RICHARD MARINUCCI

The development of technological advances has not slowed down and does not promise to do so in the foreseeable future.

This means that the fire service will continue to be exposed to new products that promise to make things easier, faster, more efficient, and more effective. Obviously, not all of these advances will be beneficial to every department and every situation. Departments need a system to evaluate new products and services so that good decisions can be made.

Sometimes I admit to others that I have a basement full of good ideas. This is said metaphorically to emphasize that on occasion an attempt to acquire something that was sure to make my job easier didn't deliver exactly in the manner it was supposed to. What seemed like a good idea at the time didn't pan out and a decision was made to move on to something else and discard the product. This meant that we bought something that was not used or didn't produce the intended results, leaving a problem unresolved and costing sparse resources. Hopefully, every one of these offered an opportunity to learn a lesson so that a repeat would not occur.

Don't Need to Be First

Regarding technology, there is a desire in some to be the first one on the block to get the latest and greatest. When the new iPhone® is released, long lines await the opening of the store so individuals can get the device before anyone else. When Apple released the iWatch®, some people wanted it so badly that they couldn't wait to see if it was really something that would be advantageous. Maybe functionality doesn't matter and it is more about status and what others may think. I, like many, sometimes get caught up in this thought process and want to get in the lead. But, I have learned that there are some steps that should be taken to increase the likelihood that the new technology will actually help and last long enough to have a good return on investment.

If you are looking for examples in the fire service, there are many. The first generation or two of PASS devices offered great promise. For many who thought this was the answer to finding lost firefighters on the fireground, getting these as soon as possible was the goal. The proposed benefit seemed like the proverbial "no-brainer." Unfortunately, organizations found limitations and issues. The units required that the firefighter activate them when donning the self-contained breathing apparatus. Many did not remember this step. In other cases, the devices had a sensitivity that caused mostly false alarms. They became similar to car alarms in that they were ignored-not a good thing to have happen with life safety on the line. Ultimately, these issues were resolved, and PASS devices have become more reliable and critical for fire service operations. Those departments that took the leap initially may have some nice relics for their museums!

Evaluate

Regardless of the product, someone has to be first. The reasons for opting to be early in the process should be sound and make sense for the organization. They should not be based on being first for the sake of bragging rights or being cool. It shouldn't be because your neighbors have one and you need to keep up to appear progressive. There must be a proper evaluation that considers the critical factors before any significant investment is made. Does a need exist? Will the product address the need? Can you afford it? Will there be the right return on investment? These are the simple questions that have to be asked.

There are certain issues that lend themselves to quick purchases. Certainly anything that can improve firefighter safety will generate interest and sometimes the urge to take a shortcut. Your depa

By Alan M. Petrillo

Fire departments don't always have the luxury of putting a newly purchased pumper, aerial, or rescue truck in a brand new fire station.

Most often the new apparatus has to live in an older station and sometimes in a very old station. Some of the vehicle housing considerations include its overall height, overall length, overall width, and weight. Such issues mean that manufacturers have to make alterations to their typical apparatus to fit those pumpers, aerials, and rescues into older firehouses.

1 Emergency Vehicles Inc. built this decontamination truck for the Boston (MA) Fire Department, where the vehicle had both height and length limitations to fit in the firehouse. (Photo courtesy of Emergency Vehicles, Inc.)

Height and Length

Chad Trinkner, senior director of business development for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says that the biggest issues Pierce faces when building a new vehicle to be housed in an old station are the overall height and overall length requirements imposed by the old firehouse. "Fire departments today need to carry more water and equipment on their vehicles than when many of these stations were built," Trinkner points out, "which means bigger vehicles trying to squeeze into smaller spaces."

Trinkner notes that Pierce has used its Pierce Ultimate Configuration (PUC) in many instances to get a modern pumper into a smaller, older station. "The PUC eliminates the pump house, which means the vehicle length is shortened so we can do a 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump on a 29-foot overall length and still have lots of equipment space," he says. "To accommodate short overall height requirements, we can make adjustments to our TAK 4 independent front suspension to offer a reduction of several inches of height. And for aerials, we make five different pedestal heights for our platforms and ladders, which allow the turntable to set lower and get under a low overall height restriction."

2 The Fire Island Pines (NY) Fire Department had Custom Fire Apparatus build this pumper with a nine-foot, six-inch overall height and 26-foot, six-inch overall length to shoehorn it into an older fire station. [Photo courtesy of the Fire Island Pines (NY) Fire Department.]

Rick Suche, president of Fort Garry Fire Trucks, says he's found that many firehouses on the East coast of the United States and Canada are older, historic stations-usually with height and length limitations. "Often we will put a rub rail on the back of a truck instead of a tailboard to save space," Suche points out. "We'll also shorten up the front compartment and take it down to 12 inches, with our smallest pump panel at 36 inches wide. It's always a challenge because fire departments want manufacturers to put 10 pounds in a five-pound bag."

Christian P. Koop

From what I have observed looking back over the years, it appears to me that most commercial medium- and heavy-duty truck manufacturers, including for fire apparatus, have always seemed to lag behind the automotive industry in certain areas of technological development.

The same still seems to hold true when it comes to the engine's cooling system. There is an important advancement when it comes to cooling systems that has yet to be embraced by manufacturers that will not only improve the cooling system's efficiency but will also create extra room for technicians to perform repairs and maintenance in the engine compartment. In June 2014, I wrote about the importance of properly maintaining your rig's engine cooling system. I mentioned how the engine cooling system sometimes takes a back seat to other preventive maintenance areas such as lubrication, oil filtration, and air filtration-even though a failure in the cooling system could cause an expensive breakdown. Catastrophic engine failure because of a serious overheat can be one of the most expensive items to hit the maintenance budget. I am sure most will agree this is not a good thing with today's shrinking maintenance budgets, particularly if it could be prevented-not to mention what could happen from a life safety perpsective at a fire scene if the engine fails because of a cooling system failure.

Although it appears most of today's commercial truck and fire apparatus appear to be making use of the latest technological developments and innovations available, I still think the cooling system is taking a back seat to the other major engine systems in terms of innovation. A case in point is when automobiles went from the traditional rear-wheel-drive platform to a front-wheel-drive transverse mounted engine. In this case, engineers were forced to abandon the radiator cooling fan that had traditionally been mechanically belt-driven off the water pump drive pulley and use electric fans mounted right on the radiator housing. By doing so, they inadvertently created an energy efficiency advantage and improved system redundancy by going from a single fan to two electrical fans.

Diesel Cooling System History

Up until about 13 years ago, diesel engine cooling systems in most commercial heavy-duty trucks, including fire trucks, remained virtually unchanged. This changed when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted stricter emission regulations for the 2002 model year. These regulations were created to reduce nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide (NOX) and diesel particulate matter (PM) emissions. These regulations would gradually become stricter for model years 2007 and 2010, forcing diesel engine manufacturers to make major changes to their engines to meet regulations. One of these was introducing exhaust gas recirculation (EGR).

In 2002, EGR technology had already been in use in gasoline automobile engines for more than 30 years. The introduction of EGR technology created several issues for the truck manufacturers. Heat rejection was a major issue, and many heavy-duty rigs had component system failures related to elevated under-hood temperatures. This was linked to the EGR system generating more heat for the cooling system and taking up some valuable real estate in the engine compartment.

Most full size fire apparatus diesel engines are in the 400- to 500-horsepower (hp) range. These engines will require anywhere from 40 to 50 hp to turn a mechanical cooling system fan under full load. That equates to approximately 10 percent of the eng