Fire Chief

Apparatus manufacturer Rosenbauer recently held a 10th anniversary celebration. One of the company’s U.S. partners is Kevin Kirvida, who is president of General Safety Equipment in Wyoming, Minn. He was on a mission — he wanted everyone know about three fellow Minnesotans. He told their story to those of us who shared his table at a small dinner in Sioux Falls, S.D. The following evening at the company’s formal celebration, he repeated the story for all the dealers, media and others in attendance.

I was surprised to see how quicky the rig became a dot in the distance. I sped up to see just how fast the tanker was going and guessed 60 mph in the straight aways and 50 mph on the curves. I thought, this must be some fire.

Last week, the Fire Department Safety Officers Association held its annual Apparatus Specification and Maintenance Symposium in Orlando, Fla. A record-breaking crowd of over 560 attendees crammed in the ballroom. In honor of its 20th anniversary, the symposium had three keynote speakers with three distinct views: a voice of the future, a voice of the law and the voice of experience.

This week, a Missouri volunteer firefighter was sentenced to three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter for a fatal crash that killed a 17-year-old boy. In November 2006, the volunteer was responding to a brush fire in his private vehicle — no lights or sirens — at an estimated 84 mph. While passing one car on a blind hill, he hit another car head-on, killing the high-school junior.

The quint owes its evolution as a piece of fire apparatus to a lineage that began almost a century ago. The “triple-combination” engine — a vehicle with a pump, hose bed and a water tank — first appeared on the scene around 1910. The “city service” or quad, which added a full complement of ground ladders, soon followed, with the quint and its 55- to 100-foot aerial appearing just prior to World War II.

You just don’t think about some things until they break. A toothache can change your schedule quickly and a blown fuse can set you back, but if a fire truck or ambulance doesn’t start, a bad situation gets worse in a hurry.

Pierce Mfg. sure knows how to attract attention. On Thursday at the Fire Department Instructors Conference, the company unveiled one of the best-kept secrets in the industry — the Pierce Ultimate Configuration.