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By Bill Adams

"Mini Pumpers, Part 1: How Well Do They Really Work?" (September 2014) described the experiences of two fire departments with mini pumpers purchased in the 1980s.

It appears the fire service is giving mini pumpers a second look. Why? What's new? What are people purchasing? I asked apparatus manufacturers of all sizes. Their answers to some specific questions follow.

Are mini pumpers becoming popular?

Mike DuFrane, vice president, Florida Products Government Sales, Pierce Manufacturing: "Mini pumpers have an inherent size advantage over larger apparatus. We continue to see growth in mini pumper sales."

Trapper Meadors, sales engineer, Precision Fire Apparatus: "Mini pumpers can fit into very specific roles that a lot of departments have yet to see a need for. However, once the need is realized, they're perfect fits."

Mike Watts, national sales manager, Toyne Fire Apparatus: "Yes. They are finding a new purpose in the fire service."

Jim Kirvida, president, CustomFIRE: "There seems to be considerable interest, mostly for short-staffed duty crews."

Grady North, product manager, E-ONE: "The mini pumper concept is showing renewed interest."

Doug Kelley, mini pumper product manager, KME: "Yes, and growing. However, they're still a very small portion of the market overall. As a reference, there are fewer than 150 mini pumpers sold each year vs. about 2,500 to 3,000 full-size pumpers."

Joe Messmer, president, Summit Fire Apparatus: "Yes. We are finding fire departments want smaller trucks with a bigger punch. They are looking for more agile apparatus with four-wheel drive."

Are fire departments looking to accomplish specific missions with mini pumper purchases?

Kelley: "The educated customer is trying to take advantage of the mini's smaller size combined with the all-wheel-drive capability for tasks similar to accessing the backside of structures, such as garden apartments, with a master stream device; using the truck as a manifold truck up long driveways where larger trucks have a hard time accessing; using the all-wheel drive in disaster situations where roads may be partially blocked; and using the truck to access incidents in hard-to-reach locations, especially in heavy traffic or small streets."

Messmer: "They're looking for smaller trucks that weigh less and can get into tighter spots. Some departments are attempting to reduce the wear and tear on larger, more expensive apparatus to stretch the budget a little further."

Dufrane: "Departments responsible for protecting hard-to-reach areas where they can't get a traditional pumper or tanker through narrow, unpaved roads find the maneuverability of mini pumpers is an advantage. Pierce is seeing some being used as "first-out" vehicles instead of traditional pumpers. Departments with emergency medical service (EMS) responsibilities can run them with their emergency medical technicians on board."

Kirvida: "Initial response for both EMS and fire calls."

Meadors: "Smaller departments experiencing an influx of new, younger members are wanting a small unit people can feel more co

David Hiltwein passed away Sunday, February 22, 2015 in Kennewick, WA as the result of Scleroderma-related complications. David was born on February 26, 1952 in Pasco, WA to Leo Hiltwein and Viola Hiltwein and lived in Kennewick his entire life. He graduated from both Kennewick High School and Columbia Basin College. He proudly served as a Hanford Fire Fighter and EMT for 37 years (1974-2011). He was also a volunteer Fire Fighter with Benton County Fire District #1 for 31 years (1971-2002). He was a loyal supporter of his Union IAFF Local 1-24, where he served as the Vice President for many years.

David is remembered for his compassion, sense of humor, practical jokes, strong work ethic, teaching abilities, and steel trap memory. He loved hunting, fishing, reading, crossword puzzles, knife making, riding his Harley Davidson, attending car shows, and burning rubber in his 1967 EI Camino. He was a dedicated fan of the Seattle Seahawks and loved watching and attending football games with his friends and family...

Fifteen-year-old Jake is a high school basketball star. We invited Jake to go into another room and toss beanbags through holes of various sizes in a plywood target, then report back to us with his final score. Our hidden camera recorded that he scored six out of a possible fifteen points (not too good for a basketball phenom). As Jake approached our table to report his score, we wondered—would he embrace his shame and tell the truth? Or would he lie to get the extra $1 per point we promised him? Eighty percent of his colleagues in our experiment had lied. Would Jake follow suit—or fess up?

Most of us lie. Studies have shown that lying is actually the natural order of things. From the time we are small, we learn there are powerful incentives to say what works rather than what’s true. The question is, why? Do we lie because we are morally bankrupt from birth? Or is there something more fixable going on? Given the importance of trust to healthy relationships, families, and communities, how can we help people do the unnatural? How can we, in spite of all the immediate incentives to do the opposite, influence people to tell the truth?

A recent report released by the State Auditor’s Office found, local governments (including fire protection districts) still struggle to file their reports on time or at all. All local governments are expected to file their annual financial reports with the State Auditor’s Office within 150 days after the end of their fiscal year.

In both 2011 and 2012, more than 700 of 1,956 local governments did not file their reports as required for each year. Due to increased outreach by the State Auditor’s Office in 2013, such as trainings and workshops, about 100 more local governments filed their required annual reports...

As I reflect on the past years events, we see that firefighters across the nation have responded to many different and sometimes difficult to deal with issues. We have ramped up to treat the latest biological threats, or battled the routine calls that seem to be common for most organizations.  It’s sad that we are still finding the loss of life in the fire service to be something coming across our email or written documents almost weekly. There are many studies looking for reasons behind the line of duty deaths that are occurring in the fire service.  Some are pointing to things that are preventable such as heart disease or cancer which are both preventable and treatable provided we are obtaining physicals annually. Recently our college obtained a grant teamed up with the local fire departments to do fitness testing to give us a baseline physical assessment. Something like this may work for you as well. We have also placed emphasis on stretching and fitness related to the types of work we perform. With in-house evaluators we have evaluated the members of the department and given them baseline recommendations for their fitness.  We all found little weaknesses that we didn't even know about, ones we can improve for the future.

Our organization has also placed an increased emphasis on the immediate cleanup at fire scenes for our firefighters, with wipe downs of critical areas such as face, neck and any other exposed skin and then immediate showering upon return to the station.  As well we remove gear from service after the event and clean it. This coupled with the exhaust fans in the stations will hopefully limit the exposure that our firefighters have taken for granted for so many years.