By Raul A. Angulo

Take a good look at the face in photo 1 and memorize that expression. Make sure it leaves an imprint on your mind. This is Stan Wainscott. He is the 22-year veteran and fire service specialist (master repair technician) in the Seattle (WA) Fire Department's (SFD) Services Division. Every fire department has a Stan Wainscott. These are the guys who fix all the equipment we break. When Wainscott is wearing this face, it's usually accompanied by one of the following remarks:

• What were you knuckleheads cutting with this saw, battleships?
• The city actually pays you guys for destroying this equipment?
• Do you know how much this costs?
• This is destroyed! It doesn't need fixing, it needs to be replaced!
• Is this how you treat your power equipment at home?

It's not good when that face is matched with one of the above remarks. The company officer will have some explaining to do, and it's usually through a letter to the fire chief. Equipment repair costs are extremely expensive and siphon money away from the budget that could be used to purchase additional specialized equipment, like a new thermal imaging camera with the latest technology.

(1) Stan Wainscott is the 22-year veteran of the Seattle (WA) Fire Department Services Division who fixes all the stuff we break. You don't want Wainscott to look at you like this. (Photos by author.)

It's hard to attach a figure to the money that is wasted to repair damaged equipment because of a lack of regular maintenance, poor maintenance, or no maintenance. The core issue could be laziness, lack of pride and ownership, or ignorance. Either way, it boils down to a lack of professionalism.

Core Equipment

The chainsaw is one tool that gets a lot of use by firefighters. It's the work horse for truck company operations. It's also one of the tools that needs to be cleaned and fueled after every use, but sometimes that doesn't get done. There are lots of makes and models out there, so the first thing you need to do is read and follow the owner's manual, especially the instructions for recommended maintenance. It's a good guess that firefighters don't read the owner's manual on power tools they're familiar with. Many of us own chainsaws, so we sometimes assume everyone knows how to use one and clean one. Not so. When senior firefighters show the new guy the saws, some might give the "quick start" version and take shortcuts to proper orientation. The result is new firefighters don't get properly trained because important information was left out. As they train newer firefighters, they pass on only the information they know, which was incomplete to start with. Then when equipment gets damaged, you get the proverbial excuse, "Well no one ever showed me that."

(2) Here's an example of damaged cylinder heads from cutting tar roofs. When cutting wood, debris flies right through the cooling fins. However, the chainsaw's running temperature is 110°F. That is hot enough to melt tar debris right to the fins.

Unlike the circular rescue saws, which use a flat-edged carbide tip blade (not a tearing tooth), the chainsaw carbide tip blades are alternately set at 45 degrees so they make a jagged cut. This ripping saw is the most dangerous tool in the fire service. Without proper training and handling, it can ruin your career in five sec

Alan M. Petrillo

Not many firefighters agree on the perfect design for a rescue truck, chiefly because the design depends on a fire department's particular needs. Thus, manufacturers are turning out a wide variety of rescue truck styles, from traditional walk-around rescues that serve as huge toolboxes to walk-in rescues that offer interior access, to combination units and rescue-pumpers. In effect, a rescue truck design these days is up to the imagination of the department and its vehicle manufacturer.

(1) Pierce Manufacturing built this tandem-axle combination walk-in and walk-around heavy rescue truck for the Bound Brook (NJ) Rescue Squad. (Photo courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing.)

Transition

Eddie L. Smith, director of the emergency vehicles group at VT Hackney, says that the economy and technological changes in the past few years have affected the design and definition of a traditional rescue truck. "Not many decades ago, a rescue truck was an anomaly in fire departments except in large city departments," Smith says. "Many fire departments didn't do auto extrication, technical rescue, or hazardous materials work. But as they started doing those activities, we saw rescues go from a squad that was a small truck carrying some tools and first-aid equipment to today's heavy rescues where sometimes manufacturers are hard pressed to get all the equipment on the truck that the department wants."

Smith thinks that tight budgets and staffing cuts have caused a transition from heavy rescues to rescue-pumpers and combination vehicles. "I don't think heavy rescues will go away any time soon but believe we'll see more of their use with regional response teams."

(2) The Jessup (PA) Hose Co. turned to KME to build this walk-around rescue truck that includes a Burner Fire Control stored energy compressed air foam system (CAFS). (Photo courtesy of KME.)

As an example of a traditional heavy rescue still being in favor, Smith points out a heavy rescue Hackney recently built for the Ayden (NC) Fire Department, a small bedroom community that also protects a large DuPont industrial plant. "That rescue is on a Spartan MetroStar chassis and carries a cascade air system, rehab equipment, air bags, hydraulic rescue tools, a full ground ladder complement, a 25-kW Harrison hydraulic generator, a light tower, and high-amp cord reels to extend their lighting well beyond the truck. That vehicle is ready for anything."

Smaller Options

On the flip side of rescue truck design, some departments are opting for smaller and lighter rigs. Todd Nix, apparatus consultant for Unruh Fire, says that when the economy tanked in 2008, a lot of fire departments moved toward smaller chassis rescues. "They turned to Fords and Dodges, particularly the Ford F-550 chassis with a crew cab," Nix says. "Many of those trucks carry a medium-duty Hale HBX 200 or Darley 2BE 200- to 250-gpm pump on them and around 300 gallons of water. With a 10-foot rescue box, we can still get all the extrication and medical equipment on the vehicle so that it becomes a multipurpose unit for the department."

Nix says that the smaller rescues are being purchased by fire d