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Conventional Compartment Doors or Roll Up Doors?
Greetings friends in FFN land.
I am constantly being the one who is proactive and voice my opinion in my fire company on a regular basis. Now on the other hand I'm not a s@#t stirrer either, but after 34.5 years both career and volunteer and a retired fire officer who has help with many apparatus spec's & purchases I should know something. I am looking for both the Pro's and Con's on conventional compartment doors vs. roll up doors. It is not a cost issue first off, I can see running rollup doors in congested city and suburban areas due to limited space around the apparatus on side streets and alley ways. In the city and suburbs a good many departments are career or combination and regular if not daily apparatus and equipment checks and washing are a part of the daily routine. And city and suburban streets are usually paved roadways unlike in the rural area's where I live and the roads are not all paved but dirt covered with chip and tar dusty and muddy roadways, and being a volunteer co. can't 100% garuntee the trucks up keep except for and occasional monthly check and wash, weather permitting. Our conventional Compartment doors have served us well for almost 50 years what haunts me the most on the rollup doors is, there will be a lack of maintanace, proper washing of the doors, drying in cold weather and we do get cold here. I have seen these doors on other companies not open when needed by Freezing shut, dirt and grime stuck in the rollup tracks causing failure to open, opening only partially, and horseplay in the apparatus bays where some one runs or runs into the rollup door or falls into the door or even accidently hits or scrapes into the rollup thus causing to not work properly or at all. On the other hand though our current compartment doors which have worked well for years and been put through the same punishments I described above (time tested) have always worked well even when bent up, frozen and filthy dirty. My point is what use would rollup doors do a rural fire co. running 65 to 75 calls a year in a area non condusive to rollup doors?. So if any one can ansewer my question I'd like to know your thoughts. And I only believe in our situation it's a case of the I want's not one of nessesity or need, but only to keep up with the company up the road or in town.
Thanks and Be Safe
I am constantly being the one who is proactive and voice my opinion in my fire company on a regular basis. Now on the other hand I'm not a s@#t stirrer either, but after 34.5 years both career and volunteer and a retired fire officer who has help with many apparatus spec's & purchases I should know something. I am looking for both the Pro's and Con's on conventional compartment doors vs. roll up doors. It is not a cost issue first off, I can see running rollup doors in congested city and suburban areas due to limited space around the apparatus on side streets and alley ways. In the city and suburbs a good many departments are career or combination and regular if not daily apparatus and equipment checks and washing are a part of the daily routine. And city and suburban streets are usually paved roadways unlike in the rural area's where I live and the roads are not all paved but dirt covered with chip and tar dusty and muddy roadways, and being a volunteer co. can't 100% garuntee the trucks up keep except for and occasional monthly check and wash, weather permitting. Our conventional Compartment doors have served us well for almost 50 years what haunts me the most on the rollup doors is, there will be a lack of maintanace, proper washing of the doors, drying in cold weather and we do get cold here. I have seen these doors on other companies not open when needed by Freezing shut, dirt and grime stuck in the rollup tracks causing failure to open, opening only partially, and horseplay in the apparatus bays where some one runs or runs into the rollup door or falls into the door or even accidently hits or scrapes into the rollup thus causing to not work properly or at all. On the other hand though our current compartment doors which have worked well for years and been put through the same punishments I described above (time tested) have always worked well even when bent up, frozen and filthy dirty. My point is what use would rollup doors do a rural fire co. running 65 to 75 calls a year in a area non condusive to rollup doors?. So if any one can ansewer my question I'd like to know your thoughts. And I only believe in our situation it's a case of the I want's not one of nessesity or need, but only to keep up with the company up the road or in town.
Thanks and Be Safe
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Truckie Jay on
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Roll up doors all the way. For the simple and easy fact that I've seen too many conventional doors ripped off by being left open when an apparatus is pulled out of the station. That right there is the only reason I need to support roll up doors.
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Permalink Reply by Deanna on
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We have conventional on all of our apparatus, but I do like the roll-ups, if the maintenence is kept up properly.
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Permalink Reply by Avery Dale on
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We have roll ups on our rescue, great for being on a busy roadway or tight area and easy to get equipment in and out. But we have a problem with dust getting inside the compartments, even with sealer. We run alot of dirt roads in our 1st due and this is a major problem. Our older pumpers with conventional doors get dirty too but it does not seem to be as big of a problem as on our rescue.
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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I love roll up doors! They're stylish and oooh shinny! Lol! But stick to what works best, the conventional!
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Permalink Reply by Sune Schønnemann on
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Got a 20 year old engine with roll up's...
They never been maintained. Sometime we wash the engine once a week, sometimes not for allmost six months..
They still work fine..
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Permalink Reply by paul michael komandt on
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I have also seen this happen, TWICE. once on a brand new station about 25 years ago,(in pictures), and once about 3 months ago.
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Permalink Reply by Tim Wood on
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We have both but i perfere the rollup its one less thing to have sticking out when they forget to shut it
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Permalink Reply by CHIEF NORMAN on
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WELL BROTHER THIS IS WHAT I DO ON MY SPARE TIME IS APPARATUS DESIGN & ENGINEERING...OUT OF 50 TRUCKS THAT ARE BUILT TODAY ABOUT 90% OF THOSE ARE ROLL-UP DOORS, AND THE MAIN REASON BEHIND THE ROLL UP DOORS IS SAFETY FOR ON GROUND FIRE OPERATIONS, PUTTING THE FIREFIGHTERS CLOSER TO THE APPARATUS...ROM & GORTITE. THE COMPANY POK WAS BOUGHT OUT A COUPLE YEARS AGO BY GORTITE SO ITS THE SAME COMPANY. BUT THESE TWO ARE THE LARGEST DEALERS OUT THERE FOR ROLL-UP DOORS AND DONT GET ME WRONG THEY BOTH HAVE GOOD POINTS AND BAD POINTS...BUT MOST OF YOUR ROLL-UP DOORS YOU SEE TODAY TAKE UP FROM 6" TO 10" OF OPENING WHEN INSTALLED, NOW THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE WHEN YOUR TALKING ABOUT SCBA'S AND BRACKETS BECAUSE YOUR COMPARTMENTS HAVE TO BE TALLER TO ALLOW FOR THAT WIDER OPENING FOR THAT EQUIPMENT TO BE STORED, BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW IN THE HEAT OF THE MOMENT FIREFIGHTERS LIKE TO GRAB AND GO, THEY DONT WANT TO HAVE TO TURN THERE SCBA SIDEWAYS TO GET IT OUT OF THE COMPARTMENT JUST SO THE COMPARTMENT CAN BE SHORTER....THATS ONE BAD POINT...AND THERE IS ONE GOOD THING ABOUT THE ROLL-UP DOORS, THERE NOT ALL ROLL-UP...YA THEY DO MAKE A DOOR THAT LOOKS LIKE A ROLL-UP DOOR BUT INSTEAD OF ROLLING UP IT JUST HAS SLIDES OR TRACKS THAT FOLLOW THE COMPARTMENT AROUND, AND WITH THIS CASE YOU CAN HAVE A SHORTER COMPARTMENT WITH A LARGER OPENING, BUT YOU TAKE UP ROOM AT THE REAR OF THE COMPARTMENT SO ITS NOT AS DEEP...THE ROLL-UP DOORS ARE VERY EASY TO MAINTAIN AND USEING GREASE OR ANYTHING THAT IS STICK-E IS A NO!!! NO!!! DRY GRAPHITE, SOAP STONE OR COOKING WAX...THESE THINGS WORK WELL WITH YEARS OF ENJOYMENT AND ITS NOT HARD ON YOUR DOWN TIME AND PUT THE ROOKIES TO WORK UNDER THE CLOSE EYE OF YOUR MAINTENANCE OFFICER...THE ROLL-UP DOORS KEEP THE COMPARTMENT CLEANER AND WHEN YOU ADD A DRIP RAIL YOUR GOOD TO GO ON THE WATER SHED...A DOOR AJAR OR COMPARTMENT LIGHTING IS A NICE OPTION TO HAVE BUT NO MATTER WHAT DOOR YOU HAVE THERE IS ALWAYS THAT ONE TIME YOU HAVE TO GO BACK AND READJUST...NOW ON YOUR WHAT I CALL OLD SCHOOL DOORS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS AND YEARS AND HINGE IN ANY DIRECTION, UP-DOWN-RIGHT OR LEFT...THIS IS A GOOD ONE TO DO, IF YOU HAVE A LITTLE TIME DO SOME RESERCE AND JUST SEE HOW MANY FIREFIGHTERS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY BECAUSE OF A HINGE DOOR PUTTING THEM OUT IN HARMS WAY, YOU WILL BE ASTONISHED AND IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND...NOW IM NOT DOGGING THE HINGE DOOR BUT THERE IS ALLOT OF THINGS THAT A PERSON NEEDS TO CONSIDER ABOUT A HINGE DOOR WHEN CONSIDERING PUTTING THEM ON A UNIT...THE FIRST THING I LOOK AT IS WHAT KIND OF APPARTUS IT IS GOING ON AND WHAT YOU ARE USEING IT FOR...I CAN SAY THIS FOR A FACT AND NOT MANY DEPARTMENTS EVER THANK OF THIS IS WHEN THAT UNIT GETS WORN OUT AND READY TO BE REPLACED, THE APPARATUS WILL BRING MORE MONEY WITH ROLL-UP DOORS THEN IT WILL WITH HINGE DOORS, JUST PLAIN AND SIMPLE...
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I'm not one for the roll ups. Mr. Baker, I think you have pretty much answered your own question. The pros and cons you have mentioned are right on target. I belong to a small dept. and serve the rural area. You never know where your going to end up or what kind of road you'll end up on. We cover approx. 450 sq. miles in our district alone. With all the dirt roads, sand and salt used on the roads during the winter months, the roll ups are just a magnet for this stuff. I also observe that they are just more of a pain to maintain and keep looking half way decent. Conventional Compartment Doors all the way, at least for country guys.
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Permalink Reply by Cassie on
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We have roll-ups on some of our engines... and I like the fact they don't get in the way once they're rolled up. Definitely handy on a crowded fire scene.
However, we have had problems with them when it's really cold out. We get structure fires when it's -10 outside and then it's hard to get them open... sometimes we need a couple people to do it.
I think it depends on the specifics of the roll-up door as well. Ours could use a large handle on them. It's really hard to get a gloved hand under the latch to lift the door. Often we have to take off a glove to make it work.
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Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on
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Brother Bob, I like the old fashioned hinge doors. Our new pumper has all hinge and one roll up door on the back, on dusty roads or cold weather they are a bear to operate. Also at my paying job we have a fleet of utility trucks and have had the same issue with the roll up doors.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Simpson on
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if your department only responds to house fires and such i think you are correct being merely "what you want". We are a small rural department yet we do all extrication and have approxiomately 15 miles of interstate that we maintain. with this stretch it comes in very handy not having to put people so far out in the lanes of traffic, even though lanes get closed down you never know when the wrong one is coming your way. this is the reason we have gone to the roll up doors.
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