Alan M. Petrillo

The California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) manages a statewide fire and rescue program, providing Type 1 pumpers built by HME Inc. on loan to local fire departments for use in their districts, while requiring those departments to staff the vehicles for the state when needed.

Cal OES purchases the vehicles fully equipped, then assigns the pumpers to local governments and fire agencies on temporary-use agreements where the state never relinquishes control of the vehicles. "We continue to maintain the vehicles and twice a year do an onsite inspection of the pumpers to be sure they are maintained according to our standards," says Kim Zagaris, state fire chief for Cal OES. "The agencies agree to staff the vehicles anywhere and anytime that we need them, whether in state or across the nation. We provide reimbursement for their staff members, but there's a clause in the agreement that says they may have to staff the pumper for free."

Mitch Willoughby, national sales and marketing director for HME, says his company recently was awarded a second multiyear contract to supply Cal OES with Type 1 Model 18 pumpers. "Our first contract was for five years, and we produced 269 apparatus," Willoughby says. "We built 49 Type 1 pumpers for Cal OES, 164 Type 3 wildland pumpers for CAL FIRE, and 56 other products through a cooperative purchasing program with the state." Willoughby estimates that about 95 percent of the Cal OES fleet of vehicles was built by HME.

(1) Cal OES has a temporary-use agreement with the Sacramento (CA) Fire Department, where Sacramento uses and staffs this HME Model 18 Type 1 pumper. Cal OES has 114 of these pumpers in its fleet. (Photos courtesy of the Sacramento Fire Department.)

System Cornerstone

Zagaris says the program has been around since 1950, when it was run under the federal Civil Defense Program. "Back then, we purchased 100 pumpers and matched that value with state money," he points out. "We are the only state in the country still running this program-it is the cornerstone of California's fire and rescue system."

Besides managing the state fire and rescue program, Cal OES also provides urban search and rescue (USAR) resources for local and federal partners, has Type 1 swift water rescue teams, manages a fleet of water tenders (tankers), oversees the fire school program for cities in the state, and serves as the homeland security agency for California's 38 million people. Between 2008 and this year, the agency was known as the California Emergency Services Agency (Cal EMA) but has since reverted back to its original name.

(2) The Sacramento (CA) Fire Department HME pumper is on a short front overhang (SFO) four-door cab and chassis and carries a Hale 1,250-gpm pump, an 850-gallon United Plastic Fabricating water tank, and a 20-gallon foam tank.

The Fleet

Zagaris points out that Cal OES currently has a large fleet spread out around the state. "We have 114 Type 1 pumpers, 15 Type 3 wildland pumpers, 12 Type 1 water tenders, 13 swift water vehicles, 18 rescue system vehicles, six communications units, and a variety of command and other vehicles," he says. "Our Type 1 pumpers built by HME ar

Alan M. Petrillo

Plano (TX) Fire-Rescue is taking an old idea and putting a modern face on it, saving money, increasing efficiency, and prolonging fire apparatus life in the process.

The Concept

Chief Brian Crawford says the department is changing the way it delivers emergency medical services (EMS) by adding two rescue squads in the city's two busiest stations to take the EMS response load off two pumpers and two truck companies. The rescue squads are Chevrolet Suburbans outfitted with everything Plano Fire-Rescue's advanced life support (ALS) ambulances carry to save a life medically. The rescue squads also have a firefighting component, carrying self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and fire turnout gear.

"We launched the program in early October and it provides increased EMS response at a savings to the city but still has valuable fire resources available for calls," Crawford says. "The rescue squads will double the life expectancy of the pumpers, so we'll only have to purchase a pumper every ten years, saving a half million dollars for that one vehicle."

Plano Fire-Rescue has 350 firefighters operating out of 13 stations. It has a Rosenbauer pumper at each station with the exception of where a quint is stationed. The department also operates four Rosenbauer aerial ladders, an urban search and rescue (USAR) unit, and seven ALS ambulances.

"We looked at the vehicles we were using for our EMS calls and determined that fire apparatus was not designed to withstand the wear and tear of dozens of EMS calls daily," Crawford points out. "That wear and tear was taxing the fleet and the biggest cost was the miles being put on pumpers, up to 120,000 miles a year. We would need to replace that pumper in five years, even though the pump would have very few hours on it."

(1) Plano (TX) Fire-Rescue's newly enacted rescue squad program uses fully EMS-outfitted Chevrolet Suburbans to take the load off of two paramedic pumpers. (Photos courtesy of Bill Lindley Photography.)

Solution

Crawford says he knew of "a better mousetrap to solve this issue." He previously was chief of the Shreveport (LA) Fire Department, where he implemented the single paramedic rapid intervention team (SPRINT) concept. "Shreveport has a smaller population than Plano but is a larger department with 500 firefighters and about 38,000 calls a year, compared with 21,000 annually for Plano," Crawford notes. "In Shreveport, we ran three rescue squad-style units very successfully." Crawford took that SPRINT concept and "the rescue squad concept was born where we were able to maintain quality service and a Class 1 Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating here."

The city of Plano is considered part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It is 20 miles north of Dallas and encompasses 72 square miles with a population of 270,000. It is home to Snapple, J.C. Penney, and 7-Up corporate headquarters and is populated with residential and commercial structures. Several major highways run through the city.

(2) The Plano rescue squad also carries self-contained breathing apparatus and fire turnout gear for its crew.

The Program

The rescue squads will be housed in Station 1 and Station 4, Crawford said, and he believes they will handle approxi