The Eastman (GA) Fire Department announced recently the long-awaited arrival of the newest engine to the fleet, the department said in a Facebook post.

Engine 11, manufactured by E-ONE, will be housed at Station 1 and will allow the department to rotate the fleet, help maintain its ISO grade, and give the citizens reliable equipment in the event of an emergency, the post said.

Engine 7 will be moved to backup engine status and will also be used for training. This will allow the department to have a truck on standby when a primary truck is being serviced as well as allowing our firefighters the ability to conduct more in-depth training.

The truck brings Eastman’s total fleet to four engines, a brush truck, and a rescue truck.

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To say that what the fire service is experiencing now when it comes to apparatus purchasing is unprecedented is an understatement, but one that should be put in perspective. Fire apparatus manufacturing is a competitive market producing parts and finished vehicles, mostly custom, that Americans across the country rely on in a crisis. In the years since the pandemic, the fire apparatus market has experienced rising costs and increased lead times for apparatus delivery. The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association (FAMA) closely tracks trends in this important market and offers the following data and analysis to provide the facts and context for current industry-wide purchasing conditions.

Figure 1

After disruptions associated with the financial crisis of 2008 to 2010, the fire service industry experienced a period of relative stability in terms of fire apparatus ordered and shipped. Figure 1 shows both booked and shipped orders between 2011 and 2024. The average baselines for this period are shown as dotted lines across the width of the graph.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019 and into 2020 introduced several disruptive factors that included restrictions on travel, focus on public health and emergency response, protection of personnel, inconsistent labor availability, and key material shortages. Travel restrictions meant that apparatus purchasing committees could no longer meet in person, which along with the other disruptions, led to a 12% drop in bookings for fire apparatus in 2020. When the United States emerged from the pandemic in 2021 and 2022, pent-up demand for new fire apparatus, augmented by increased municipal budgets from federal pandemic recovery legislation, resulted in orders spiking to 45% above the pre-pandemic baseline.

The rapid increase in booked orders, combined with the fall in shipped orders, resulted in an unprecedented imbalance and a corresponding backlog, which meant much longer lead times.

Fire apparatus manufacturers operate in a competitive marketplace, including approximately 55 apparatus manufacturers in FAMA. All these manufacturers are feeling the market disruptions across skilled labor and supply chains. While larger manufacturers would see a greater impact because of the larger number of units affected, the FAMA data point to all apparatus manufacturers experiencing similar conditions, making the current purchasing atmosphere an industry-wide condition.

To explain further, fire apparatus manufacturers operate in a competitive marketplace. Each manufacturer has specific strengths and offerings, and all must comply with various automotive standards as well as National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) guidelines. Component manufacturers also have fields of expertise and specialization and must design, manufacture, and market in the same competitive environment.

Compared with other vehicle manufacturing industries, the overall fire apparatus market is very small. Low volume and a high degree of customization mean that, on a per unit basis, specification writing, engineering, and manufacturing have longer lead times with significant resource requirements. Fire apparatus manufacturing facilities t

Editor’s Opinion | Chris Mc Loone

My former chief used to tell the line officers to always remember the big picture in whatever decision we were making—whether on the fireground or back at the firehouse.

I used to tell my three boys the same thing—to the point that I’m sure they got tired of hearing it. Side note, they mimic me saying it, but I’m pretty sure they get it. But, keeping that big picture in mind is critical in anything we do so our decisions are not shortsighted. While these decisions could ease whatever pain we’re experiencing in the short term, they may not benefit us in the long term.

Fire apparatus purchasing, particularly right now, is an area where we must remember the big picture. There is a lot of what I consider noise being made around fire apparatus right now—and on a national level. Not many saw that coming. But it doesn’t benefit any departments to get caught up in listening to all the noise when the fact remains that fire apparatus reach the end of their life cycles and must be replaced. Fire apparatus break down and must be repaired. We need qualified emergency vehicle technicians to make these repairs to get the rigs back in service as soon as possible.

Apparatus fleets comprise a big piece of a fire department’s budget, and when demands for budget cuts come down, the fleet is often a place leaders look to see what, if any, cuts can be made. Sometimes these cuts come in the form of delaying fire truck replacement. Sometimes they could be via reducing fleet maintenance personnel. But, in these instances, looking long term and considering the big picture become vital. Delaying apparatus replacement—long term—is not the way to go. When the next replacement cycle comes around, you’ll have double the number of rigs to replace. Reducing fleet maintenance personnel at the same time is also not the way to go. Delaying replacement means aging trucks are going to need more frequent repair. Reducing the number of people you have to repair these aging rigs that are coming into the shop more frequently is not going a long way toward reducing out-of-service time.

I am not suggesting that we snap our fingers and get new trucks and qualified people to maintain them. That’s not realistic. And, I do know that departments across the country are struggling to come up with solutions to their fleet challenges given the current purchasing environment with increased costs and lead times. During these times, it’s always a good idea to look at departments that have experienced similar challenges.

In 2016, the Boston (MA) Fire Department undertook the twofold task of updating its fleet and its maintenance division—at the same time. Like many things, this undertaking resulted from a tragedy. In “Creating A Mission-Capable Fleet” (October 2016), the author states, “There are times when organizations analyze where they are and their current status and realize that change is necessary. Dwelling on how the entity arrived at its current location is less important than making the necessary changes and moving forward.” Rigs have to be replaced, and we need personnel to fix them. To meet a fire department’s operational needs, the apparatus must be mission-capable. But, to ensure each rig is mission-capable means having a fleet maintenance operation that can meet the needs of the apparatus. Operational needs—THEY are the big picture.

We know that lead times are long for custom rigs right now. We know that costs have increased. We know that manufacturers, large and small, offer options that can reduce the lead times as well as the cost for new apparatus. We know that there is a lot of noise being made across the Internet and at a national level about the causes for the current purchasing atmosphere in which we find ourselves. Our challenge is to block out the noise, to keep the opera

Police chased a stolen ambulance across multiple counties in Georgia Monday, ending only when the ambulance crashed.

The chase started when police and EMS responded to a two-vehicle crash in Effingham County at about 4 p.m.. According to WJCL, Rincon Police responded to the scene, but two individuals involved in the wreck fled on foot.

As officers searched the area, authorities say an ambulance was stolen nearby, triggering a police pursuit that stretched for several miles. During the chase, the driver of the stolen ambulance rammed a Rincon Police cruiser, which then collided with another vehicle, police say. One officer sustained minor injuries.

Efforts to stop the ambulance included a failed PIT maneuver by Rincon Police, followed by Port Wentworth officers deploying spike strips. The pursuit ended near Saussy Road and Highway 21 in Port Wentworth when the stolen ambulance crashed into a ditch.

Two suspects were taken into custody and booked into the Effingham County Jail.

Visit WJCL for more.

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