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Should a fire department use unmarked fire vehicles verses identified vehicles?
- Is being "low-key" of value to the fire service?
- Should we choose generic colored vehicles to blend in with hidden lights and sirens like the law enforcement detectives?
- Or, should we use identified vehicles that have conspicuous markings identifying the vehicle as being a part of the fire department?
- What does your department do?
This takes stealth to new levels... taxi-police car...
This is out-of-the-box thinking I suppose...
There's always the good ol' Ford Crown Vic...
Is it really that "stealth"?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Montpetit on
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Yes Ryan, thats just what we need....a bunch of Firefighters with side arms.......LOL....Can hear it now"What, power company not coming out...? Hey Bubba...betcha I can shoot out that transformer up there...."
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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How would you interpret stealth when describing a fire vehicle? NFPA BS aside I cant envision stealth an fire vehicle in the same paragraph. LOL!. That said, for non-emergency support vehicles yes it could be. Police need all the stealth they can get to get anywhere close to the pesky hideous doughnuts.
undercover Police station
Is this stealth or what?
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Permalink Reply by ashfire on
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Only fire dept units that should be unmarked are fire investigation units. The only firefighters who can arrest people in our county. They are trained as law enforcement officers after being firefighters. I understand the higher ups drive unmarked vehicles.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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I can think of at least one good reason for a chief's vehicle to be unmarked.
If the chief gets a car allowance instead of an issued department vehicle, then the chief has the right to keep it unmarked, since he/she owns the vehicle. If the department extends the car allowance option to subordinate chiefs, they should have the same option.
For those of you who may not be familiar, a car allowance is a contractual option that lets the chief purchase the vehicle of his/her choice and title it to himself/herself. The department reimburses the chief for the car payments, insurance, fuel, and maintenance costs, usually on a monthly basis. If the chief retires, resigns, or is terminated, he/she keeps title and possession of the vehicle but immediately becomes responsible for all fuel, insurance, and maintenance costs.
Several chiefs in my state have used this option, and every one of them has chosen to drive an unmarked vehicle.
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Permalink Reply by Marty O'Connor on
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My thought is if its a piece of fire equipment (aka pumper/tanker & so on and issued Chiefs vehicle) leave them the way they are. Now if your department cannot afford to issue chiefs vehicles and you need to put lights and sirens and other equipment in your personal vehicle I agree with as low profile and low key as possible as long as you follow the 360 degrees of visable light. Also these items should be paid for by district allowing you to hold the office.
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I rest my case
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Also, chiefs with car allowances own the vehicle. They go to church, shopping, out to eat, and on vacation in the vehicle, so unmarked is not only OK, it avoids putting the chief into situations that will get questioned by people that don't understand the situation.
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Permalink Reply by Paul Dudan on
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Interesting Concept Ben. Here I totally agree with the use of an unmarked vehicle.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Klaene on
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Unmarked cop cars are bad enough,
unmarked fire units -- absolutely not. 1. if it is being used for emergency response (ever) it should definitely be marked. 2 If t is being used for inspections or investigations then it should definitely be marked. 3. If it was bought by public funds then it should definitely be marked.
So that leaves only privately funded admin cars and how many of these are out there?
If we re doing something that we can't justify and so we need to "hide" it then we shouldn't be doing it
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Mark, why do you assume that an unmarked car means that something is being hidden?
Why should all vehicles used for emergency response be marked? If a vehicle is primarily admin and occasionally runs calls, there's no reason to mark it.
Your number 2 above means that none of the investigations will ever have a successful outcome.
There are numerous public vehicles that are not marked. There is simply no reason to waste the money to mark every public vehicle.
There are more privately-funded admin cars that you realize. Please see me post about car allowances earlier in this thread.
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