Should fire apparatus be provided with fixed fire suppression system(s)?

Heavy Duty Construction Equipment commonly makes use of fixed fire protection systems.

Fire apparatus typically does not come equipped with fixed fire protection systems... Why not?

April 2011 - City of Orlando FD Fire Engine Consumed by Fire

It"s no mystery that industrial use machinery and vehicles are provided with fixed fire protection systems. Without muddying the water with the various systems available, why are these fixed fire protection systems not provided on our apparatus ? The loss of a fire apparatus due to mechanical, electrical or fuel system has occurred in the past, and have the potential to significantly impact the communities they serve. So why don't we protect our apparatus like industry protects their resources? Or maybe, some of you do?

CBz

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on April 30, 2011 at 8:39pm

Sorry BZ, When it comes to justifying the additional cost a system would incur, I would take adequate staffing over a apparatus system anyday.

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Permalink Reply by Barbu-Maximilian Laurentiu on May 1, 2011 at 1:08pm

In the tradition of Roman soldiers fire, loss of machine intervention (fire) other than the strict conditions of a direct interventions (technical failure, fault, negligence, improper location near the fire, etc.), is a stain on the honor subunit. Maybe because the technique is so hard to complete and modernized (primarily financial reasons)

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Permalink Reply by Barbu-Maximilian Laurentiu on May 1, 2011 at 1:14pm

Losing a car with a fire extinguisher in civilian bands draw a fire that led to the cancellation structures (very kind-structure of the voluntary undertaking established in a). Perhaps the emergency services organization will be somewhat different from those in Romania (where the base is GIES-military structure). Local firefighters, civilians are the next mayor (and gifted weak) or addition of large (with some struct few amenities

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Permalink Reply by Barbu-Maximilian Laurentiu on May 1, 2011 at 1:27pm

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVp_ex4jo1w]Film[/url]

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on May 1, 2011 at 6:02pm

Hey John, We are both on the same page. Working for larger departments, we both have the luxury of backup engines and guaranteed attention from insurance companies and claims adjusters with people who are trained to deal with them representing us.

Volunteer FD's on the other hand do not have deep pockets and spend most of their funding on equipment and apparatus, not manpower, "volunteer"... My thoughts here are aimed at departments that have a lot to loose if their apparatus burns to the frame, with all the equipment that more than likely took a long time to acquire and upgrade.

What a hassle for folks that don't have our resources to replace in a rapid fashion, what was lost. There are no backups in many cases and I've always been a believer in the saying, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... When folks are specifying replacement rigs, I think they will be surprised at how cost effective the installation will be. There is nothing to reinvent here. Commercial trucking firms and construction equipment commonly make use of these systems as a preventative measure that affords them vehicle insurance savings, From a bean counters perspective, it's an interesting kind of insurance policy.

CBz

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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on May 1, 2011 at 6:33pm

When one objectively considers the cost of replacing the apparatus, as well as the cost of downtime and response delays, the cost of the fixed system should be a no-brainer.

I've serviced these systems in a previous life- they're not massively over sized and would take up little room on most apparatus's.

At what stage do we really begin to promote Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovey?