By Alan M. Petrillo

The days of a pile of equipment lying on the floor of an apparatus compartment are long gone, replaced by a wide assortment of trays, slide-outs, drop-downs, sliding and swing-out tool boards, and other setups.

Firefighters and equipment manufacturers have become creative in addressing the variety of ways equipment can be secured inside compartments so that firefighting tools are easy to locate and grab.

Brackets and Mounts

Greg Young, vice president of sales and operations for Performance Advantage Company (PAC), says his company’s philosophy is to “develop brackets that meet or exceed National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) requirements as well as offer quick and easy access and safe storage of equipment in fire apparatus compartments.” He adds that PAC makes sure that occupants are protected from sharp edges and conductivity. “For those products that go inside the cab of the truck, like brackets to hold halligans, irons, fire axes, and other tools, it’s not always about the storage; it’s about the safety,” he says. “Some tools are heavy and expensive, and we don’t want them to get loose and seriously injure someone, so our products are designed to withstand impacts like rollovers.”

Performance Advantage Co. (PAC) makes more than 50 types of brackets for fire equipment, including these brackets holding a fire ax and two closet hooks on a PAC Trac swing-out tool board. (Photo courtesy of Performance Advantage Co.)

Tom Trzepacz, PAC’s sales executive, says that his company’s most popular fitting for inside a fire truck cab is the IRONSLOCK, used for halligans and fire axes. “It’s rated for over 9 Gs of force and has a release strap to keep the tool secure,” Trzepacz says. “It’s designed for a 30-inch halligan and an eight-pound or six-pound flathead ax.” He points out that PAC makes more than 50 different types of brackets. “The HandleLock is our most versatile and widely used bracket,” he says, “with positive locking and secure mounting that can go in a cab or compartment or on the outside of apparatus. We also have a new heavy rescue tool pocket that will work on any make or model hydraulic rescue tool and can be mounted at 90 or 45 degrees, vertically, or horizontally.”

Often fire departments will use a variety of equipment-fixing methods inside a compartment, as shown here with these tools held in Performance Advantage Co. (PAC) brackets on a two-sided swing-out tool board, as well as a fixed tool board at the rear of the compartment. (Photo courtesy of Performance Advantage Co.)

Ryan Glover, marketing manager for Ziamatic Corp., says Ziamatic’s goal is to keep firefighters safe, so the majority of its equipment is tested to exceed 9 Gs of force. “We test both in-house and through third-party testing,” Glover says. “We make mounts for every ki

After spending time at Interschutz in Hannover, Germany, in June, I could not help but think about how much better the fire service would be globally if there were a crosspollination of the worldwide fire service.

This is illustrated by a quote from Matt Ridley’s book, The Rational Optimist: “It is the ever-increasing exchange of ideas that causes the ever-increasing rate of innovation in the modern world.” Interschutz is the world’s largest fire expo and occurs every five years. This year, 51 countries were represented and 157,000 people attended-an increase from 123,000 in 2010. However, it is primarily a European show with a heavy German influence.

Hannover is home to the largest exhibition center in the world. It has 5.3 million square feet of indoor exhibit space. This is more than double the size of McCormick Place in Chicago-the largest available space in North America. In addition, there are more than 624,000 square feet of open air exhibit space. The center houses 27 exhibit halls (most with restaurants), and many of the halls could accommodate three to four football fields. Interschutz used about 25 percent of the available interior space.

Apparatus

There are distinctive differences between European and American apparatus. As mentioned earlier, a crosspollination of technology and design would benefit the fire service in both Europe and America. There has been limited transfer of design. For example, roll-up compartment doors have been a mainstay of the European fire service for decades. Only in the past 20 years has the U.S. fire service embraced roll-up doors, and they are now more common that hinged doors. The Europeans have also followed American design by making many of their apparatus larger than in the past. As service delivery to more types of emergencies expands, the larger trucks are becoming more necessary.

Apparatus on display at Interschutz 2015 featured cab access that ranged from outstanding to very difficult. (Photos by author.)

Counting both inside and outside displays, there were nearly 1,000 vehicles exhibited. European design has many common characteristics for all apparatus. All pumps are rear-mounted with the pump controls at the rear of the apparatus. There are no hosebeds. All hose is rolled and stored in compartments. Structures in Europe are clustered on postage-stamp-sized lots, with underground taps for a water supply very close to each structure. This eliminates the need for “laying in” with a supply line. Surprisingly, the Europeans (with the exception of hose reels) have not adopted the idea of preconnected hoselines-a decades-old design of the U.S. fire service. I witnessed one demonstration of fire attack, and it seemed like an eternity for the crew to make their hose connections-and this is with threadless hose couplings.

Cabs

For the most part, cab access for European-style apparatus is very difficult. It is a straight vertical climb with not many stepping surfaces. The increased height of the apparatus compounds this problem. The problem was illustrated by one company actually having portable steps placed beside the officer-side door so attendees could easily get in the cab. There were several huge aircraft rescue and firefighti

By Chris Mc Loone

There are very few companies that can claim to have been around for 100 years or more-and even fewer who can go 125 years as a family-owned business.

For Sutphen Corporation, not only can it boast 125 years as a family-run business, but is also the only fire apparatus manufacturer to have reached such a milestone. “To be in business for 125 years is a major accomplishment, and to have done it all under continuous family ownership is even greater,” says Drew Sutphen, president of Sutphen Corporation. “No other apparatus manufacturer can make that statement. We are very proud to be able to pass this legacy to the next generation.”

Equipment Origins

In 1890, Clarence (C.H.) Sutphen had an opportunity to sell fire hose. He accepted the offer and introduced the Sutphen name to the fire industry. At Fabric Hose Company, he sold hose and went on to sell hose dryers, axes, small extinguishers, and other firefighting equipment. “As time went on, the family got deeper into the equipment side, which eventually progressed into apparatus,” says Sutphen. The apparatus included small steam-powered engines, hand pumpers, and chemical carts. These units were popular because of their compact size and firefighting capability and because they did not require actual horsepower like larger apparatus, which was very expensive.

C.H. Sutphen, along with a small group of businessmen, organized the Prospect Manufacturing Company, located in the Village of Prospect, Ohio. One of its products was a 30-gallon chemical engine known as the Deluge. C.H. Sutphen sold one of these units to the Village of Dearborn, Michigan, which still owns the unit. To this day, Dearborn is a Sutphen customer.

Two current Dearborn, Michigan, Sutphen fire apparatus are shown with a 1907 hand pumper Sutphen built for the Dearborn (MI) Fire Department. (Photo courtesy of Sutphen Corporation.)

Harry Sutphen joined his father in the business when he returned from serving in the United States Navy during World War I, and the business became known as C.H. Sutphen and Sons. After C.H. Sutphen passed away, Harry Sutphen continued the business as Harry Sutphen and Associates and continued to sell Prospect chemical carts and fire engines. Harry Sutphen’s sons Tom and Bob joined the business as the business grew to eight full-time salespeople and a staffed service shop. “With the addition of Harry Sutphen, my grandfather, and eventually Tom and Bob, my uncle and father, they were able to take the company to the next level,” says Drew Sutphen.

Equipment sales increased, and so did the demand for apparatus. Harry Sutpen formed relationships and began representing American Apparatus, based in Michigan, and Peter Pirsch and Sons, based in Wisconsin. In 1950, the company built a new service shop and offices in Grandview Heights, Ohio, which became the new home for Harry Sutphen Fire Fighting Equipment. It was also around this time that the company began manufacturing apparatus bodies and building on commercial chassis. One of its first deliveries was a front-mount pumper to Trimble, Ohio-a type of apparatus that became a signature product for the company.

Read more 674 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Nov 5, 2015 Staying Compliant in the Evolving World of Ambulances 2015 was a busy year for the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) Ambulance Technical Committee. FAMA committee members work hard to advance the interests of both the emergency care provider and the patient as they relate to ambulance specifications, and there are several recent noteworthy changes. Whether and when each state will adopt these changes will likely be determined in the coming months. Triple K Changes July 1, 2015, saw the publication of Change Notice 8 to the Federal Government’s KKK-A1822-F Star-of-Life Ambulance Specification (the Triple-K). Developed in the 1970s, this specification is provided by federal government to agencies wishing to purchase ambulances. This document is followed by roughly 30 U.S. states, in whole or in part, as the minimum guideline under which a vehicle may be called an ambulance. It was written with the intent that an ambulance manufacturer could read and follow it to determine specific design elements and options, resulting in a finished ambulance that will meet the federal government’s criteria. There are several additions to the Triple-K required in Change Notice 8. The two most significant changes are the addition of recommended practices from the Society of Automotive Engineers International (SAE), namely SAE J3026 Ambulance Patient Compartment Seating Integrity and Occupant Restraint and SAE J3027 Ambulance Litter Integrity, Retention, and Patient Restraint. Both guidelines from SAE describe the test forces that manufacturers of attendant seating and patient cots (regionally referred to as stretchers, litters, or gurneys) must design and certify to. Those G-forces are 22.5 Gs in a frontal impact and 26.0 Gs in a side impact over a very short time segment. This is roughly equal to the initial forces seen in a head-on crash between a 10,000-pound ambulance and a 3,000-pound car, both traveling at 55 miles per hour. The take-away from these SAE-related changes is that the rear compartment seats and cot fasteners used in the past will likely not be compliant with the new guidelines. EMS providers already using “Captain’s Chairs” with four- or five-point harnesses will see only a minimal increase to become compliant. Providers using ambulances with squad benches and simple lap belts, however, will likely have to make a greater investment in safer seating alternatives for their medics and other rear-compartment passengers. NFPA 1917 Changes Also changing this year is National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1917, Standard for Automotive Ambulances. In August at the NFPA Standards Council meeting in Chicago, NFPA 1917 (2016 ed.) was issued for publication, and the new edition is now available at www.nfpa.org. This document is nearly 70 pages long, describing the requirements to both construct and test an ambulance. As such, the consensus-developed aspects and requirements of the NFPA “standard” ambulance may exceed existing state minimum requirements. Throughout the revision process from the initial 2013 edition, a greater effort to involve the nonfire-based EMS community was solicited, with the majority of that community’s concerns addressed in the 2016 edition. Note that this standard references the two SAE recommended practices as well. New CAAS Standard The Committee on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS) began crafting an alternate ambulance standard in its Ground Vehicle Standard v 1.0 (GVS v.1.0) document. From its Web site, “The CAAS Ground Vehicle Standard (GVS v.1.0) establishes minimum requirements, performance parameters, and essential criteria for the design of ground ambulances to provide a practical degree of standardization.” Largely developed through a consensus effort to combine the widely fami Read more 567 0 Article rating: No rating Posted: Nov 5, 2015 Evaluating Lower-Level Warning Lights, Part 1 By Bill Adams Decades ago when responding as a white coat, I noticed that the headlights on many apparatus washed out the rigs’ lower warning and directional lights (turn signals)-especially at night and more so when the headlights were flashing. It still happens today. This is my personal take on forward-facing lower-level warning lights. The January 17, 1912, edition of the San Francisco Call reported that city’s first motorized apparatus was placed in service that day. Describing its features, the paper noted, “The equipment also includes electric side lights and a large searchlight for night service.” Side lights, mounted on each side of the engine cowl, replaced Dietz-style kerosene lanterns. In 1924, American LaFrance rebuilt an accident-damaged 1920 chemical and hose car delivered to Ferndale, Michigan. Factory paperwork indicates steady burning side lights were added and wired into the taillight circuit (photos 1 and 2). Side lights were common well into the 1930s. Ask apparatus historians or light manufacturers who coined the terminology warning lights, who started using flashing lights, and who invented the first mechanically moving light. Red side lights on a 1924 rebuild by American LaFrance. Equipped with dull red lenses, they probably were to identify the vehicle as a fire truck. It is unknown when manufacturers started to make them flash and call them warning lights. (Photos by author unless otherwise noted.) Some purchasers consider warning lights a necessary evil required by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus. Others believe only the brightest lights in the western hemisphere capable of causing severe optical damage are worthy of being mounted on their apparatus. I find it humorous and sad that firefighters at trade shows will stand three feet from an exhibitor’s illuminated light display and make a multi-thousand-dollar purchasing decision based on the degree of temporary blindness suffered. Ask those same firefighters what they expect each light to accomplish in the field, and you might receive blank stares. Beacon-ray, rotoray, figure 8, crossfire, and oscilaser are used generically to describe lights similar to trademarked products by Federal Signal, Whelen, Tripp-Lite, Code 3, and Mars. Strobe lights and lens colors are volatile topics left for another discussion. Cab Fascia Light Configurations Most custom cab manufacturers (OEMs) advertise a standard configuration of a side-by-side turn signal and warning light mounted immediately above dual headlights. Notable exceptions are the Pierce Quantum and the Sutphen Monarch. A half-dozen rigs delivered from 1991 to 2014 have only seven to 10 inches center-to-center between the rows of lights. That’s not much. Little has changed in cab fascia light configurations in more than 20 years. This isn’t a criticism of OEMs. The arrangement is probably inexpensive to supply. 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