pockets in the form of higher insurance premiums.

Safe Testing Procedures are Essential

The proper method of testing hose is found in National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1962, Standard for the Care, Use, Inspection, Service Testing, and Replacement of Fire Hose, Couplings, Nozzles, and Fire Hose Appliances. There are two procedures that NFPA 1962 specifies: testing using a hose testing machine and using a stationary pump or pump on a fire department apparatus. While both these methods are described in the body of the standard, the second method comes with two important caveats. First and foremost is the warning that points out because of the risk of “catastrophic failure during the service testing of fire hose, it is vital that safety precautions be taken to prevent exposure of anyone to this danger.” The safety risk of hose testing using a fire apparatus stems from the very high horsepower that the apparatus can produce.

The second caveat is found in the annex to the standard. It points out the potential for damaging the pump by running the pump at high pressures and no flow. This situation can cause cavitation and high pump temperatures. The high heat created can also pose an additional safety risk.

Real-Life Safety Risks

More than 25 years ago, I was involved in a hose testing operation at my paid-per-call fire department for which our fire apparatus supplied the test pressure. Because of the lack of available space, we had the hose laid out in the fire station bays and apron. During the pressure test, one of the hose lengths failed and propelled a galvanized garbage can against the wall and flattened it. Luckily, it was a garbage can and not a firefighter. This example is a graphic demonstration of how much power is available through the apparatus pump.

The important part of safety we ignored was limiting the flow to the hose being tested. NFPA 1962 addresses this when using the fire apparatus pump by requiring that a gate valve with a ¼-inch hole drilled through the gate be used between

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Posted: Jun 1, 2018

Inlets and Discharges: the Right Number and Location for Your Rig

By Alan M. Petrillo

From six-inch down to 2½-inch intakes and six-inch to 1½-inch discharges, today’s fire apparatus carry an assortment of inlets and outlets—in many different locations—according to the tactical needs of the fire department. Apparatus manufacturers typically talk with departments about the standard inlets and discharges needed for a specific pump size and then add any intake and discharge configuration needed for the department’s specific situation.

Front Bumper Location

Grady North, E-ONE product manager, says, “For E-ONE, there’s hardly a standard inlet and discharge layout anymore because we design the pump modules for every truck we build.” However, North says the biggest trend in pumper discharges is full-width front bumper crosslays. “A few years ago, it was common to see a single 1½-inch preconnect in a front bumper hose well, but now a lot of departments are doing two full crosslays, which gets the hose down low and easy to access for the firefighter.”

1 E-ONE built this industrial pumper for the Citgo (IL) Fire Department with a Hale 8FG 3,500-gpm pump, four six-inch intakes, two 2½-inch intakes, and 14 discharges. (Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of E-ONE.)
2 This E-ONE pumper built for the Rincon Valley (AZ) Fire Department has two 2½-inch preconnect discharges in boxes in the bottom of the L1 and R1 compartments.

1 E-ONE built this industrial pumper for the Citgo (IL) Fire Department with a Hale 8FG 3,500-gpm pump, four six-inch intakes, two 2½-inch intakes, and 14 discharges. (Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of E-ONE.) 2 This E-ONE pumper built for the Rincon Valley (AZ) Fire Department has two 2½-inch preconnect discharges in boxes in the bottom of the L1 and R1 compartments.

North cites a pumper that E-ONE recently built for the Bloomington (IL) Fire Department that has two 1¾-inch crosslays in the front bumper, two 2½-inch rear preconnects on the left and right ends, one right rear 2½-inch discharge, two 2½-inch left side panel discharges, a four-inch right side discharge, a three-inch deck gun discharge, two six-inch intakes, and two gated 2½-inch intakes.

Mark Kopunek, product manager, KME, says the manufacturer has built a number of pumpers for customers wanting double preconnect trays in the front bumper. “We’ve done full crosslays for 1¾-inch hoselines,” he says, “which give better accessibility at ground level. We’ve also built multiple storage wells with multiple discharges and also a single discharge and a six-inch intake with five-inch plumbing back to the pump.”

Larry Segreto, vice president of Boise Mobile Equipment (BME), says his company builds a lot of wildland pumpers. “For our pumpers, gate control always is located at the outlet,” Segreto points out. “And, we don’t put intakes on front bumpers but rather 1½-inch outlets with local control, usually one left and one right.” BME typically will install two rear discharges on its wildland ri

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Posted: Jun 1, 2018

Fire Apparatus Technology at the Tipping Point?

Chris Mc Loone

Chris Mc Loone

I was walking with two of my sons to their bus stop recently, and we were discussing how I’d be purchasing tickets for an upcoming Philadelphia Phillies game. The game was in just a few days, but as any Phillies fan these days knows, ticket availability was not going to be an issue.

I told them I’d be buying the tickets online when I got back to our house. For whatever reason as I said that, I thought about going to the ballpark as a kid. I told the boys about how we’d all end up at the ticket window, bags of chips and popcorn and a thermos of iced tea in hand because we NEVER bought food at the stadium. We’d stand there as my dad would get coupons from “Phillies Franks” out and tell the cashier where he wanted to sit, and in we’d go. I remarked how many would never think of doing it that way in this day and age. I said we didn’t even have a computer to do it with back in the day. My son said, “Now we use computers for everything.” This led to more reminiscing by me—much to their chagrin, I am sure—about how my dad told us his was one of the first families on his block to have a television, that when he was a kid they didn’t have televisions. And, it occurred to me I’m old enough to remember a time when not everyone had a computer. Commence feeling old.

So, there is a connection between this anecdote and the fire service—believe me. Our cover story this month is a wrap-up of what we saw at FDIC International 2018. And, for me, the pervasive theme was how technology is impacting the rigs and equipment we use every day as we travel to and operate at various incidents. In the wrap-up, you’ll get a taste of what our team was most impressed with at the show. It was different for everybody. But within that story and intertwined in the news and products sections this month, you’ll get a glimpse of the technology I’m talking about.

We’ve been talking about technology for many years when it comes to fire trucks and other equipment. The self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) we use is more sophisticated now than ever in how it can communicate to incident commanders our location and air consumption. We continue to hear about wearable technology that helps communicate physiological information from the wearer. And, of course, our fire trucks are more technologically advanced than they have ever been. But, this isn’t the type of technology I’m referring to. I’m talking about the higher-level technology introduced at the show and shortly thereafter. It is connecting vehicles and their components together in ways we haven’t seen and is taking telemetry to the next level. It is connecting emergency response vehicles to civilian cars and trucks to warn them of our approach via apps. It is allowing the rigs to communicate to fleet managers, dealerships, and the manufacturers themselves to keep trucks in service longer and is enabling predictive maintenance.

If it sounds like this is all happening quickly, it is. And, if we’re not at the tipping point for these systems to become pervasive, we are just about there. Now that the foundation is there for our vehicles to become “smart” vehicles communicating with the cloud, all that rem

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