By Bill Adams

Most fire apparatus manufacturers have Web sites enabling prospective purchasers to locate their closest authorized dealer.

In some instances, the manufacturer itself is listed as the primary sales contact. Little known and seldom advertised is the fact the majority of apparatus manufacturers sell rigs "factory direct" albeit for varied, valid, and understandable reasons. When a fire department inquires about whether it can purchase factory direct or demands to, a quandary can develop, putting apparatus manufacturers in an uncomfortable position and dealers in a precarious one. The topic can be as volatile as boiling gasoline in an open container on a campfire. The intent of this article is to address the subject in a manner understandable to purchasers yet fair and equitable for dealers and manufacturers.

Purchasers' perceptions of apparatus manufacturers and their distribution networks are based on a "right now" assessment and may not be entirely objective. Almost all manufacturers, including the larger ones and those in business for generations, all started out small. Access their histories. Most founders were blacksmiths, fabricators, or operated repair shops. Usually the owner/sole-proprietor started out fixing someone's broken fire truck, then built one for the local fire department, then one for a neighboring department. Have you ever heard of Don Smeal, Sam Saulsbury, Chris Ferrara, Elmer Abrahamson, Carlton Maxim, Harold Boer, or John Kovatch Jr.? When these people started in business, they did not inherit large, well-established distribution networks (dealers and dealerships). They started out selling factory direct. As their businesses expanded into statewide, regional, national, and international markets, so did their marketing and sales strategies. Along the way they established personal relationships with some of their first customers and some of their original dealers. Those relationships can be as strong now as when forged.

Today, most large and midsize apparatus manufacturers sell via dealers. Smaller and regional manufacturers don't always do so. Caution-it could be by choice. It's not fair to compare the distribution networks and sales policies of manufacturers building 30 rigs per year with those building 300 rigs per year. Purchasers should be cognizant of the fact that many regional and smaller builders are very comfortable with their size, their annual sales, and their methods of marketing. The number of employees, size of their facilities, and how they sell are not necessarily reflective of the quality of their finished product.

The particulars of the business relationships between manufacturers and their dealers are personal, usually contractually binding, and bluntly none of a fire department's business. Purchasers shouldn't ask. Apparatus dealerships are unlike automobile dealerships where there may be multiple dealers in one city. Apparatus manufacturers have one dealership per territory. A dealership's customer base remains constant-only those fire departments within its territory.

Direct Sales

My interpretation of a direct sale, sometimes called a house account, is a sale that is not handled by a local dealer. It can be by the manufacturer's owner himself, through in-house sales staff, a regional sales manager, or a factory store. Several manufacturers own and operate regional service centers, which may employ local sales staffs.

The primary reason for selling direct is not having a local dealer in a territory. The military, cooperative purchasing consortiums, the federal government, and export sales are usually administered from single locations. It makes sense for a direct factory relationship to manage those types of accounts. Occasionally, there are very technical, highly complex vehicles requiring such an inordinate amount of factory involvement that it's logical for t

By Dhiren Chauhan

"I am responsible for everyone who goes into this burning building. I am responsible for making sure everyone who goes into this building comes out safely and returns home."

A variation of this dialog goes through an incident commander's (IC) thought process every time he is assigned to a working fire. He is the first responder's lifeline to the outside world. In the event that one of his personnel is in trouble, he is also the one responsible for making sure he provides information to the rapid intervention team (RIT) to get him out safely. It is a job that requires him to act swiftly and manage multiple tasks-all while being flooded with information from various sources.

Various Technologies

An IC leverages various technologies today to manage the incident-solutions ranging from two-way radio communications, delivery of self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) telemetry, thermal imaging cameras, and body-worn video to relay information to ICs.

There is no lack of excellent technology today for ICs. The challenge is to get them all to work together as a solution, providing a situational-awareness-based approach to incident management.

It is tempting for departments to invest in a potentially life-saving piece of new equipment. But unless it is clear how the product fits into the entire ecosystem, the investment might not pay off. Worse, it may be counterproductive. Responders could be saddled with multiple devices, each of which delivers information in a different format. At some point, the disparate devices may become too burdensome or deliver too much inconsistent information that the emergency team ignores them altogether.

As we are seeing in the consumer electronics market, it is more important to have product convergence than it is to purchase individual products that may not work together. Keeping informed about how one vendor's product may or may not work with another vendor's product-all while understanding technological limitations before you invest in equipment-helps you make the right decision about the next investment for your firefighters' safety.

Think Integrated Solutions, Not Devices

Today, there are new approaches and solutions in the fire market that help the IC perform routine tasks. Thermal imaging cameras from MSA allow the IC to view first-person footage from the eyes of the first responder, Pak-Tracker technology from Scott Safety allows a RIT and IC to locate a down firefighter. Streamlined radio-based roll call technology from Motorola Solutions cuts personnel accountability report (PAR) cycle time by up to 85 percent. These are a few of the solutions available today.

You may be familiar with these technologies, but how well do you know their roles in a complex environment that includes seemingly disparate subsystems-SCBA, radios, dispatch solutions, fire-alerting solutions, and more-as well as a wide range of people in different roles, from dispatchers to firefighters to ICs?

In the end, you want all these pieces to work together so an IC can concentrate on first responder safety and preserving personal property. Using technology in conjunction with best practices your department already employs allows the IC to concentrate on tasks that require complete focus.

Embracing and understanding unfamiliar technological solutions can be overwhelming and sometimes intimidating. Thankfully, your equipment providers can provide technologically robust solutions that are intuitive, are easy to use, and do not create a burden in the moments that matter. You can't afford to replace a ladder company member with someone from IT when there is a firefighter who is not answering your request to check for PAR. Not only are vendors responsible for providing the right solution that works, they should also be responsible for working with each other to ensure all products i

By Chris Mc Loone

I recently sat in on a rather spirited but informal truck committee meeting at my fire company-informal because although the group of us will be on an upcoming truck committee, we weren't in any official decision making capacity at the time, and the committee in its entirety hasn't been named yet.

It was spirited because we had a number of personalities in the room who had very strong opinions about how our next apparatus should be equipped and how it should be designed. As I looked around the room during one rather loud yet not heated discussion, I began to wonder, Who will be the voice of reason moving forward during this process; who will be the most persuasive; and, frankly, how in the world are we going to get through this?

In some ways, this is uncharted waters for the truck committee. The last truck we built was an engine. We took delivery in 2010. Although it was not a simple process, to my recollection we did not have any of the impassioned debates we are starting to have already. Actually, the other members of the committee may disagree with that, because I really wanted a bell on the engine. And, I know some of us had some convincing to do to get a booster reel on the truck. But, all in all, it was a relatively smooth process. A rescue truck, however, is a whole different animal.

In this month's FAMA Forum, Bill Proft mentions that a rescue vehicle is an expensive toolbox. Not only that, but a rescue vehicle is probably one of the most heavily customized fire apparatus on the road. The amount of equipment and degree of customization leave a lot of room for debate.

For an engine, there is certain equipment we have to carry per NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus. It creates a rather defined starting point. When we were specing our engine, it was relatively simple outside of deciding how many discharges to go with, figuring out the crew cab, and equipment location. NFPA 1901 has no classification for a rescue truck. It falls under the "special service apparatus" heading. The minimum requirements for special service apparatus do not include rescue equipment, which is where our debate begins. It's pretty hard to build a truck when there isn't a baseline from which to start.

You might think, "What's the problem? You have the equipment. Put it on the next truck." This is where some of the uncharted waters are for us. The entire fire service is being asked to do more with fewer personnel, and in some cases the volunteer fire service isn't being asked to do so but is being forced to because of declining numbers. We are looking at designing a truck around realities we haven't had to focus on as of yet. We have to more carefully consider daytime numbers vs. the numbers we get at night to build a truck with equipment that realistically can be deployed by one person. We need to take a closer look than ever at the walk-in and walk-through designs we've employed on past rescues and decide whether it's realistic to expect that we could have up to 13 personnel on the truck. We can pick up a lot of space by reducing the size of the walk-in area at the very least or eliminating it completely.

Data are going to come in handy for this one. It's not going to stop disagreements over seating, but it's going to be hard to argue with data that say we staff the truck with X amount of personnel beyond the driver and officer on average. We have the data-one of the benefits of the accreditation process we've been going through that I talked about last month.

We purchase our apparatus ourselves, so the truck committee will have to justify the purchase to the general body of the fire company, and the expenditure will come to a vote. Our next rescue truck undoubtedly is going to be a departure from rescue trucks of the past in many ways, and the committee will have to explain the rationale behind many of its decisions. The

By Alan M. Petrillo

Fire departments can face confined space rescue situations at any time. There are times, however, when those events are of a larger magnitude than the departments might be prepared for. That's when having firefighters properly trained in confined space work and the right kinds of equipment for the job come into play to rescue victims and secure the scene.

Scene Assessment

Kent Freeman, owner of California Health & Rescue Training, says fire department confined space teams typically should run through the tactical priorities when faced with a confined space event. They have to assess the survival profile of the victim by yelling to get a verbal response or using some type of physical stimulus, he says, as well as use monitoring equipment to assess the atmosphere viability in the space, including getting a reading at the place where the victim is located.

Ventilating the space is important, he maintains, and can be accomplished, depending on the scenario, with a standard smoke ejector like those found on many engine companies or axial and centrifugal fans with ductwork. "They might need to use either a positive or negative pressure system," Freeman observes, "or even a combination of the two."

Tom Fox, director of operations for Leader North America, says that in addition to search cameras and communications equipment used in confined space-the LeaderCAM and LeaderCOM units-Leader also makes the V-Box, an extractor-blower conversion kit that transforms a ventilation fan used in confined space work into an extractor.

Fox says a ventilation fan is positioned inside the V-Box, connects to a duct with quick fasteners, and "canalizes the flow of air for powerful ventilation of confined spaces." He notes that 1.5-horsepower electric fan can move 12,000 to 13,000 cubic feet of air through the flexible ducting. The V-Box can accommodate 16-, 18-, 20-, and 21-inch-diameter fans," he says, adding, "more and quicker air movement is an advantage."

Communication

Communications systems and respiratory protection also are "must-have equipment" in confined space rescues, Freeman points out. "Many fire departments use 800-megahertz (MHz) radios, but that range is terrible for confined space because of its lower wattage," he says. "They use a computer to match people to talk on a frequency, and often the signal can't get out. The radios have to be switched to simplex mode during a confined space event to be able to talk radio to radio."

Freeman says he's found that departments are better off carrying two sets of portable radios-an 800-MHz and a very high frequency (VHF) radio that can transmit farther in confined space situations.

"Never enter into a confined space without first discussing your communications and backup communications systems," Freeman says. "The backup can be rope signals, tapping and rapping signals or codes, or PASS alarm systems. Always work from the high end to the simpler low end. Often the simpler is good because we encumber our entrant with a lot of gear and equipment."

Technicians use a three-piece davit arm made by Capital Safety that allows for more room around the space being accessed compared with a tripod. The davit arm breaks down into sections that pack up easily in rescue or ladder trucks.

Respiratory Protection

The most expensive piece of confined space equipment, Freeman says, is the respiratory

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of George Wahl on Wednesday January 15, 2014. George began his service to the Skykomish community in the fire department in 1979. In 1992, George was appointed Volunteer Fire Chief for King County Fire Protection District #50, beginning his fulltime career as Chief in May of 1993, serving until 2005 when he retired. 

After moving to Skykomish George Wahl and his family have contributed in many ways to the Skykomish Valley. George operated Maloney’s General Store, built tow trucks with Josh’s, served as Town Marshal, WA State DOT aviation, and owned his own business Wahl Excavation. George was always willing to drop what he was doing to lend a helping hand.