1 The QSA is a roof step that will make a vertical ventilation operation a faster and, more importantly, safer procedure. It is adjustable to all pitched roofs and can be carried hands-free up any ladder. (Photo courtesy of the author.)

By Robert S. Duffy

Even though he survived the fall, he was hospitalized with numerable life-threating injuries. Ever since that accident, the fall and how it affected the life of that firefighter would always be in the back of my mind every time I had to operate from a rooftop.

A number of years and many fires later, I had advanced up through the ranks and was promoted to captain of training for the Springfield (MA) Fire Department. In this position, I spent a lot of time training firefighters on vertical ventilation and rooftop operations. I observed that the one thing most were concerned about was falling off or through roofs because of the unavailability of equipment that truly gave them a safe and sturdy footing. The enlightenment I gained from training these firefighters caused me to think that there has to be a faster, safer, and overall better way to perform vertical ventilation operations on a pitched roof.

One night, the idea came to me, so I got up and started sketching out the design concept. The following day I made a very crude prototype to experiment with, and it worked. The last three years of my life have been dedicated to providing a tool that will allow firefighters to more safely perform these dangerous procedures on a pitched roof. I met with engineers, machinists, lawyers, and firefighters-all of whom contributed valuable information and experience in their areas of expertise.

The result of all the time and effort is the invention of the Quick Step Anchor (QSA):

• Quick: The device deploys in seconds and gets a firefighter on and then off the roof as fast as possible, reducing the likelihood of injury because of roof collapse.
• Step: The step instantly adjusts to the pitch of the roof to provide a firefighter with a stable, level surface to stand on-a platform capable of supporting more than 1,000 pounds.
• Anchor: If a firefighter slips from the step, its anchor and a short tether line will arrest the fall at once.

The QSA is a device designed to safely speed up vertical ventilation operations by providing firefighters with a sturdy platform that will take the place of the pickhead ax, trash hook, or halligan tool, which today's truck personnel currently use as footholds. These procedures require a dedicated firefighter simply to hold the ax, trash hook, or halligan to stabilize the footing and ensure that the tool doesn't come out of the roof. With today's reality of reduced staffing, that person may not even be there. The QSA also eliminates the need to stop and reposition the roof ladder to complete the roof cut, an awkward, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous procedure. Performing vertical ventilation operations in this manner is very dangerous and does not provide a solid and confident foothold for the firefighter performing the procedure.

The QSA also incorporates an anchor point that allows a firefighter to anchor himself with a lanyard. In the event that he slips and falls, his fall is arrested by the attached lanyard, which is anchored to the QSA, which is anchored

Click here to view the image gallery.

By Alan M. Petrillo

But, apparatus manufacturers heard from firefighters about ergonomics and the need to easily reach hoselines without having to stretch above their heads or step up on a running board to stretch the line. Thus, handlines now can be found almost anywhere on a pumper. Where they are located is usually determined by close communication between the manufacturer and the fire department. Scott Oyen, vice president of sales at Rosenbauer, says departments "are giving a lot more thought to having boots on the ground when it comes to preconnected hoselines. They don't want their firefighters to have to step onto the bumper or a running board to get the hose."

Crosslays

Ryan Slane, pumper-tanker product manager for KME, says that although KME has done some unusual handline locations, it typically focuses on the ergonomics facet of reaching for and pulling hoselines. "We lowered our crosslay to 66 inches off the ground, which puts the hose load at shoulder level for most firefighters, so they should be able to reach it from the ground," Slane says. "It's 42 inches above the running board, which has become our standard and is the majority of what we sell."

However, some departments want even lower handline lays, he notes, as with a pumper KME built for the Vancouver (WA) Fire Department. "They wanted to improve the ergonomics and had us build crosslays that were 32 inches above the running board, which put them 54 inches above the ground," Slane says. "We also built a pumper for Citizens Fire Company, in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, where the crosslays are 42 inches above the running board, making them 66 inches off the ground."

Chad Trinkner, director of fleet management for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says Pierce has been proactive in getting crosslays lowered on apparatus. "The big issue is firefighter safety," Trinkner says. "Departments don't want any cut hands or sprained ankles, and they want all firefighters on the ground pulling hose and not having to take a step up to do it."

Trinkner says Pierce has lowered its standard crosslay by nine inches and can go lower based on a department's needs and what equipment and discharges it wants on the apparatus. He notes that Pierce's Pierce Ultimate Configuration (PUC) product has crosslays at shoulder height. "About 50 percent of our pumpers have crosslays, 30 percent speedlays, and the rest at the rear or elsewhere," he points out.

Summit Fire Trucks president Joe Messmer says that although the locations of handlines on pumpers he's been building have not changed much, how they are carried on the vehicle has changed. "The biggest thing we've been doing is enclosing the pump panel with the crosslays in there too," Messmer says. "It's a grand idea because we are using vehicles for a lot more than fighting fires now, and 70 percent of the time when a pumper leaves the station, it doesn't even get put into pump gear. Having the hoselines enclosed behind roll-up doors makes the vehicle easier to clean, and the hoses and nozzle

Click here to view the image gallery.

By Alan M. Petrillo

Front-mounted pumpers seem to have dwindled to very low numbers in department fleets, while rear-mount fire pumps have experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent years. The reasons some departments are choosing rear-mount pumps instead of midmounts revolve around the pros and cons of each pump location on the vehicle as well as how firefighters plan to use the pumpers.

Rear-Mount Pumps

Scott Oyen, vice president of sales for Rosenbauer, says there are a number of advantages to mounting a fire pump at the rear of a vehicle. "A rear-mount pump allows a smaller envelope truck with the same amount of compartmentation," he says. "Plus, access to the hosebed is generally better."

Grady North, product manager for pumpers, tankers, and aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) for E-ONE, thinks the number one reason fire departments spec a rear-mount pumper is to get a shorter vehicle. "Taking the pump module away from the center of the truck and putting it at the rear means you shorten the vehicle the width of the pump module," North says. "That's more in line with an urban interface vehicle, which is highly maneuverable."

Mike Harstad, Rosenbauer's aerial and pumper products manager, notes that rear-mount pumpers offer significant advantages in terms of maneuverability, safety, and increased compartment space. "Rear-mount pumpers are typically three to four feet shorter than a standard pumper, which makes them more maneuverable. The space where the pump house would have been in the center of the truck becomes a transverse compartment that allows a significant increase in compartment space."

Chad Trinkner, director of fleet management for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., believes that a rear-mount pumper has the advantage of greater compartmentation. "With the pump at the rear of the vehicle, the pump house doesn't take up as much valued space on the pumper as a traditional midship pump," he says. "The disadvantage is that the driveshaft is longer when the pump components are placed in the rear."

Jim Kirvida, president of CustomFIRE, says the rear-mount pump concept is more beneficial on a custom chassis or two-door commercial chassis. "That allows you to shorten the truck dramatically," Kirvida says. "With a 1,000-gallon water tank and a 40-inch pump module, you can get a 120-inch cab-to-axle measurement on a typical pumper. If you put the pump in the rear, you can move the water tank forward and balance the load better while you're maximizing the amount of water you carry."

Kirvida says that Freightliner and Kenworth chassis are very popular for rear-mount pumpers. "We are able to get a decent compact overall length on those chassis, with 1,000- to 1,500-gallon water tanks and 1,250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pumps at the rear," he says. However, compartmentation is generally greater on a rear-mount pumper, Kirvida maintains. "You lose the rear compartment, but you can have a large transverse compartment that's 96 inc

Robert Tutterow

This is on OSHA's radar. From July 30 to 31, 2014, OSHA conducted a stakeholders meeting at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. To attend the meeting, an interested person had to submit an application. The applicant had to choose whether to attend as a participant or as an observer. From the applications, OSHA determined who attended and limited attendance to one day only, stating that the subject areas would be repeated on the second day. I applied as an observer and was invited to attend the first day.

In September 2007, OSHA issued a "Request for Information" to solicit comments from the public to evaluate what action, if any, it should take to address the issue of OSHA regulations. Then, almost six years later, it decided to call the stakeholders meeting based on 9/11 World Trade Center surviving responder illness and the deaths and injuries from the West Fertilizer Company explosion and fire in April 2013 in West, Texas. OSHA indicated these two events highlighted the extremely high rate of emergency responder workplace deaths, injuries, and illnesses.

It was clear from the beginning of the meeting that OSHA thinks it should become more involved in developing workplace standards. The participants (approximately 30) came from diverse backgrounds including fire, utilities, rail, towing, construction workers, flight attendants, the FBI, and other government personnel. OSHA noted, "Skilled support employees are not emergency responders but nonetheless have specialized training that can be important to the safe and successful resolution of an emergency incident." The meeting was divided into four focus areas: preparedness, incident scenarios, emergency categorization, and flexibility. The comments during each of the four focus areas often overlapped. There was no doubt that the majority of the stakeholders believed there should be more OSHA involvement. The overarching question was not if but what and how?

Preparedness

Both the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) representatives stressed the importance of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, especially the health and wellness standards. In fact, "NFPA" was easily the most used acronym throughout the meeting. OSHA indicated that it is seriously considering enforcing NFPA standards but thinks some are not written to be enforceable. There was considerable discussion about the level of service an emergency response agency provides. For example, is a fire department an incipient, interior, or exterior fire department? There was general consensus that if an organization provided the service, it should meet an applicable standard. As in all of the focus areas, the idea of "typing" emergency response organizations was a common theme. There were no specific number of "types" suggested, but an organization's "type" would be based on the level of service provided.

Incident Scenarios

One of the questions about incident scene requirements was, "Should the focus be on high risk or more comprehensive?" The overwhelming answer was "comprehensive." The group stated that the "800-pound gorilla in the room" was carcinogen exposure at fire scenes. The group identified wellness and fitness as key points in the ability of emergency responders to safely handle incidents. The issue of age also came up, since the average age of firefighter line-of-duty deaths (LOD