By Bill Adams

Transforming an idea sketched on a bar napkin into an engineering blueprint or drawing of a buildable fire truck is fraught with pitfalls for vendors and purchasers.

One Web site defines drawings as pictures created by making lines on a surface. Another defines a blueprint as a guide for making something. Both are understatements. Unless explicitly defined later, consider them synonymous.

Value

Fire apparatus fabrication is inefficient without blueprints. It is especially so for a customized one-of-a-kind rig or the first-built in a new series. During competitive bidding, having visual representation of each apparatus proposed is instrumental in determining compliance to purchasing specifications. It also assists in comparing and evaluating multiple proposals.

What some purchasers consider an insignificant change to an apparatus design can render its blueprint worthless. As an example, a purchaser looking at a predesigned pumper’s blueprint says, “Increase the 500-gallon tank to 900 gallons but keep everything else the same.” Minor change? The extra water weighs 3,336 pounds, occupying more than 53.47 cubic feet. Where’s it going? Additional tank material and the supporting structure have to be considered. The wheelbase may require lengthening with a frame liner. Larger axles, suspension, wheels, and tires are probably in order. Most likely, the hosebed and body need redesigning. The front-to-rear axle ratio and center of gravity will need recalculating. Scrap the existing blueprint. Start over.

• Apparatus Purchasing archives
• Apparatus Purchasing: Detailed Specifications Are Needed—Sometimes
• Apparatus Purchasing Committee: Needs vs. Wants
• Apparatus Purchasing: Easy or Hard?
• Apparatus Purchasing: Revisiting Purchasing Specifications
• Apparatus Purchasing: Steps and Specs
• Apparatus Purchasing: Read Between the Spec’s Lines

Regardless of whether

KME—Alhambra (CA) Fire Department pumper. KME SSX cab with 10-inch raised roof and chassis; Cummins X12 500-hp engine; Waterous CSU 1,500-gpm pump; 500-gallon polypropylene water tank; AXIS Smart Truck Vehicle Monitoring system; InView 360 HD video system; 3/16-inch aluminum fire body; coffin compartments. Dealer: Brandon Gomez, REV Fire Group, Jurupa Valley, CA.

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The Topeka Fire Department is set to add two brand new fire engines to its fleet, KSNT.com reported. A fire official said the new engines may arrive by the end of October.

The vehicles are equipped with up-to-date suspension to handle Topeka’s streets, according to the report. The engines may also need to be adjusted to fit inside local fire stations.

The funds to buy the fire engines came from Topeka’s Capitol Improvement Budget and from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, the report said.

The Mills Fire Department will soon be adding another truck to its fleet after the city bought a pumper truck that should be ready for use by mid-November, OilCity.news reported.

A fire official said the department has been in serious need of a new truck since February, when a drastic cold snap put the department’s frontline pumper out of commission and caused damage to the reserve pumper as well, the report said. Even before that, though, the city had been looking to update the fire department’s vehicles.

The new truck has a 750-gallon tank but won’t be ready for use until mid-November, as the vehicle still needs to have several additions made to it and the details need to be finalized, the report said. It will bring the department’s fleet up to six vehicles, including two brush vehicles and two structure vehicles.