Engine or Truck out 1st?

Awhile ago our company did this for awhile but had problems with it...if We had a truck driver at the station we would put that on the road first if it was our box and full assignment,the idea was the truck can position itself where it needs to be positioned the engine behind will hit hydrant go inside and all that...Seems simple right? NOT! sometimes the engine was still a good x minutes out,or there was an engine crew(mutual aid usually) that did its own thing.Our truck is a quint so to speak 105 ft ariel ladder,7 ground ladders ranging up to 35,2 roof ladders,pump,500 gallons of water,and hose 5 in,1 3/4 inch,and 3 inch,but was wanted to be run as a truck only so there were those problems as well. We took it out first for automatic alarms as well. We are back to run engine out first. Now if we had a crew for engine and truck i wouldn't mind truck out first for that reason but one crew should be engine what does your department do and would you agree if the truck is first out?

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Permalink Reply by Adam Smith on March 13, 2011 at 12:25pm

we have a total of 4 engines in the down town district. yes engines crew should be able to do minimal truck work but the main job of the engine is fire suppression not truck operations . and when the truck crew is hopping off the truck and pulling lines off the engine and leaving the engine crew standing there there's a slight problem and confusion on what the trucks job actually is.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Nicholson on March 13, 2011 at 5:53pm

Wet stuff on the red stuff. With a quint I could see sending it out first. But if a quint starts operating as an engine company, how quickly can it change to truck company ops? With training the problem of engines blocking out a truck should be minimized.
JMHO

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Permalink Reply by Robert A.Ricciardi on March 14, 2011 at 7:07am

Our Sog is the first due engine will always leave room for the first due truck.Having the engine pull past the fire building will also give the engine officer a three sided view of the building

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on March 14, 2011 at 9:42pm

The quint doesn't have to "change" to operate as a truck. We train all members of our department to operate the quints, so if the quint crew arrives first and is committed to other tasks, any company (engine, truck, or the other quint) can operate the aerial on the first-arriving quint.

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Permalink Reply by Jay Nicholson on March 14, 2011 at 9:53pm

The recurring theme in the majority of posts is train, train and more training.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on March 14, 2011 at 10:04pm

Training is part of this, but it's not all of it. If you train with the mindset that this is a engine vs. truck thing, or that you can only operate the rig on which you arrive at the scene, then your training is neither complete nor accurate.

If you train to operate whatever rig may be in position and train as if the rig on which you ride is just that - a ride to work - then you will find that your department is a lot more flexible. That is an essential, especially with the shrinking manpower most of us face nowadays.

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Permalink Reply by Izzy ( J. Bade) on March 15, 2011 at 2:33pm

we do engine first, then truck, but also depends on the call.
engine leaves room for the ladder to position

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Permalink Reply by Ray J on March 16, 2011 at 3:00pm

who has the water???? ENGINE

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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on March 16, 2011 at 10:10pm

...or QUINT

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Permalink Reply by Shareef Abdu Nur on March 18, 2011 at 5:34am

Beery?
Very good point, but all of the water in the world is useless when you need the aerial, ground ladders, or more tools. Also, he stated that their truck is actually a Quint w/ preconnected attack lines and a 500 gallon booster tank. So why not take the most versatile piece of equipment and ask mutual aid from the area departments for the piece of apparatus that they more than likely run the most anyway(Engines)?

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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on March 18, 2011 at 7:54pm

If the call is in Station 1's area, then Engine 1 is first out. Stations 2's area means Engine 2 is first out. And Station 3's area means that Tower 3 (Quint) is first out.