By Chris Mc Loone

Pierce Manufacturing is a very busy place.

The company’s Ascendant aerial has proven to be the most popular aerial product it has ever produced, and it has been working hard to keep up with the demand for its Enforcer chassis, introduced at FDIC International 2014. I recently made the trip out to Appleton, Wisconsin, to catch up with what the company has been up to. This wasn’t any ordinary visit though. The folks at Pierce had a pretty packed agenda for me while I was there, including a trip to the Pierce Industrial Park Plant (IPP) facility to demo the Striker simulation system, tour the plant, and get a ride on a Striker-not something I had ever done before-and to go to the Oshkosh proving ground for a ride in some of the company’s military vehicles. Although you might wonder what military vehicles have to do with anything, read on.

1 The Oshkosh Striker Simulator is engineered to depict a nearly endless array of emergency situations and scenarios. (Photo by Scott Anderson.)

The IPP Floor

My day began at the IPP facility. Before I toured the facility, Sam Lowe, marketing representative for Oshkosh Airport Products, walked me through the Striker Simulator. I had seen the simulator at Interschutz 2015 in Germany but hadn’t had an opportunity to go through a simulation. Actual Striker aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) apparatus operators I’m sure would do much better than me on these simulations. I managed to put out an engine fire and a cabin fire with a Striker. Having operated fire apparatus for many years of different sizes, I figured, how difficult could this be? But, operating a Snozzle and piercing nozzle from inside the cab of a Striker is a lot different than hopping out and going to a pump panel and engineer’s compartment to operate everything. So, not only did I do a little simulated driving and firefighting, I also learned a little more about the steps it takes to generate foam on these rigs.

When you sit in front of the simulation screens, you’re basically sitting in a Striker cab. All the controls for generating foam and operating the boom are to your right, and there are a number of steps to go through to produce foam. Aiming the front bumper turret so the foam mixture actually hits your target takes some getting used to as well. Bottom line: I walked away with newfound respect for ARFF truck operators.

2 Pierce’s IPP facility is where cab fabrication takes place for all its fire apparatus. (Photos by author unless otherwise noted.)

After the simulator, I met with Jason Shivley, director of engineering at Oshkosh Airport Products, who filled me in on some of the upcoming Striker products. Expect to see a number of enhancements to Striker 8x8 rigs. According to Shivley, the big changes are to the body and the driveline. The updates are almost a relaunch, as there haven’t been major changes since 2001. Currently, Striker 8x8s feature a 950-horsepower (hp) Caterpillar engine. Upcoming, however, will be units featuring two engines side by side (dual Scania D16 engines deliv

Richard Marinucci

Each year the theme of the December issue is “Fire Service Forecast: What We See Ahead.”

It is a chance to pull out the crystal ball and make a guess as to what can be expected in the next 12 months. You can call it whatever you want-prognosticator, swami, seer, or whatever-but I prefer to look at it as sort of a “weatherman.” I can take my best guess, and no one really expects me to be accurate 100 percent of the time. There are many areas of the fire service to consider: service levels (i.e., staffing), apparatus, equipment, training, and firefighter safety.

Service Levels

From a service level perspective, staffing volunteer organizations will continue to be a challenge. This is for a variety of reasons, many of which have been documented by various organizations and individuals. Some departments will continue to maintain their volunteer staff at numbers necessary to provide good service, while a majority will continue to be challenged. On the career side, there should be an uptick as more departments continue to transition to combination or career departments because of volunteer organizations’ challenges. In other career departments, I expect to see increases in staffing in an effort to adequately staff for the required job responsibilities. Many departments lost personnel during the economic downturn and are still not back to where they need to be. Also, Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grants continue, which help in this area.

Apparatus

Another outfall from the economic downturn was that many departments postponed apparatus purchases. As the economy improves, there should be efforts to replace aging apparatus and purchase additional vehicles for specific needs. The apparatus will have more technological advances-some mandated and some provided by the manufacturers. These should help to improve reliability and ease of use. This does not imply that there will be no need for training and routine maintenance. Departments will need to continue to train personnel on proper apparatus procedures. In some cases, departments will look to specialized vehicles in an effort to meet the needs of the community and various requests for service. Some organizations will look to alternatives to sending engine companies to medical emergencies with less expensive apparatus. This will still be a challenge that depends on the staffing model of the department.

Equipment

Regarding equipment, expect continued improvements in technology and additional tools that take advantage of these advancements. Some of these will be used to improve performance and simplification. Some tools will become lighter and stronger. Those using technology will have more capabilities. One area that should be better is gas monitors. As more information becomes available regarding the dangers of the products of combustion and their effects on firefighter health and wellness-especially related to cancer-there will be more monitoring equipment to help identify hazardous environments and provide information to let firefighters know when air quality is within safe working limits that don’t require special protective measures.

Technology will continue to provide more and more information to and about fire departments. There is almost an overload now, and there is no indication that there will ever be a push to limit what is made available. This information will continue to spread even outside the fire service, and the public will have more access. The bad news is that they will

Richard Marinucci

Each year the theme of the December issue is “Fire Service Forecast: What We See Ahead.”

It is a chance to pull out the crystal ball and make a guess as to what can be expected in the next 12 months. You can call it whatever you want-prognosticator, swami, seer, or whatever-but I prefer to look at it as sort of a “weatherman.” I can take my best guess, and no one really expects me to be accurate 100 percent of the time. There are many areas of the fire service to consider: service levels (i.e., staffing), apparatus, equipment, training, and firefighter safety.

Service Levels

From a service level perspective, staffing volunteer organizations will continue to be a challenge. This is for a variety of reasons, many of which have been documented by various organizations and individuals. Some departments will continue to maintain their volunteer staff at numbers necessary to provide good service, while a majority will continue to be challenged. On the career side, there should be an uptick as more departments continue to transition to combination or career departments because of volunteer organizations’ challenges. In other career departments, I expect to see increases in staffing in an effort to adequately staff for the required job responsibilities. Many departments lost personnel during the economic downturn and are still not back to where they need to be. Also, Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grants continue, which help in this area.

Apparatus

Another outfall from the economic downturn was that many departments postponed apparatus purchases. As the economy improves, there should be efforts to replace aging apparatus and purchase additional vehicles for specific needs. The apparatus will have more technological advances-some mandated and some provided by the manufacturers. These should help to improve reliability and ease of use. This does not imply that there will be no need for training and routine maintenance. Departments will need to continue to train personnel on proper apparatus procedures. In some cases, departments will look to specialized vehicles in an effort to meet the needs of the community and various requests for service. Some organizations will look to alternatives to sending engine companies to medical emergencies with less expensive apparatus. This will still be a challenge that depends on the staffing model of the department.

Equipment

Regarding equipment, expect continued improvements in technology and additional tools that take advantage of these advancements. Some of these will be used to improve performance and simplification. Some tools will become lighter and stronger. Those using technology will have more capabilities. One area that should be better is gas monitors. As more information becomes available regarding the dangers of the products of combustion and their effects on firefighter health and wellness-especially related to cancer-there will be more monitoring equipment to help identify hazardous environments and provide information to let firefighters know when air quality is within safe working limits that don’t require special protective measures.

Technology will continue to provide more and more information to and about fire departments. There is almost an overload now, and there is no indication that there will ever be a push to limit what is made available. This information will continue to spread even outside the fire service, and the public will have more access. The bad news is that they will

Richard Marinucci

Each year the theme of the December issue is “Fire Service Forecast: What We See Ahead.”

It is a chance to pull out the crystal ball and make a guess as to what can be expected in the next 12 months. You can call it whatever you want-prognosticator, swami, seer, or whatever-but I prefer to look at it as sort of a “weatherman.” I can take my best guess, and no one really expects me to be accurate 100 percent of the time. There are many areas of the fire service to consider: service levels (i.e., staffing), apparatus, equipment, training, and firefighter safety.

Service Levels

From a service level perspective, staffing volunteer organizations will continue to be a challenge. This is for a variety of reasons, many of which have been documented by various organizations and individuals. Some departments will continue to maintain their volunteer staff at numbers necessary to provide good service, while a majority will continue to be challenged. On the career side, there should be an uptick as more departments continue to transition to combination or career departments because of volunteer organizations’ challenges. In other career departments, I expect to see increases in staffing in an effort to adequately staff for the required job responsibilities. Many departments lost personnel during the economic downturn and are still not back to where they need to be. Also, Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grants continue, which help in this area.

Apparatus

Another outfall from the economic downturn was that many departments postponed apparatus purchases. As the economy improves, there should be efforts to replace aging apparatus and purchase additional vehicles for specific needs. The apparatus will have more technological advances-some mandated and some provided by the manufacturers. These should help to improve reliability and ease of use. This does not imply that there will be no need for training and routine maintenance. Departments will need to continue to train personnel on proper apparatus procedures. In some cases, departments will look to specialized vehicles in an effort to meet the needs of the community and various requests for service. Some organizations will look to alternatives to sending engine companies to medical emergencies with less expensive apparatus. This will still be a challenge that depends on the staffing model of the department.

Equipment

Regarding equipment, expect continued improvements in technology and additional tools that take advantage of these advancements. Some of these will be used to improve performance and simplification. Some tools will become lighter and stronger. Those using technology will have more capabilities. One area that should be better is gas monitors. As more information becomes available regarding the dangers of the products of combustion and their effects on firefighter health and wellness-especially related to cancer-there will be more monitoring equipment to help identify hazardous environments and provide information to let firefighters know when air quality is within safe working limits that don’t require special protective measures.

Technology will continue to provide more and more information to and about fire departments. There is almost an overload now, and there is no indication that there will ever be a push to limit what is made available. This information will continue to spread even outside the fire service, and the public will have more access. The bad news is that they will