(May 2012)

Resources to aid with new vehicle responses

This is in reference to “Firematic Concerns of Hybrids and Electric Vehicles” by David Dalrymple (Extrication Tactics, February 2012). I would like to pass on some helpful information.

I spent the past few months trying to find a single source document to assist our firefighters with the location of batteries in the newer cars. Robert Sinclair, media relations, American Automobile Association (AAA) of New York (rsinclair@aaany.com), provided me with a copy of its 2011 Towing and Service Manual. It covers all vehicles (foreign and domestic) in a spiral-bound flip chart-type book. Almost all vehicles are covered in a single-page listing. It starts out with information for tow truck drivers but then talks about jump-starting the car and tells you exactly where the battery is located. If the vehicle is a hybrid, it talks about the colored cables and the high-voltage system (in brief). It also presents the recommended method of disconnecting the high-voltage battery supply. The book costs $29.95 and can be obtained from the AAA Web site at www.aaa.biz.com.

I also ordered the lockout manual listed on the Web site. It, too, is a very useful document. Both manuals are sold by AW Direct, a company that sells various towing supplies. I recently received one of its complete catalogs and found additional books I think would be valuable to the fire service.

John Soloman
Fire Commissioner
North Castle South Fire District 1
North White Plains, New York

“Code of Honor” on target

Bobby Halton’s “The Fire Service Code of Honor” (Editor’s Opinion, February 2012) hit the nail on the head. A few years back, a very unethical incident happened at my firehouse, right under the noses of everyone. The discredit this one individual brought on the entire department was inexcusable. I vowed to do whatever I could to prevent any firefighter from tarnishing our image ever again.

As a fire service instructor at the Middlesex County (NJ) Fire Academy, I took it upon myself to put together a lesson plan for an Ethics and Values course. I was able to convince the administration to incorporate this three-hour block of instruction into the Firefighter 1 program. It wasn’t really hard to convince them because they knew something like this was well overdue. The Ethics and Values module is now the first module of training that recruits receive.

The module contains actual events and incidents that have occurred and made headlines. One thing I tell the students is that when a firefighter (career or volunteer, active or retired) gets into any type of trouble, the headline in the newspaper starts off with “Firefighter.” It doesn’t matter if it is a driving under the influence (DUI), drug, or rape charge. The headline always mentions that the person is/was a firefighter. Have you ever seen a headline stating, “Plumber arrested for DUI” or “Painter arrested on drug charges?” Get my point?

The module also goes into what the recruits think is ethical or unethical behavior, and various examples are provided.

All firefighters should read Halton’s article and adhere to its message. Reciting an Honor Oath will not make people more honest, but it might wake them up to the fact that others are constantly watching over their shoulders. We can list a million reasons for individuals’ being unethical or dishonest. The way a person is brought up has a lot to do with honesty and values, for example.

Many of us out here are attempting to teach ethics and values to the fire service.

Rich Kosmoski, M.S.
President
New Jersey Volunteer Fire Chiefs Association

Once again, Editor in Chief Bobby Halton has done it in his Editor’s Opinion. It is all so simple: Don’t lie! Don’t cheat! Don’t steal! I’m sure we all heard these same words growing up at some point from our folks, our teachers, or the nuns and priests or other religious authorities. I have always tried to stop myself before making any major decision or one of the numerous career-limiting decisions that pop up and ask myself, “What would my Mom say if I did this?” I’m pretty sure it was a cadet’s mother who wrote the cadets’ honor codes.

Mac de Beaudrap
Chief
Town of Cochrane
Senior Manager of Protective Services
Cochrane, Alberta, Canada

Vehicle weight and handling

This article is in reply to Bill Adams’ article “Apparatus Load Balance Guidelines” (Fire Engineering, February 2012). I read the article with interest. It is a fact that over the past few years apparatus have gotten bigger for one reason or another. Avoiding unfortunate incidents or accidents is as important as ever. Whether these accidents are a result of the weight balance or not, I feel there are other factors to take into account regarding vehicle weight and handling. Three of these other factors are discussed below.

Let’s start from the ground up. The first thing to pay particular attention to is the tires. The whole weight of the vehicle, no matter its size or weight, rests on the tires. From personal experience, I know tires can be one of the biggest maintenance costs for an apparatus over its life, barring a major drive-line malfunction. The end user or authority having jurisdiction (which may be the fire chief or department) should check the weight rating of the tires on the truck at delivery or specify that the tires are rated for the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the apparatus. Tires normally used on rear axles have weight limits when mounted as a single tire or as a dual. Does the weight capacity of all four tires on a single axle or all eight on a dual axle meet the rating of the suspension system and load on the truck? They should, or handling may be affected.

Tire inflation is another important factor in terms of not only wear but also vehicle handling. During my 10 years with our apparatus committee, we purchased numerous apparatus. Beginning in 1999 with the replacement of apparatus and ending in 2011, the fleet now serving six stations has been turned over twice. The manufacturer we used in all of the purchases has a chart in the operator’s manual devoted to proper tire inflation. The customer is instructed to adjust tire pressure based on the loaded weight of the apparatus as it sits in the station ready to make a run. Proper inflation will affect vehicle handling on both the front and rear axles. It may even have an effect on the rear end breaking loose.

Second, it is not difficult to determine the total weight of tools and equipment you will be carrying on your apparatus. It has also been my experience that firefighters will try to cram 10 pounds of stuff into a five-pound container, so be realistic about what you will carry. Leaving room for those inevitable add-ons is a good idea. The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) has a weight/cube calculator with an extensive list of tools and equipment. It can be found at www.fama.org. Just look for “weight/cube calculator.” There is a page for engines, ladders, and rescue apparatus. Simply indicate the number of pick-head axes to be carried, for example, and the form will add the total weight. It will also give you the cubic feet of space they will need for storage. Tools and equipment can even be sorted by compartment. In the end, you will have a total weight of everything you have listed, and by compartment. Adding the weights for compartments on the driver and passenger side will help with side-to-side weight balance.

Evaluate also hosebed loading and ladder storage. This will give the department a good idea as to how much weight should be added to compartments for the side slope test.

The third consideration is the brakes and auxiliary braking devices. Proper maintenance and adjustment should be one item on top of the list for maintenance personnel to observe regularly for operator, crew, and public safety. Too much brake pressure on either the front or rear wheels will affect handling. Worn brakes can result in an apparatus failing to make an emergency stop no matter how the vehicle is loaded.

I cannot speak for how all manufacturers work with their customers to determine axle weight ratings and how they look at balancing front and rear loads; however, the manufacturer we purchased from was very weight-rating and balance conscious. Over the years, we purchased three 100-foot platforms; in each instance, the manufacturer’s engineers met with us in preconstruction meetings. They ruled out a few of the items we were asking for because of weight and balance restrictions. They wanted to make sure the truck met the axle ratings and ride and handling characteristics of their design criteria. Even after several firefighters threw on their special widgets, we were never overloaded. Front to rear ratios are usually one-third to two-thirds, with one-third of the GVWR being on the front axle and two-thirds on the rear.

One thing any department must do is take its new apparatus, after it is outfitted and ready for calls, to a scale and weigh the front and rear axles one at a time. This will tell the department if any axle is overloaded and the total GVWR. If the department had worked closely with the manufacturer to list everything it intended to carry on the truck, there should be no overloading.

Drivers must be properly trained to handle the apparatus they are driving. In today’s world, most of our firefighters do not drive anything larger than a pickup for their personal vehicle. Therefore, they must remember that while new apparatus ride smoothly and the driver’s seat is comfortable, they are not driving the compact car they drove to work.

Maintenance records are very important also. Maintenance of brakes and tires will be important in any accident investigation regardless of weight ratios.

Weight ratios and balance are important factors in designing a new apparatus. The importance of the factors I discussed cannot be overlooked either. They are the easiest things to check for possible problems and, therefore, one of the first things that will be scrutinized in an accident investigation.

Robert Linnemann
Captain (Ret.)
Dallas Ft. Worth (TX) International Airport
Department of Public Safety, Fire Rescue Division

Daytona 500: what about life safety?

On February 28, there was what turned out to be a rather large fire in the Daytona 500 race in which a truck and a jet blower were burnt. From an outside perspective, response from the track personnel was less than adequate (that is my opinion). I’m sure the superiors of the emergency service vehicles cleared an engine’s response to the scene before the fire department was notified. Once an efficient apparatus arrived, I would have thought that complete bunker gear and self-contained breathing apparatus were more than warranted. Those “track safety personnel” continued to roam around the scene with nothing more than what appeared to be just a “driver’s suit” on (nonfirefighting personal protective equipment)—all while trying to attack the fire with 30-pound extinguishers that just were not getting it at all.

Simply put, there has got to be a safer way for those organizations that have professional sporting events that involve life safety. All of this was nationally televised for all to see.

Jace Woodworth
Squad Member Crawford County Rescue
Robinson, Illinois

Editor’s note: In “Hoseline Operations for Fires in Multiple Dwellings, Part 1” (March 2012), page 80, column 2, first full paragraph below bullets, the word “risers” was used in the description of a stairway well opening; the word should be “stringers.” The description should read as follows: “A well is the space between stair stringers that makes it possible to stand on the ground floor and look straight up at the top of the stairwell.”