By Bill Adams

Do you remember seeing the clown cars at the circus – those tiny toy-sized cars smaller than a Volkswagen beetle where the clowns kept jumping out and started running all over? On the opposite side well hidden from the audience’s view, the clowns keep recycling themselves through the car. Its like watching some volunteer fire companies training on drill night. Hold it! There is no insinuation volunteers are clowns or their apparatus are clown cars. I made the clown car analogy just to get your attention!

Drill Night

Engine 2 with a full crew pulled up to the smoke house on the training grounds. The drill instructor told its officer: “There’s a person trapped in that second-floor window and the stairway’s blocked. Throw a ladder and get in there with a charged line and make that room tenable before it lights up.” It was all-hands on deck. Ten firefighters jumped out of the cab in high gear and went to work. They simultaneously back-stretched a supply-line to a plug; raised an extension ladder; got packed up; and pulled and advanced a charged attack line through the second-floor window.

The training officer looked at his watch and smiled. The troops completed their tasks in record time. They were just like a well-oiled machine. The chief was happy. Everyone went home confident they could tackle anything coming down the pike. Remember, I said there is no inference that Engine 2’s crew are clowns. All 10 firefighters riding Engine 2 did their jobs and did them well. They were well-trained.    

Real Life

At 10 o’clock the following Thursday morning, Engine 2 is dispatched as the first due company to an almost identical scenario – except this one is the real McCoy. It’s a worker. As sometimes found in many volunteer departments, Engine 2’s daytime crew consists of an “older” driver who probably shouldn’t be driving a car let alone a fire truck; an equally “older” fire-police member resplendent in a reflective lime-yellow traffic vest, uniform cap and multi-channel portable radio with a shoulder strap; a young rookie who just started his basic firefighter training but at least is wearing full turnout gear including a leather helmet with a bright orange front piece saying PROBIE; and a new lieutenant. The lieutenant just made the load. The rig had just pulled out of the barn so he jumped in the crew cab and started donning an SCBA. It didn’t appear any more volunteers were heading for the station. And, the departments that were dispatched on the automatic mutual assistance pre-plan hadn’t answered up yet.

That scenario is not a fair representation of every volunteer fire department’s weekday response. But in the real world, there are some departments that would be happy to get four people to show up at 10 o’clock on a weekday morning to staff the first due apparatus – regardless of their age or level of expertise. That’s life. 

Not every fire department has pre-planned mutual assistance. Sometimes pride overrides common sense and necessity. Mutual assistance, even if preplanned, could be a long time in coming. Mutual aid, if and when someone gets around to calling for it, could be delayed even more so. Again – this scenario is not reflective of every volunteer department but it can occur.

Reality Check No. 1

Several noteworthy items of interest can be gleaned from this fictitious incident. The first is many volunteer entities actually operate as two separate fire departments. One department is available on nights and weekends when a good number of members are usually available.  The other

The Surf City Volunteer Fire Company and EMS is temporarily out of service after a serious fire occurred in the apparatus bay late Thursday night, TheSandPaper.net reported. One firefighter was treated at the scene for a minor injury.

A firefighter heard the fire siren send out a steady blast, a programmed indicator that the alarm inside the firehouse is activated, according to Surf City fire officials in a post on social media informing the community that Ship Bottom and High Point volunteer fire companies would be covering for the fire department. The Barnegat Light Volunteer First Squad will answer emergency medical services calls.

When the firefighter arrived at the firehouse from home, he discovered heavy smoke and flames inside the apparatus bay and called 911. Surf City firefighters, as they arrived at the scene, used fire extinguishers from other parts of the building to hold off the fire, while other volunteers moved the fire trucks and other apparatus out of the firehouse. Engine 4913 put down the rest of the fire with tank water.

The Ocean County Fire Marshal’s Office responded, protocol for all types of fires, according to fire officials in Surf City. They will determine exactly where and how the fire began. A preliminary determination by fire marshals on the scene found the fire to be accidental and caused by malfunctioning electrical equipment.

“We would like to give a huge thank you to our mutual aid Fire and EMS organizations that responded and assisted us tonight. We will be back up and running very soon,” fire officials said.

Live-Fire Training Paul Tarter

It’s wish season. Fire departments everywhere are preparing for the season, hopeful and listing everything needed.

More than likely as you’re reading this, it’s in the middle of the application period for the U.S. Assistance to Firefighter Grants (AFG) program. For many fire departments, the grant application process is daunting, with lots of data that needs to be collected and questions that need answering. Even after the process, no guarantee exists to ensure that your fire department will be awarded anything.

Before stepping into the grant process, consider these three important factors:

• Is your department currently using outdated equipment beyond the expected life cycle?
• Does your department have a compelling story that will explain why certain equipment is needed?
• Is the request you’re making reasonable?

While there’s a significant amount more to a grant application process, these three factors can be the difference between getting grants and missing out.

Outdated Equipment

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) offers a variety of standards for firefighter equipment. Updated on a regular basis, these standards often provide guidelines for how long equipment lasts.

For example, the life cycle of turnouts is eight years, while a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and cylinder have an expected life of 15 years. Not sure how old your equipment is? The approval labels on the equipment can provide the required information for determining its age.

A side note: If it appears your equipment isn’t lasting that long, questions will arise about proper maintenance as required by the standards. Making sure your department follows regular maintenance schedules with a compliant or certified provider is imperative.

In general, if equipment is outdated—after the expected life cycle, say 20-year-old SCBA or 13-year-old turnouts—that application moves toward the top of the pile if everything else is in order.

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