By Bill Adams
Bill Adams
“It’s not like the good ole days” is a statement often made by former as well as older and experienced members of both the fire service and the fire apparatus industry.
It is debatable whether the statement expresses appreciation and fondness of times past or is disparaging of the current state of affairs. The earlier is admirable; the latter is discouraging. The statement is worth examining, especially in the realm of writing specifications and purchasing fire apparatus. This narration is a personal observation of the industry and fire service and is not influenced by or beholden to purchasers, manufacturers, vendors, and advertisers.
Some apparatus purchasing committee (APC) members do not exhibit the same degree of enthusiasm when serving on a committee as did their predecessors. Perhaps they are less educated; don’t have the time; or just aren’t interested in the process of writing, understanding, and evaluating fire apparatus specifications. Being educated is being well informed and knowledgeable of both the product and the process of purchasing fire apparatus. Apathy is displaying a lack of concern or interest, which is a disappointing trait. It is an injustice to the taxpayers who are funding a new purchase. More importantly, it is a disservice to the firefighters who must staff the apparatus.
There ought to be logical reasoning behind the lack of eagerness in belonging to an APC and an unwillingness to become learned in the technical nuts and bolts of fire apparatus construction. Demonstrating apathy is not unique to either the career or volunteer side. No such accusation is inferred. Reasons might best be found if a fire department does an objective analysis of how its APC is chosen and how specifications are formulated. Such a self-evaluation could also help in determining the effectiveness of an APC’s performance. Merely backing a new rig into the barn that is painted the proper color and has the name spelled correctly is not an indication that the APC has done an exemplary job—or even an adequate one. That determination often takes some “in-service” time.
COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION
Commentators do not have the right to proclaim there must be a specific number of people who should comprise an APC. Likewise, APC members’ areas of expertise, levels of experience, and years on the job should not be stipulated—recommended maybe, but not stipulated; there are too many variables. It is best to provide examples of APC organization criteria for readers to evaluate.
The makeup of APCs in career departments is often determined by the size of the organization. Those with large fleets of apparatus may have designated personnel whose primary, and possibly only, responsibility is apparatus procurement. Some are very good at it. It’s their job—they’re paid to do it. Large career departments have been known to rotate personnel throughout an organization to gain experience in administrative functions as well as operational firefighting. Such rotation may be mandatory and, in some instances, a requirement for advancement. Career entities are not immune from having an assigned APC member who may be more interested in becoming