Bnechis

This will actually eliminate some of the candidates that should not even be accepted into the departments. Some departments are so desperate that they will accept anyone with a pulse and that does not help with the mission.

Long overdue

What exactly can the national guard do to control the rioting?

Just saying

I don't think that extra 10 minutes of travel time is going to hurt anyone more than they already are.

They will be dead for 10 more minutes. Boy that's got to hurt.

Barry, you're not suggesting that the Lt., who spent his whole career in a Truck, supervises the MPO are ya......what does he know?

No I was implying that many depts. do not even have an officer on the rig

I agree, partially. It can lead to some poor behavior, but it can also provide some additional flexibility. All our new engines (since 2008) have had a swivel mounted intake on the front/officers side. If the street is REALLY tight, you can pull up perpendicular to the stree, up on the sidewalk and out of the Trucks way. Sometimes the hydrant is installed backwards(often in fact) with the 4-1/2" facing away from the street! The swivel can help.

Yes it can lead to more flexibility, but most depts. do not operate as FDNY does. You have greater supervision (imagine actually having a trained officer on every engine), your rigs are set up so the do not rely on the front intake (flexibility that as I mentioned some depts. cant use the side intakes) and tend to not max out your pump capacity (because you use more pumps at an incident than most).

And, yes, it would be one more thing to unload at the hydrant, but wouldn't it make more sense to just grab it when you need it, rather than every time you hit the hydrant?

That either slows the rig down from starting its attack or makes the hydrant man walk back to the rig when he realizes he forgot it. Easier to just carry a simple reducer so you can go off the 2.5"

In NYC, the FDNY rarely gets to do this, because the traffic units will have it on the hook and off to the yard, long before the FD gets a call.

This is a misleading statement that really annoys me because people who don't understand it ( i know you do) regurgitate it. No, if you are supplying your 3000gpm rearmount aerial with two monitors, you should not use the front intake. But at many of our bread and butter fires we're flowing one or two 1.75"s at 185 each and maybe a 2.5" at 325gpm. In other words, that 1000gpm cap will be fine. The front intake has a soft suction preconnected, it's fast and good for tight streets.

Yes supplying a couple of hand lines is not a problem. But once you have hooked up with that front suction, very few depts. will redo it later in the fire when the hand lines did not work and they go to defensive operations, (and often claim "bad Hydrants did not help). I see a lot of depts. that have the front swivel have very pretty painted steamer caps on the side and are not even set up to bring water into the pump through the steamer (without hard suction).

When we hook to a hydrant we use 5" LDH, even if we only need 1 or 2 lines, because later on we might need all of it.

Its only good for tight streets if the MPO keeps it in tight. I have taken a number of pics of depts. that that 1st engine blocked out the tower because of the front suction (then you don't need to supply it).

Wouldn't something like this be useful at the hydrant when it's blocked? We already put 5" elbows on our front bumpers (front suction); why can't we use an elbow as part of a hydrant connection?

That is a front bumper mount, it will not fit on a hydrant. If you want to put a 90 degree elbow on the hydrant it is doable, but more s*** to unload when you stop at the hydrant. Why not use the side outlet?

And that elbow on the front bumper is a giant waste. Adds $40,000 - &60,000 to the cost (plus additional maintenance costs), the friction loss to get from the front bumper to the pump is equal to 112+ feet of hose (to travel 15 feet) and it reduces the flow by up to 30%. In other words why buy a 1,500gpm pump when you plan to cap its supply at 1,000gpm?

Final issue with the front swivel is that without very good driver discipline, I have seen many cases where the driver will nose into the hydrant, this causes the tail end to push out into the street. Thus blocking other apparatus, including the truck.

If there were more parking this wouldn't be an issue.

If their were fewer cars this wouldn't be an issue. Most cities were built 100-200 years before cars.

Even if their was more parking, if this was the cheapest or most convenient space, someone would park there.

although they proved their point, look at the kink of the ldh. as a boss I would question why they didn't use a side gate.

Agreed. Going this way put firefighters in danger. How much water is going to flow through this?

This was done to prove a point to the car owner, but at the potential expense of members operating and potential loss of more of the fire building.

I don't blame them for parking there, although they shouldn't park there. Cities should have more car garages where you can park your car, not in the way of a fire hydrant. Parking is a big issue in the city these days.

Their are plenty of parking garages, to many drivers feel they should not have to pay for parking and these "spaces" have no meters.

They used a battery powered saw with a diamond blade.

Its really sad that it took this long, but Bobby is a great fire officer, great teacher and they could not have gotten a better man for the job. Best of luck.

Did you know that Isuzu has now hired Spartan to build their trucks in the USA.

But that was long after we purchased this vehicle.

So what do you consider: "Made in America" My Honda from Ohio or My Ford that was made in Canada?

Hey guys here for an update-my father was responding to a full assignment on Monday when he suddenly collapsed. My brothers from WPFD used an AED to bring him back almost immediately. He went in for surgery yesterday and all went well. The doctors expect him to make a full recovery. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

This is why NFPA 1901 requires AED's on all apparatus even if you do not provide EMS 1st Response. This is why all firefighters should have CPR and even CFR or EMT as a minimum.

A few years ago my dept was looking to purchase a commercial box truck to convert to an MCI support vehicle. We were told that the GMC & Isuzu were basically the same so we selected a GMC unit because it sounded more "American".

A few months before delivery the dealer called us and said: "I've got good news and bad news"

The good news is your GMC chassis VIN # 123456789 has been loaded on to a ship in Kobe Japan and should be in Baltimore in 3 weeks.

Now the bad news in a federal bankruptcy court ruling last night GMC can no longer sell this unit......But if you are willing.... I have an Isuzu chassis vin # 123456789 (identical vin) which has been loaded on to a ship in Kobe Japan and should be in Baltimore in 3 weeks you can have it at no additional cost.

It turns out That GM owns both companies. The vehicles are identical until they get to the US and the stickers are added.

Does the mounting of the siren make a difference?

So lets compare.

In the 1st picture the Q2 is completely recessed in the bumper. This provides good protection for the siren, but since the majority of the sound comes from the side not the front, the sound is directed under the bumper and into the cab. Also this design defeats the strongest bumper by cutting such a big hole in it. This reduces the crashworthiness of the cab.

In the 2nd pic. its mounted above the bumper, less protection for the siren, but the sound is pushed forward of the cab more than other arraignments.

In the 3rd pic a shroud is added, this forces more of the sound forward away from the cab

In pic 4 the siren is only partially recessed allowing the sound to travel, but the siren is more vulnerable to damage. The addition of crash protection protects it, but does reduce some of the effectiveness of the siren.

Every item on a rig is a compromise. One needs to evaluate the pros and cons of each of these

Many years ago we tested the siren noise at each riding position (with windows up & down) and found that the Db levels were below the NIOSH / OSHA levels where hearing protection would be required. I don't know if this could play into it.

A big problem with the head sets (like seatbelts) is compliance. Even when provided, we find most members do not want to use them.

By specifying Pierce Quantum you are establishing a 'basis of design'. Adding 'or equal'; 'or equivalent' makes it CYA competitive.

If you do not quantify what is equal and or list what specific features of the quantum you will/will not accept anything else like its unique fold out steps. then no one else can win the bid.

Of more importance the moment you list a name, all the other vendors back off, because they are not willing to throw money away, when you have made it clear you will be buying a Pierce.

I have seen on a number of these types of bids where the vendor will show up at the bid deadline with 2 sealed bids. If no one else bids, they will at the last minute before bid closing they will put in the higher bid. I have seen this be as much as $60,000 extra.

How does it violate the law? Not trying to be a smart ass, Bnechis, just want to know.

I think others have answered.

But this has been put out as a "Competitive Bid". The moment you put one manufactures name on it, its no longer competitive, since none of the other venders will put the time & $$$ ($10,000 - $20,000 per bid) to put something together. The customer has stated "or equal" and they get to determine after the fact what that is.

NYS law requires competitive bidding for purchases over $500.

Their are exemptions. For example if their is a pierce quantum demo unit they saw and want they can go back to the village board (City council, Board of fire commish. etc.) And if the elected oversight board agrees that a sole source no bid is in the best interest of the tax payer they can authorize it.

These are usually done because of a very good price, immediate delivery date, or as an emergency purchase (a wall fell on the rig & its gone and we cant wait for a replacement to be built.

That's not a bid according to NYS Law

In my opinion giving these 'hints" that its an "A" patient or "E" or whatever, causes crews to be come more lax in protecting themselves on all the other calls. You should be just as cautious on every call. How many patients do not know or will lie about it?

Aarfe those extensions universal so they can be put on any vac truck (assuming the right type of vac truck)? Also are they property of the FD or of Con Ed?

Universal (I believe) Con Ed purchased them