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.”
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| 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.”
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| 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