When technology and fire apparatus are discussed, reactions vary. While technology that makes a rig safer is never questioned, its reliability often is. This month, we asked Bill Adams and Ricky Riley to offer their thoughts on fire apparatus technology.

It Doesn’t Matter What You Call It

BY BILL ADAMS

When firefighters interface with their apparatus, safety is priority one and is nonnegotiable. I started to address fire apparatus technology by saying that any technological innovation in fire apparatus design that benefits firefighters is to be commended regardless of if said innovation is mechanically or educationally oriented. This last sentence sounds good but is grammatically incorrect.

I don’t want to offend the innovators or the sales, marketing, and advertising folks in the fire apparatus industry. Nor do I want to incur the wrath of my late 12th grade English teacher’s ghost. But, there is a difference between innovation, technology, and technological. According to the dictionaries, an innovation means something has been invented or modernized. Technology means expertise and skill—which I deduce is having the knowledge and proficiency in accomplishing something. I interpret technological as the application of a disciplined or scientific approach to both technology and innovation. The three words have been intertwined.

Most manufacturers tout their products as the best things since apple pie and sliced bread. However, someone else might have gotten there first. Credit should be given where credit is due.

ELECTRIC FIRE TRUCKS

Over the past years, domestic manufacturers began introducing electrically powered apparatus. They weren’t the first. Neil Wallington’s 2022 book, The World Encyclopedia of Fire Engines, says electrically powered fire apparatus were introduced around 1905 by both French and British manufacturers. The concept only lasted four or five years, mainly because the batteries were too heavy and required frequent charging. Today’s manufacturers have improved the original innovations. If they sell a lot of them, they’ll have proven they have the technological know-how in doing so.

CHANGES

There can be debatable consequences for some innovations. Paraphrasing one of Newton’s laws of physics: For every action, there is an opposite reaction. An eccentric example is at the beginning of the American Civil War, when innovations in weaponry rendered ineffective the infamous mounted cavalry charges with flashing sabers and single-shot rifles. Hence, cavalry troops were used as dismounted infantry with every fifth soldier delegated to merely holding the reins of the other four troopers’ horses. Those horse-holders reduced the number of fighters on the line by 20%. It led to the demise of the 7th Cavalry at Little Big Horn.

Fast forward to today’s fire service and observe the concept of multitasking apparatus—in particular, quints. Innovations such as larger motors and increased axle carrying capacities increased the capabilities of quintuples. Hence, many fire departments embraced the concept of standalone quint companies. It has worked for some.

For others, it has not. In some career departments, city fathers no doubt applauded combining an engine company and ladder company, each staffed by four firefighters, into a single quint company staffed with just four firefighters. Staffing and equipment purchasing costs might be reduced by 50%. The city could be saving money, but the public and firefighters could suffer because of the lack of firefighters on the load. My examples are not—and I emphasize are not—disparaging the wide-ranging benefits of technology in the fire apparatus

Spartan Chassis marked its 50th anniversary in Charlotte, Michigan, with a celebration that honored five decades of innovation, quality craftsmanship, and strong community ties. The event reflected the company’s deep roots and lasting impact, not just in emergency vehicle manufacturing, but in supporting the people and places that helped build it. What began in 1975 as a small team of founders building custom cab-over fire chassis has grown into a nationally recognized manufacturer of fire apparatus chassis and a trusted partner to fire departments across the country.

Honoring a Visionary: Bill Foster

A particularly moving highlight of the anniversary celebration was the tribute to Bill Foster, one of Spartan’s original co-founders and a pioneer in the fire apparatus industry. Foster, who passed away on January 1, 2025, at the age of 83, was more than a business leader. He was an innovator whose work reshaped fire apparatus design and elevated the standards of maintenance training.

In 1994, he launched the Fire Truck Training Conference (FTTC), creating a national benchmark for hands-on education for emergency vehicle technicians. His vision provided emergency vehicle technicians (EVTs) with the specialized training and professional development necessary to keep fire apparatus safe and reliable, setting a standard that is still recognized today.

Foster’s lifelong commitment to firefighter safety and his drive for higher maintenance standards earned respect across the fire service. His influence lives on in every Spartan chassis built and in every technician who benefits from the programs he inspired. The anniversary not only celebrated 50 years of Spartan’s success, it also honored Foster’s lasting legacy and the communities his work continues to protect.

A Legacy of Quality and Consistency

During the celebration, Ed DeVito, chief operating officer of REV Specialty Vehicle Segment, shared his thoughts on what has made Spartan a trusted name in the fire service for five decades. When asked what matters most in earning long-term loyalty, DeVito pointed to Spartan’s relentless commitment to product quality and operational consistency. “Over time, we have focused really on the manufacturing upside to be consistent and ensure that we’re producing a high-quality product. Anytime there’s a manufacturing environment, there are ups and downs and sideways. But to

The East Longmeadow (MA) Fire Department is auctioning off a 1994 HME pumper, according to municibid.com.

This online auction, open to the public, ends Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. Massachusetts residents are able to bid in this government auction online, 24/7, on Municibid.

Bidding started at $5,000.

This 1994 HME pumper served as the first due engine for the East Longmeadow Fire Department for 15 years before moving to second due and eventually spare engine status. Apparatus passed Massachusetts State Inspection and pump testing to the NFPA standard within the last seven months. The front intake is disconnected, and the truck goes into high idle upon application of the airbrake (unsure of why), the post said. 

The post MA Fire Department Auctioning Off 1994 Pumper appeared first on Fire Apparatus: Fire trucks, fire engines, emergency vehicles, and firefighting equipment.

Paul Rogers
Bay Area News Group
(TNS)

For generations, fire lookout towers stood as landmarks across the American West.

Binoculars in hand, dedicated fire spotters scanned the landscape for smoke and radioed firefighters before flames grew out of control. But now, as California enters what is historically the most dangerous part of fire season — the end of summer before the first major rains — lone human sentries have largely given way to a new type of fire lookout on mountain tops: high-tech cameras.

What began as a small research project at UC San Diego 25 years ago has grown into a powerful network of 1,211 cameras constructed on peaks and hilltops across the state with millions of dollars in state funding and oversight from Cal Fire.

Built on towers, observatories and buildings, the cameras are part of a system called ALERTCalifornia. They turn 360 degrees every 2 minutes, taking 12 photos with each pass, 24 hours a day. Upgraded with artificial intelligence software two years ago, they can pan, tilt, zoom, detect smoke and alert fire dispatchers automatically — sometimes before humans call 911.

Each can see 60 miles away on a clear day, and with near-infrared technology, gaze out 120 miles on a clear night.

“Lookouts get up in the morning and work until dusk. But this is 24-7,” said Brian York, deputy chief for fire intelligence at Cal Fire.

“We measure success in all the times that we respond and put out the fires that you never hear about,” he said. “Especially in rural areas at night when most people are sleeping.”

Since 2019, the number of cameras has more than doubled.

The AI lookouts are now on top of many of California’s most prominent peaks, including Mount Hamilton, Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais in the Bay Area, Martis Peak at Lake Tahoe, Mammoth Mountain in the Sierra, and the slopes of Mount Shasta.

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The cameras have been used to monitor atmospheric river storms, the recovery of California condors, even a tsunami warning along California’s coast in July after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Russia. They can be found on Southern California peaks like Mount Wilson near Los Angeles, Cowles Mountain in San Diego, and even on Catalina Island, along with the top of the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz and the roof of the Oakland Coliseum.

Anyone can view the camera feeds live at alertcalifornia.org.

“They are here to help during emergencies,” said C

When a fire department gets a new fire station, it often takes the opportunity to build in an area or several spaces where training props and equipment can be used to practice various firefighting functions, such as hose and ladder drills, bailout training, rappelling, and confined space work.

Carol Ann Kesler, executive associate for BRW Architects, a firm that specializes in public safety facilities, says the decision to incorporate training props in a fire station usually takes place early in the planning and design process. “A mezzanine over the apparatus bays offers a number of opportunities for training props,” Kesler points out. “We’ve put a manhole cover in a mezzanine floor with space around the hole for a tripod leading to a clear area below that can be used for confined space training. Also, rappelling anchors can be placed on the mezzanine floor or located on the sides facing the bays.”

Kesler notes that several stations BRW has designed have doors in the mezzanine that open out into the bays, with anchors above the door and directly across the bays from the doors, so firefighters can rig lines to raise and lower a Stokes basket. “They can also do ladder training off similar openings in the mezzanine,” she says.

“We’ve also designed an opening on the far side of the bays with an exterior balcony that has a typical residential window which opens into either a storage mezzanine or a staircase landing.”

For the Lewisville (TX) Fire Department, BRW designed a parapet at the top of a three-story stair tower with a flat roof that has several anchor points which can be used for rappelling and high angle work as well as for ladder training, Kesler says. “For Victoria (TX) Fire Department Station 4, we put in a hose tower with a metal staircase and a window in the tower for rappelling and ladder training and a standpipe for making hose connections and advancing hose up stairs,” she adds.

Bob Mitchell, senior architect for Wendel/Mitchell Associates Architects, which also specializes in fire station design, says his firm has designed a variety of props inside fire stations. “We’ve designed openings the size of residential windows on mezzanines with an Ipe wood protective gate, which is the hardest wood available so it’s durable, along with fittings for tie-off points,” Mitchell says. “We’ve also put in metal-covered holes for the pick end of a halligan tool that can be used to simulate the halligan in a residential wall as a tie-off point.”

1 BRW Architects designed window openings cut into a mezzanine wall in Waco (TX) Fire Department Station No. 3 that can be used for bailout training and ladder work. (Photo 1 courtesy of BRW Architects.)

2 A firefighter practices his bailout technique from a mezzanine window and anchor point designed by Wendel/Mitchell Associates Architects for a Schoharie (NY) Fire Department station. (Photo 2 courtesy of Wendel/Mitchell Associates Architects.)

3 Fire Facilities built this live fire training prop for the Bentonville (AR) Fire Department. (Photo 3 courtesy of Fire Facilities.)

Wendel/Mitchell has also designed lots of manhole-covered holes in mezzanine floors for use in bailout and confined space training, Mitchell notes. “We’ve also designed a movable mask maze for a station mezzanine,” he says. “We