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Welcome

The Finest Supporting the Bravest!

The purpose of the Fire Mechanics Section is to promote standardization of fire apparatus and equipment preventative maintenance, improve safety standards and practices, promote workshops, conferences, and seminars related to the purposes of this Section, and to promote cost savings through standardization of building and equipment purchasing and maintenance.

RECENT FIRE MECHANIC NEWS

Car Owners Filing Claims After Cincinnati (OH) Fire Apparatus Slides Down Icy Hill

Posted: Dec 22, 2016

Car Owners Filing Claims After Cincinnati (OH) Fire Apparatus Slides Down Icy Hill

It was a video that quickly went viral: a Cincinnati fire engine sliding down an icy Clifton street. The repair bills are still being added up for at least three car owners impacted by Saturday morning's freezing rain. Ice covered the majority of Cincinnati-area streets following a Friday night rain.

Fire officials said they followed protocol.

The viral video showed the scene of an icy Euclid Avenue at about 12:40 a.m. Saturday. Dominick Serge said the crashing sound heard in the video is a Cincinnati fire engine from Station 19 smashing into his car and sliding out of control.

"I think its tail end just came and got me right here and then just like some things on the fire engine got me and then just one final smack right here," Serge said.

Serge said he was in Clifton celebrating a friend's birthday. He didn't notice the damage until the next day.

"They didn't leave any note or anything. I had no clue who hit me so I was like, I don't know who to talk to, I don't know what to do. I just didn't really know," Serge said.

Serge said his friend showed him the viral video and it became clear what happened.

"You can kind of hear in the video where it scrapes onto my car," he said.

A police report shows three cars were reportedly hit. Students living nearby estimate more.

Pilot Spots Fire Apparatus Stolen From Oaks, Leach (OK) Fire Departments

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol's Aircraft Division pilot spotted two trucks stolen overnight from Green Country fire departments.

NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com | The trucks were recovered in a rural area, driven into a field. It's believed they are badly damaged.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers arrested a man on outstanding warrants about four miles west of where the trucks were found.

He claims he was not involved in the thefts. He's currently being questioned by Cherokee County investigators.

Leach Fire Department in Delaware County and Oaks Fire Department in Cherokee County both got hit overnight. Valuable and life-saving equipment was taken.

Leach Volunteer Fire Chief Tom Pearce said their truck was stolen around 3:30 a.m. in Leach, located in southwestern Delaware County along Highway 412 Scenic Highway.

Two men stole the Leach Volunteer Fire Department's rescue vehicle, a 2008 Ford F-0350 Extended cab truck. It's equipped with the department's jaws of life and other medical equipment.

The chief estimated the value of just the equipment on the truck to be between $175-$200,000.

Blackman Township (MI) Fire Apparatus Retiring Overseas

The fire truck referred to as Engine 1 has been a part of Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety for nearly 25 years.

"It's been a good piece of equipment but it's time to be replaced," said Public Safety Director Mike Jester.

This upcoming spring, Engine 1 will go to Santiago, one of the biggest cities in the Dominican Republic.

"We were contacted by an organization that locates and facilitates truck sales to the Dominican Republic," Jester said. "Countries like that don't have a lot of money so we hope it's a good truck for them for a couple more years too."

It's being sold for $16,000.

That's a very low cost considering the mammoth expense of shipping a fire truck to another country.

"Sometimes they'll take the chassis and the cab off, and convert it to another use like a farm vehicle or something like that," Jester said.

It's going to be replaced by two new fire trucks with a total cost of more than $1 million.

"Which is a lot of money, but it's a piece of equipment which for us lasts 25 years," Jester said.

Cantankerous Wisdom: Plates, Sheets, and Specs

By Bill Adams

The more I age, the more frustrated I get reading fire truck specifications. Years ago, specs were short and sweet, right to the point, and easy to read. There was no second guessing what was being said. You didn’t have to call the fire chief to ask what he really wanted. You knew. Back then, no one minced words. It’s a different ballgame today. Spec writers should be penalized for each meaningless word they slide into a set of specs. The same goes for every word they use that has multiple meanings. A bid estimator shouldn’t have to waste time calling up a prospective customer to find out what is meant by heavy duty or top-of-the-line, or industry standard. Yep, fine them 10 bucks for each unnecessary word.

Consider the words plate and sheet. A plate is a dish you eat off of. That’s simple enough. Now a sheet can be a piece of paper or a piece of linen. Sentence content and common sense gives you an idea of if you’re going to read something or take a nap. When plate and sheet are used in a set of purchasing specifications to describe the metal in body construction, all bets are off. Some fire department spec writers may not realize what they’re describing. Sadly, some vendors might not either.

Found in a set of specs: "The understructure floor shall be of minimum 12 gauge welded stainless steel plate. All compartment panels and body side sheets shall be entirely premium grade stainless steel (Type 304L).” Being from the old school, I interpret that the spec writer wants any alloy of 12-gauge stainless steel plate for the floor and any gauge of 304L (low carbon content) sheet stainless steel for the rest of the body. It seems logical. Heavy plate steel is appropriate for flooring, and, because a metal gauge wasn’t specified for the body and compartments, thinner sheet steel appears acceptable to bend, form, and shape the body. If I were a bid estimator, I would have priced it as such.

Then, I started reading between the lines. What the heck does “understructure floor” mean? Is there a separate floor beneath the compartment floor? Or, is the understructure floor actually the compartment floor? It says the underfloor structure is welded but it doesn’t say the compartments and body are. Maybe they can be bolted. Do they expect both the compartments and the body to be 12-gauge? Damn, I gotta spend a dime to call and find out.

Actual verbiage from various OEM and purchaser generated specifications:

All compartment panels and body side sheets shall be fabricated entirely from 12 gauge stainless steel (Type 304L).
Body and compartments shall be fabricated of 304L stainless steel.
All compartment panels and body side sheets shall be entirely premium grade stainless steel (Type 304L).
The apparatus body shall be fabricated of 304-2B marine grade brushed stainless steel.
The entire apparatus body shall be constructed of 304 marine grade stainless steel with a #4 annealed and polished finish on both the interior and exterior surfaces.
Body and compartments shall be fabricated of corrosion resistant, low carbon austenitic, brushed and painted 304L stainless steel.
The apparatus hose body and compartments are to be fabricated entirely of 12-gauge thickness, “flat-leveled” type 304 sheet stainless steel, with a #4-polished (brushed) 2-side finish.

Are these people specifying and bidding the “s