By Carl J. Haddon
This will be the first installment on a number of related subjects that have taken many (especially sportsmen and tourist) rural communities by storm, and I believe it has only just begun. Although this column is dedicated to “all things rural fire departments,” I believe that where we’ll go in this series of articles can apply to all kinds of different communities.
Recreational vehicles (RVs) come in all shapes and sizes. Many of them are towed by another vehicle (travel trailers and “5th wheels”), while others like motor homes and motor coaches are (typically) powered by gas or diesel engines.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are now becoming commonplace here in the United States, with at least two of the big American automakers each promising 20-30 new all electric vehicle models within the next couple of years.
“Escapees” is my personal term for those city dwellers who have decided to escape the madness of city living for quieter lifestyles in rural communities. With the advent of the “work from anywhere” model created as a result of the COVID pandemic, hordes of people have left—and are still leaving—the big cities and landing in small rural communities like my own here in the Rocky Mountains of Idaho.
So, What’s Different?
Air and international travel took a major hit during the pandemic. In general, air travel didn’t get much cheaper because of the pandemic, but it has become a much bigger hassle. Having flown internationally just a couple of weeks ago, I can tell you that the ONLY difference between first class (my wife and I got bumped up because of airline status) and anywhere else on the plane is simply a bigger seat; no cocktails, no meals, and masks certainly took most of the fun out of flying.
People wanting to get out pivoted and started buying RVs and motorized toys in droves. People have owned RVs, all-terrain vehicles, and side-by-sides forever, but never in the numbers that we’ve seen over the past 12 to 18 months. Many RV dealer associations have seen a 170-percent increase in sales over those from 2019. I’ve been looking to buy a new side-by-side since spring 2020, and there just aren’t any available!
So what? What does any of this have to do with rural fire department operations, apparatus, or equipment, you may ask? My initial answer must start in the form of a question that hit me right between the eyes last summer. What do RVs, EVs, and escapees have in common? Answer number one: They are all “flooding” into rural areas (temporarily and permanently) in numbers that our rural and, often, volunteer infrastructure is not typically designed or equipped to handle. Answer number two: There seems to be a lot that we, rural fire departments, don’t know about RVs, EVs, and escapees!
So, What Don’t We Know?
In upcoming editions of “Rurally Speaking,” I’ll take each of these topics and try to explain in much more detail the things that we don’t yet know about RVs, EVs, and escapees and how they can dramatically affect your rural department and its members. To avoid leaving you hanging, let’s take a general or gross look at just a few things in each category that we may not know, or may not know enough about. Please understand that, in general, the reason that we don’t know or don’t know enough is because there have been huge changes in the way that RVs and EVs are built today (as compared to a few years ago), and the differences in the materials used to build them are often different and present a whole new way of thinking about them from a firefighting, extrication, and rescue vantage point.
Let’s start with the escapees. Perhaps the best way to illustrate this is with personal first-hand examples. We live in one of the most beautiful places in this country. We have the Salmon River of N