Alan M. Petrillo

National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1962, Standard for the Care, Use, Inspection, Service Testing and Replacement of Fire Hose, Couplings, Nozzles and Fire Hose Appliances (2013 ed.), makes a number of changes that affect how fire departments use some of the basic tools and equipment available to them in extinguishing fires.

The purpose of NFPA 1962, says Jim Glatts of FireOne and a member of the NFPA committee on fire hose that pulled together the revised standard, "is to provide a reasonable level of safety for users of fire hose and a reasonable degree of assurance that the hose, coupling assemblies, appliances, and nozzles will perform as designed."

Glatts points out that updating the standard was important when one considers the many changes in technology and materials that have been incorporated into hoselines, nozzles, appliances, and couplings over the years.

(1) Fire departments now must system test together all of the elements that go into a firefighting attack line. (Photos courtesy of FireOne.)

Change Rundown

The major changes made in the 2013 standard, Glatts says, include the following:

• Hose manufactured prior to July 1987 shall be removed from service.

• Nozzles shall be service tested at least as frequently as the hose to which it is attached.

• Attack fire hose shall be service tested to a minimum of 300 pounds per square inch (psi).

• Supply fire hose shall be service tested to a minimum of 200 psi.

• System tests shall be conducted at least annually on each preconnected line or any attack line used for interior firefighting operations on a fire apparatus, together with the nozzle or hose-connected appliance it supplies.

• All nonthreaded hose connections shall be provided with locks to ensure against unintentional disconnection.

• Fire hose users and the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) shall establish a replacement schedule for their fire hose. The replacement schedule shall take into consideration the use, age, and testing results of the hose.

Jason Goodale, a company officer with Loveland (CO) Fire and Rescue Authority and NFPA Committee on Fire Hose member, says that although the revised standard covers a lot of ground, he doesn't think it will cause much difficulty in most fire departments. "There was some discussion before the standard was revised about having a shelf life for hose similar to that for personal protective equipment (PPE) of 10 years," Goodale says. "The committee found that it would be difficult for many fire departments to work under such a requirement for hose. It could be financially destructive to many of them having to replace a great deal of hose all at once."

(2) Supply lines still must be tested annually to 200 psi, which is unchanged from the previous NFPA 1962 edition.

Changing Materials

Glatts points out that hose materials and manufacturing standards have changed over the years, and those elements mean that hose is of higher quality and can take higher pressures. "The earlier version of the standard required attack hose to be tested to 250 psi and supply line to 200 psi," he says. "The new standard increases the pressure to 300 psi for attack line and leaves supply line the same. However, if a five-inch supply line becomes the sole source of an attack line

By Chad Newsome,
National Sales Manager, P.L.
Custom Body and Equipment Co., Inc.

In the July issue of Fire Apparatus and Emergency Equipment, Associate Editor Chris Mc Loone's article, "Building Apparatus that Won't Break the Budget," discussed various avenues to explore when designing a new piece of apparatus. One of the areas that he touched on was the inherent predicament of harmonizing needs vs. wants. Before looking for your next piece of apparatus, or any large capital expenditure for that matter, take the time to define what it is that you need, as well as what you can afford, before calling in the sales representative. Knowing how to navigate your way through competing goals will greatly ease your purchasing process.

Organizational Needs

Every new acquisition should start with defining the needs of the organization. To effectively achieve this, the department must first break down what is in fact a "need." For that, you need to first delineate who the purchasing group will be. A purchasing group is made up of all of the people involved in the process of acquiring a new piece of apparatus. In some departments, it is as small as only the chief or president of the department. At the other end of the spectrum, the purchasing group can be made up of multiple subgroups-the apparatus committee, the department's administrative personnel, fleet services, the purchasing department of the municipality making the purchase, and even the local political governing members.

For the small scenario, the needs will be simple. If the chief or president is happy, everyone is happy. For the larger group, however, the ability to identify and qualify needs and wants is paramount. With so many people involved, one person, acting as the facilitator, must be designated as the project lead for the acquisition. That person must meet with each subgroup to ascertain what the specific drivers are for each of them. The key here is not to discount any identified concern from any of the subgroups, despite how you feel personally about another's needs.

Each subgroup meeting should identify every possible need, regardless of any perceived value of that need. I personally like to use the practice of forced ranking, or "boarding," those needs and then going through a process of prioritization. Boarding is a method of compiling all identified needs into a list. Don't discuss them or qualify them, just get them out and on the list. Once that is achieved, go back and have everyone in the subgroup rank them in levels of importance. Give each member five votes toward the ranking process. Although they cannot apply all five votes to one need, they can put as many as three votes toward any one item. The items with the most votes will be your needs list, while the smaller vote getters will identify your wants list.

Include other Groups

This process can be used with all the subgroups. Although it may appear obvious that this process works well with operational and service personnel, you might wonder how to apply this with the purchasing and governing personnel. Don't exclude them from the process. Purchasing might want to spread out the costs over a long period of time; or, in the case of a nonprofit with too much revenue, it might want to actually spend some of that excess money. It sounds crazy these days, but it is a well-traveled road. The same can be said of the purchase's political implications. What are the local governance's biggest concerns? Will the purchase promote a commitment to the safety of the community? Will there be backlash against buying new vehicles when budget and personnel cuts are looming? Go through the same process. Identify all of their concerns and then separate out the "need-to-haves" from the "want-to-haves."

Project Outline

Once you establish a final collection

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FireSyte real-time monitoring services help ensure vehicles carrying first responders are prepared 24/7. FireSyte features automated instant alerts and reporting for public safety vehicles including tire pressure monitoring and GPS tracking to enhance safety as well as simplify maintenan

Chris Mc Loone

CM: How is the fire industry doing right now? Can we say that we've finally turned the corner?

PD: According to FAMA statistics, new orders for fire apparatus have seen an increase recently. The first quarter of 2013 showed that new orders were up about 25 percent when compared to the first quarters of 2011 and 2012. New orders were up five percent compared to the last quarter of 2012. If this trend were to continue, annualized sales would be up 40 percent over 2012. This is a big "IF," as I don't think the trend will continue. The numbers are skewed because of some large, nonmunicipal orders in the first quarter.

Although I can't say the market has finally turned the corner, this is some positive news. In 2012, the United States municipal market was still down more than 40 percent when compared to its height in 2008 when the market peaked at more than 5,000 trucks. The market was flat compared to 2011. Historically, there have been more large municipal orders, and these have slowed over the past five years. Based on this, we are starting to see some pent-up demand, particularly with larger cities. This is tempered by a reduction in AFG grant funding and a lower percentage of awards being made for fire apparatus.

Look, no one wants to see a rebound in apparatus and equipment sales more than the manufacturers, but it's too early to tell if the market is back. Statistics from the League of Cities Annual Report show that municipalities are far from being out of the financial crisis. Fire departments' budgets are no longer sacred cows when it comes to municipal spending cuts. Once the dust settles in a few years, I predict we'll probably see the market settle into a "new normal" market of 4,250 to 4,500 new fire apparatus per year.

CM: What is the biggest issue in the fire service, and how is Darley helping to address it?

PD: I don't know of a person in the industry who wouldn't quickly point to the budgets crisis as the biggest issue for career departments. This is at a time when most departments are being asked to do more with less. Fire departments really need to rethink their approach and reinvent themselves.

Darley is keenly focused on this industry need. On the pump side, we have been working closely with fire apparatus manufacturers during the past few years to help them introduce unique and competitively priced multipurpose vehicles by offering them "Pump System Solutions" that address the true needs of today's fire service. These pump systems allow the manufacturer to offer one vehicle that can serve a variety of department needs, rather than just having to devote a specialized vehicle for rescue, pumping, or hazmat.

We are focusing on lower-cost equipment such as competitively priced, high-quality Darley branded bunker gear, nozzles, adapters, and so on. We also have a variety of financing options available.

For volunteer departments, recruitment and training are pressing long-term issues. We are designing our products to be easy to operate while being high-tech, which appeals to today's new volunteer recruits.

CM: To you, what is the most important product Darley produces?

PD: Under our diversification strategy, we've cast a wide net and launched a lot of innovative new products over the past few years-everything from pumps to equipment, polyurethane bodies, compressed air foam systems (CAFS), water purification, and drones. At our core, we're still a pump manufacturer. I would say that they're all important, but I grew up on the pump side of our business and continue to migrate mostly to this area where I know the industry players well and understand market needs. It comes very natural to me personally.

We've recently introduced a new 3,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump that has been highly successful. It is the highest flow pump