A few days ago 2 of the 3 fire departments in my area were toned for mutual aid to a working basement fire in the next town over. after listening to the progression of stations being toned I realized that they had called stations farther than my firehouse. I found out later that we were passed up for the call for the sole reason that county doesn't like 126 an E-ONE Bronto Skylift because first off the other two stations don't have one, and secondly because it's not great for strucuture fires in their opinion, having worked the basket from 114' in the air and after looking at their website where it says "The E-ONE Bronto is the most capable platform in the world..." I see know reason why a traditional ladder and hose are any worse or better than a bucket with the same capabilities. Any thoughts?

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I see you are a junior, so do you really, truly, understand how MA is set up for your area? I have worked in areas where further depts were called out to help with a fire, while a closer dept remained in quarters, with reason being to have a back up response more centralized for other emergencies.

Secondly, I don't really buy the reason for not calling is because of the skylift, nor the implication of "jealousy". There may just not be a need for the rig on this fire and other depts may have had what the scene needed. There may be many other points here you just are not seeing than to come to the conclusion the county just doesn't like the rig. Mutual aid cards are written up and it depends upon where your dept fit for this particular incident, it also depends on what the IC sees and what resources are needed to mitigate.

For the most part if there was already a ladder on the scene, there probably wasn't a use for another. Besides it is a basement fire, if the stick has to go up later and another ladder is needed, they can call then. For most depts out there, there really isn't a need for multiple truck companies for a residential fire.
I didn't come up with this excuse, one of the engineers at my station passed it down but that was only half of my post, the other half being, is the E-ONE Bronto skylift any better or worse at handling a generic structure fire?

This was also the first structure fire we've had in a while.
Doesn't matter who came up with the excuse, not everyone is always privy to knowing how the cards are laid out, nor reasonings involved and it is just as easy for someone who has years on to not really understand everything. Either way, it was deemed the rig was not needed, so what, the incident here then really has nothing to do with the question at hand, which would be........is the E-ONE Bronto skylift any better or worse at handling a generic structure fire?

A truck is a truck for the most part. The aerial may never be needed on most fires, but the equipment carried on the rig may be. Many times the ladder company has a specific task like venting, forcible entry, search and so forth, how the personnel get there to perform such tasks doesn't really matter. For the majority of calls, an aerial is seldom used, so it doesn't really matter what is coming to the scene.

Now there are pros and cons between a platform and a straight stick and it depends upon what the dept deems meets their needs best. In the end, there really is no "generic" structure fire, either the aerial device is needed or it isn't and it depends upon the situation encountered.
The Bronto is Overkill to say the least....But,what a sweet Ladder!


Here's Bronto Skylift. I was just thinking, maybe they didn't call your station because they didn't need a rig like this at a basement fire.
From a Truck Officer point of view, I would respectfully disagree. A Truck Co, if not two, of any style is definately needed at a basement fire. Depending on the type of construction, one may still need to open the roof or the soffits to stop the fire from running up the chases/channels in balloon frame construction.
I was just thinking, maybe they didn't call your station because they didn't need a rig like this at a basement fire.

A Truck Co, if not two, of any style is definately needed at a basement fire. Depending on the type of construction, one may still need to open the roof or the soffits to stop the fire from running up the chases/channels in balloon frame construction.

I'm going to agree to a point Shareef, truck company DUTIES will still be needed, but the aerial itself may not. This means the duties can be done by anyone, there is nothing out there saying an engine crew can't cut a hole, or throw ladders, and likewise nothing saying a ladder crew can't do fire attack. It is the duties which count.

Now to get back to why this thread even started, it is the OP believing they were not called because the neighboring dept is "jealous" they have a skylift. In the end, there can be any number of reasons they were not called in and has nothing to do with the rig itself.
Maybe it was the rig. If the scene had restricted access that wouldn't permit the rig to approach the scene, then there's no reason to call for that rig.

Maybe there was lots of tree cover or other obstructions where a straight stick would be useful but the Bronto bucket might be too large.

Maybe the scene was too tight for the large spread required to fully spread the Bronto's outriggers.

My department used to have several tower ladders and converted to a mix of rearmount and TDA straight sticks. We can get the current aerials in places that we couldn't get near with the towers.

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