Firefighters Riding on the back of brush trucks.

I just wondered how many dept allow firefighters to ride on the back of brush trucks. And any thoughts you might have. Half of the depts in our county can ride on the brush trucks and the other half can not.

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Permalink Reply by Oldman on October 15, 2010 at 2:44pm

I would question why one would attacking the fire head on with a 30ft flame front, whether walking or riding.

As far as the "compartment" to stand in goes, 2 questions come to mind:

1. While you are standing, are you belted in to prevent you from being ejected when the truck rolls?

2. Is there a roll cage to protect you from being crushed by the cab or body of the truck when it rolls?

If one watches the video in the news story I posted, the firefighter was seriously injured even though the truck had "a compartment we stand in for stability of the ff riding in the back".

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Permalink Reply by Derek R. on October 15, 2010 at 5:11pm

I usually try to play the "what-if" game. And my concern, which was touched on earlier, is what if the crap hits the fan and you are high-tailing it out of there and flames are rolling over the truck and it's the only way to safety. Earlier that day you arrived on scene and loaded up the truck with FF so they didn't have to walk that mile and a half into the woods to the fire. Now you can't fit all the FF inside the truck.
That would be my reason for not allowing anyone to ride the gate.