When Men Were Men and Ladders Were Wood

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Permalink Reply by FireMedic on January 21, 2012 at 1:57pm

Another advantage to the wood ladder is that when exposed to heat and flame they don't just catastrophically fail like aluminum. They slowly degrade. You can even climb down one that's burning if need be.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on January 21, 2012 at 7:14pm

On the other hand, wood absorbs hazardous materials in liquid or gas form - and we all know that there are hazardous materials in smoke.

Aluminum doesn't absorb hazardous materials at nearly the rate that wood does.

The bottom line is that you can decontaminate an aluminum ladder, but you may not be able to decontaminate an equivalent wooden ladder.

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Permalink Reply by Henri DeClercq on January 22, 2012 at 1:04pm

Are those 3" hard suction hoses? I'm guessing that is a classic pumper (though it doesn't have an open cab...) Definitely a cool looking truck though!