Paul C. Darley

I was educated by Catholic Jesuit priests for most of my life. The Jesuits taught me at an early age to question everything-and believe me, I have.

Largely for that reason, I rely heavily on data-driven decisions more than anecdotal evidence in almost everything I do. My wife Heidi likes to refer to me as “quantitatively quirky,” a term we coined together almost 20 years ago. Knowing the facts just gives me a lot more confidence in my decision-making process.

The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) collects a lot of data on fire apparatus sold to the fire service. To our members, it’s one of the most valuable reasons they join our association. The detailed data is reserved exclusively for our members, but the FAMA board has allowed me to share the information contained in this article for the purposes of educating the fire service and assisting fire departments in making educated purchasing decisions. If you’re a fire equipment manufacturer and not currently a member of FAMA, I strongly encourage you to join.

Fire Apparatus Market

The market for new fire apparatus sold in the United States hit its high point in 2008 when a total of more than 5,000 new fire apparatus were sold in North America. Considering there are roughly 33,000 fire departments in the United States and another 4,000 in Canada, this was deemed to be right-sized.

As the recession hit in 2009, municipal budgets were among the worst hit. With fire departments reigning in the budgets and avoiding capital expenditures, the market for new fire apparatus sales hit a low in 2011-down more than 40 percent from its peak!

Since that time, the market has recently shown some signs of improvement as the economy recovered, but overall it has remained soft. New fire apparatus sales saw a slight recovery in 2013 as the market saw an increase in new fire apparatus sold in North America but fluttered in 2014 as new truck sales declined about five to 10 percent. This purchase history coincides almost identically with the recent improvements in municipal budgets. From data published by the National League of Cities Annual Report, we know that municipal budgets lag the overall economy by 18 to 24 months. This report has shown that municipal budgets hit their low in 2010 and have steadily improved during the past two years as their revenues continued to increase.

Fire Pump Size Changes

As a pump manufacturer, we pay particular attention to the pump sizes in fire apparatus. Today, the most common pump size in a pumper is a 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, with about half of all new apparatus having this size pump. This compares to only about a third of all apparatus having this size pump in 2011. The 1,500-gpm pump has grown in popularity over the years and seems to satisfy the needs of most city and rural fire departments. The second most popular size pump in 2014 was 1,250 gpm, representing about a quarter of all fire departments. The rivalry that existed 15 to 20 years ago between rural fire departments looking for a pump larger than their neighboring departments’, despite limited water supplies, seems to have subsided over the past five years. While there is certainly a place for pumps larger than 1,500 gpm in industrial and big city applications, these pump sizes have steadily decreased over the past 10 years as departments look to take advantage of the additional space on the vehicle to accommodate more equipment.

What’s Ahead?

2015 has been off to a strong start, with North American sales up almost 15 percent over 2014 levels. If this year plays out similar to the past couple of years with an increase in purchasing during the thi

Paul C. Darley

I was educated by Catholic Jesuit priests for most of my life. The Jesuits taught me at an early age to question everything-and believe me, I have.

Largely for that reason, I rely heavily on data-driven decisions more than anecdotal evidence in almost everything I do. My wife Heidi likes to refer to me as “quantitatively quirky,” a term we coined together almost 20 years ago. Knowing the facts just gives me a lot more confidence in my decision-making process.

The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) collects a lot of data on fire apparatus sold to the fire service. To our members, it’s one of the most valuable reasons they join our association. The detailed data is reserved exclusively for our members, but the FAMA board has allowed me to share the information contained in this article for the purposes of educating the fire service and assisting fire departments in making educated purchasing decisions. If you’re a fire equipment manufacturer and not currently a member of FAMA, I strongly encourage you to join.

Fire Apparatus Market

The market for new fire apparatus sold in the United States hit its high point in 2008 when a total of more than 5,000 new fire apparatus were sold in North America. Considering there are roughly 33,000 fire departments in the United States and another 4,000 in Canada, this was deemed to be right-sized.

As the recession hit in 2009, municipal budgets were among the worst hit. With fire departments reigning in the budgets and avoiding capital expenditures, the market for new fire apparatus sales hit a low in 2011-down more than 40 percent from its peak!

Since that time, the market has recently shown some signs of improvement as the economy recovered, but overall it has remained soft. New fire apparatus sales saw a slight recovery in 2013 as the market saw an increase in new fire apparatus sold in North America but fluttered in 2014 as new truck sales declined about five to 10 percent. This purchase history coincides almost identically with the recent improvements in municipal budgets. From data published by the National League of Cities Annual Report, we know that municipal budgets lag the overall economy by 18 to 24 months. This report has shown that municipal budgets hit their low in 2010 and have steadily improved during the past two years as their revenues continued to increase.

Fire Pump Size Changes

As a pump manufacturer, we pay particular attention to the pump sizes in fire apparatus. Today, the most common pump size in a pumper is a 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, with about half of all new apparatus having this size pump. This compares to only about a third of all apparatus having this size pump in 2011. The 1,500-gpm pump has grown in popularity over the years and seems to satisfy the needs of most city and rural fire departments. The second most popular size pump in 2014 was 1,250 gpm, representing about a quarter of all fire departments. The rivalry that existed 15 to 20 years ago between rural fire departments looking for a pump larger than their neighboring departments’, despite limited water supplies, seems to have subsided over the past five years. While there is certainly a place for pumps larger than 1,500 gpm in industrial and big city applications, these pump sizes have steadily decreased over the past 10 years as departments look to take advantage of the additional space on the vehicle to accommodate more equipment.

What’s Ahead?

2015 has been off to a strong start, with North American sales up almost 15 percent over 2014 levels. If this year plays out similar to the past couple of years with an increase in purchasing during the thi

Chris Mc Loone

Back in the mid 1990s when I was starting my career in publishing, there was a lot of talk about how different Generation Xers were from baby boomers.

Every new generation arrives on the job scene with its own views; its own ideals; and its own approaches to life in general, careers, and families. These days, the talk is about how different Millennials are from Generation X or Generation Y groups. And, it’s a little odd for me because I have always been the young kid on the staff almost wherever I’ve gone. So, it’s an adjustment to be working with more people younger than me than older, at times.

Millennials are known for a lot of different things-some good, some bad. But, one characteristic of this group is how it uses today’s technology. Smartphones, touch screens, apps, social media-these are the things these kids know and know well. And, their comfort levels with such things mean that the firefighters coming up through the ranks are much better at using these technologies than the GenX and GenY people for whom they work.

It’s happening to me at the firehouse already. We took delivery of a pumper in 2010 that features a pressure governor. But, I’m much more a fan of putting it in the rpm setting and adjusting the throttle myself. Somewhat to my surprise, the chief engineer at the time of delivery, who is about 25 years my elder, looked at me when I asked him how to switch from pressure to rpm and said, “Why would you want to?”

There have been electronics on fire trucks for years. Rewinding back to 1996, the twin pumpers we purchased both had electronic valves on them. New to us, some apparatus operators embraced them while some scoffed at them. We didn’t spec them with the pumpers to jump on board with the newest gadgets available. It was more out of necessity to maintain the size pump panel we were after. Those aren’t the types of electronics I’m talking about though. I think we are on the cusp of a fundamental shift in how we control fire apparatus on the scene of a fire. And, it is coming in the way of tablets and smartphones and the people who are most comfortable using them.

Getting back to the Millennials, their comfort level working with smartphones and tablets means that these technologies are more rapidly finding their way onto fire apparatus. Products entering the market with this technology are nothing new, but adoption is occurring at a more rapid pace.

Just about all of us are comfortable taking out our smartphone and checking our e-mail or recent calls or Facebook. But, using them to control apparatus is something a little new. True, many of us are now accustomed to electronically operated valves at the pump panel or remote control monitors or controlling a master stream at the end of an aerial from the ground. But, there’s so much more already here and on the way. Get used to using a tablet in the cab or 20 feet away from a pumper to charge lines, open valves, and aim a deck gun. Get used to being able to monitor an apparatus on scene as an incident commander at the command post by calling the pumper up on your smartphone or tablet. Get used to touch screens at the pump panel to view your gauges. These technologies are already here and are making their way into apparatus design. But as you design your future trucks, start thinking about the firefighters who will be staffing them. We’re so used to planning for equipment purchases we may make in the 15 or more years a truck is in front-line service, but how often do we think of the “kid

Chris Mc Loone

Back in the mid 1990s when I was starting my career in publishing, there was a lot of talk about how different Generation Xers were from baby boomers.

Every new generation arrives on the job scene with its own views; its own ideals; and its own approaches to life in general, careers, and families. These days, the talk is about how different Millennials are from Generation X or Generation Y groups. And, it’s a little odd for me because I have always been the young kid on the staff almost wherever I’ve gone. So, it’s an adjustment to be working with more people younger than me than older, at times.

Millennials are known for a lot of different things-some good, some bad. But, one characteristic of this group is how it uses today’s technology. Smartphones, touch screens, apps, social media-these are the things these kids know and know well. And, their comfort levels with such things mean that the firefighters coming up through the ranks are much better at using these technologies than the GenX and GenY people for whom they work.

It’s happening to me at the firehouse already. We took delivery of a pumper in 2010 that features a pressure governor. But, I’m much more a fan of putting it in the rpm setting and adjusting the throttle myself. Somewhat to my surprise, the chief engineer at the time of delivery, who is about 25 years my elder, looked at me when I asked him how to switch from pressure to rpm and said, “Why would you want to?”

There have been electronics on fire trucks for years. Rewinding back to 1996, the twin pumpers we purchased both had electronic valves on them. New to us, some apparatus operators embraced them while some scoffed at them. We didn’t spec them with the pumpers to jump on board with the newest gadgets available. It was more out of necessity to maintain the size pump panel we were after. Those aren’t the types of electronics I’m talking about though. I think we are on the cusp of a fundamental shift in how we control fire apparatus on the scene of a fire. And, it is coming in the way of tablets and smartphones and the people who are most comfortable using them.

Getting back to the Millennials, their comfort level working with smartphones and tablets means that these technologies are more rapidly finding their way onto fire apparatus. Products entering the market with this technology are nothing new, but adoption is occurring at a more rapid pace.

Just about all of us are comfortable taking out our smartphone and checking our e-mail or recent calls or Facebook. But, using them to control apparatus is something a little new. True, many of us are now accustomed to electronically operated valves at the pump panel or remote control monitors or controlling a master stream at the end of an aerial from the ground. But, there’s so much more already here and on the way. Get used to using a tablet in the cab or 20 feet away from a pumper to charge lines, open valves, and aim a deck gun. Get used to being able to monitor an apparatus on scene as an incident commander at the command post by calling the pumper up on your smartphone or tablet. Get used to touch screens at the pump panel to view your gauges. These technologies are already here and are making their way into apparatus design. But as you design your future trucks, start thinking about the firefighters who will be staffing them. We’re so used to planning for equipment purchases we may make in the 15 or more years a truck is in front-line service, but how often do we think of the “kid

By Chris Mc Loone

As we near the end of 2015, it is natural to take a look at the future and wonder what 2016 will bring.

2015 brought with it proof that as futurists we are sometimes dead on but are also way off the mark. We arrived at October 21, 2015-the date Michael J. Fox traveled to from 1985 in “Back to the Future, Part II.” Video teleconferencing and phone calls? Yup, the movie got that right. Hover boards? Well, there are some who like to think we have them, but they are definitely not of the same ilk as the film. Self-tying sneakers? Not quite yet. And, flying cars? Nope. Although, it would be really cool to pull through the bay door and take off to respond to a fire call. It’s a little scary to me that many of our current firefighters weren’t alive in 1985, but it was fun to watch everyone, young and old, embrace October 21, 2015, as “Back to the Future Day.”

So, what did 2015 bring to the fire service, and where are we headed in 2016? Looking back, it’s not easy to organize everything that has gone on this year into one category. If there is one word to sum it all up, “global” might fit the bill. Fire service industry manufacturers from all over the world took to the international trade show stage at Interschutz 2015. But as much of a focus as this show was, it didn’t stop our domestic apparatus and equipment suppliers from introducing big things. We now have pumps capable of flowing 6,000 pounds per square inch (psi), a 107-foot aerial built on a single axle, and an almost worldwide embrace of electronics that can control apparatus. Later in this issue, author Al Petrillo covers the fire truck of the future, and in many ways that fire truck exists now. Although electronic controls have been around for many years, what’s going on right now in terms of wireless control, touch screen control, and Internet connectivity for monitoring apparatus in the field is exploding. And, the right group of personnel (the Millennials) is embracing it all. I’ll let Al handle the fire truck of the future (page 12). But, from a fire industry perspective, where have we been and where are we going? We discussed these points with various industry representatives from different segments to help give you an idea of where our suppliers stand.

Looking At 2015

Across the board, respondents were very positive about this year. “2015 was another strong year for the Scott Safety business in the fire services as we continue to see growing demand for our Air-Pak X3 self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) platform and have seen great market acceptance of our broadened thermal imaging portfolio since our acquisition of ISG Infrasys in late 2014,” says Jeff Emery, fire services marketing manager, Scott Safety. “These results have helped to offset some soft demand in other markets, especially in our oil and gas segment.”

Positive results from 2014 investments also impacted other industry segments. “For Smeal, our business has been on a significant growth trajectory,” says Jeff Wegner, senior vice president of global sales at Smeal Fire Apparatus Co. “In 2014, we made a strong push to expand our product offering to serve customers better with the acquisitions of Ladder Tower Company and US Tanker Company and expanded our distribution and service nationally. In 2015, that has culminated in strong, double-digit growth. I think that’s a reflection of the value proposition that Smeal offers. More departments are taking a look at us and liking what they see.”

At Pierce Manufacturing, 2015 was also a strong year “in both the number of trucks built and the number of trucks sold through our dealer network,” says Matthew McLeish, vice president, sales and marketing at Pierce Manufacturing. “We had several large opportunities, such as