The NFPA needs your input!

The NFPA 1500 committee needs to hear your input on why the Exterior Fire Attack Position is important in fine fuel areas! Unfortunately, you must do this via the NFPA website with a unique user name and password. We have created a step by step set of instructions to complete this process.

 

Input must be submitted by the deadline 5/16/2016.

 

Download instructions

Apparatus with an Exterior Fire Attack Position Currently on the Market

These pictures were taken at the TEEX Municipal Vendor Show in College Station, TX. All but two of these trucks have positions behind the cab. One truck has a position on the front bumper and one at the rear of the truck.

 

Current Manufacturers of an Exterior Fire Attack Position

 

Skeeter Brush Trucks (Kirby, Texas)

http://www.skeeterbrushtrucks.com/index.php

http://www.skeeterbrushtrucks.com/owners.php

https://www.facebook.com/skeeterbrushtrucks

 

Wildfire Truck & Equipment Sales (Alvarado, TX)

http://www.brushtruck.com/default.asp

http://www.brushtruck.com/recent.asp

 

Neel Fire (Waco, TX)

http://www.neelfire.com/trucks/wildland.php

 

Midwest Fire (Luverne, MN)

http://midwestfire.com/apparatus/quick-attack/brush-trucks/

http://midwestfire.com/customers/deliveries/?type=Wildland&model=All+Models&style=All+Styles&zip=Zip+Code&radius=&filter=true

 

Hays Fire & Rescue (Hays, KS)

http://www.haysfireandrescue.net/Truck_Gallery_OCWG.php

 

Deep South Fire Trucks (Seminary, MS)

http://deepsouthfiretrucks.com/brush-trucks/

 

Emergency Fire Equipment (Mayfield, KS)

http://www.e-fire.net/home/trucksapparatus.html

 

Maintainer Custom Bodies (Rock Rapids, IA)

http://mcbfire.com/deliveries/quick-attack-george-ia/?recent=1

 

Chief Fire & Safety (Chickasha, OK)

http://www.chieffire-safety.com/deliveries

 

Danko Emergency Equipment (Snyder, NE)

http://www.danko.net/apparatus/flatbed-wildland-attack

http://www.danko.net/apparatus/mega-flatbed-wildland-attack

http://www.danko.net/new-deliveries

 

Unruh Fire (Sedgwick, KS)

http://www.unruhfire.com/brush-trucks/

http://www.brushtrucks.us/

 

Weis Fire & Safety (Salina, KS)

http://weisfiresafety.com/fire-trucks/quick-attack

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Weis-Fire-Safety-Equipment-Company-Inc/164252860263620

 

1st Due (Bartlett, KS)

www.1stdue.com

 

AMI-Fire Equipment (Brenham, TX)

http://www.ami-fire.com/inventory.asp?cat=475

http://www.ami-fire.com/results.asp#mid

 

Daco Fire Equipment (Fort Worth, TX)

http://www.dacofire.com/?q=node/126

 

Steele Fire Apparatus (Haskell, TX)

http://www.sfabrushfiretrucks.com/smbrush.html

http://www.sfabrushfiretrucks.com/lgbrush.html

 

Turnkey Industries (Magnolia, TX)

http://www.tkind.com/emergency-vehicles.html

 

Westex Fire (West, TX)

http://westexfire.com/gallery/2623544

 

1st Attack (Waterloo, IN)

http://1stattack.com/trucks/fire-trucks/

 

Metro Fire (Houston, TX)

http://www.mfas.com/index.php/fire-trucks/arlington3

 

Kyrish Government Group (Killeen, Texas)

http://kyrishgovt.com/brush-truck/

 

Crow Construction (Cashion, OK)

http://www.crowconstruction.com/brushpumper.html

 

J&J Custom Fire (Red Rock, OK)

http://www.jandjcustomfire.com/index.html

http://www.jandjcustomfire.com/galleries/garber.html

http://www.jandjcustomfire.com/galleries/hawley.html

http://www.jandjcustomfire.com/galleries/perry.html

http://www.jandjcustomfire.com/galleries/skedee.html

 

Company Two Fire Apparatus (Varnville, SC)

http://www.companytwofire.com/Public/InventoryVehicle.aspx?id=8112

 

Southeast Apparatus (Corbin, KY)

http://www.southeastapparatus.com/2014-deliveries.html

 

Pierce (Appleton, WI)

http://www.piercemfg.com/en/trucks/federal-government/wildland.aspx

 

Cooper Creek Mfg (Loyal, OK)

http://www.coopercreekmfg.com/index.htm

https://www.facebook.com/CooperCreekMfg

 

Heiman Fire Equipment (Sioux Falls, SD)

http://www.heimanfiretrucks.com/equipment.php?equip=wildland

 

Blanchat Manufacturing (Harper, KS)

http://www.blanchatmfg.com/

http://www.blanchatmfg.com/trucks

 

If Blanchat is building 40 trucks per year with an exterior fire attack position, how many total trucks are being sold in North America with 29+ manufacturers selling the exterior fire attack position on their apparatus?

 

How many of these new exterior fire attack positions are sufficiently safe in the event of an impact or roll-over?

- Greg Blanchat

 

What Fine Fuel Firefighters Say

• I agree that a change needs to be made. As a volunteer fire fighter it is not ideal to walk beside a truck. There are many risk factors to that if the smoke is heavy enough the fire fighter walking could be seriously injured by the driver a long with many other possibilities. I believe a roll cage added to a wildland apparatus is entirely the way to go. It will be safer and faster to allow this change. Please understand when you are out there putting your life on the line anything to limit accidents should be considered.

  Tyler Schrant
  Oklahoma Volunteer FF  

• It has been brought to my attention that NFPA is again about to discuss the subject of firefighters being permitted to ride on fire trucks while fighting fine fuel fires.

   

  Although equipment such as remote controlled nozzles have aided in fighting this type of fire there is nothing that can replace a firefighter for this job. When fighting a grass or crop fire in our area of north west Kansas we regularly encounter winds of ten to forty miles an hour. This makes it impossible for even a young athletic firefighter to be able to "walk" beside a truck and fight fire, and due to a lack of younger people in our areas many of our firefighters are no longer young. Our concern for firefighter safety is much greater regarding the possibility of heart attacks and heat related illness that for the much less likely event of vehicle rollover.

   

  It is also a concern that someone walking beside a truck when it is possible may trip and fall under the tires of the moving truck or be injured in some other way. Being onboard will also allow a quick exit of both truck and crew from the area if conditions require it.

   

  Being able to ride on the truck also allows the firefighter and the driver to stay in communication with each other . This cannot be done if the firefighter is off at a distance trying to drag a hose.

   

  I strongly believe that decisions on matters such as this should be made made by those who are familiar with the job to be done. I can only imagine the reaction if a group of firefighters from northwest Kansas would set out to write standards for fighting fires in buildings of over one hundred stories.

  Bruce Lemon
  Osborne Rural Fire District #1
  1977 to Present  

• The fire service has come a long way since the days of bucket brigades, hose carts, and riding on the tailboard to a fire call. Advances in technology have made our job more efficient and safer. Although many practices from the “old days” have been abandoned or improved, there are some that are hard to improve or replace.

   

  Each part of the country has firefighting situations unique to their location. Because of special circumstances and needs of a particular location, fire departments have adapted or evolved special ways to combat the problems they face. One particular problem rural volunteer fire departments in the central plains states face is fast moving, fine fuel fires. These are fires that burn in short grass prairies, CRP fields, and agricultural stubbles. Anyone who has experienced one of these fires can attest to the speed and erratic behavior of them. Add a little (or a lot) of wind and many of these fires run very quickly.

   

  A way many of us small rural volunteer fire departments have adapted to fighting these fires is to drive the fire line in the burnt fuel with one or more firemen riding behind the cab of the apparatus armed with short booster lines and wildfire nozzles. Many fire trucks have been modified over the years to incorporate this type of fire attack. Today many body builders offer “brush trucks” with this option. Many of the early designs were quite crude and could be considered dangerous. Today, however, most of the current manufacturers have seen the need for improved safety and have incorporated that into their designs. Some would argue that using bumper mounted, remote controlled monitors and ground sweeps are the best way to attack a fire. We disagree. Bumper monitors use a very large amount of water that is very precious on a truck that only carries 300-500 gallons. Many of these fires occur in remote areas where water is most often, very hard to find. Bumper monitors are also very difficult to maneuver and “aim”. Ground sweeps work well for mop up situations, but have limited use for initial fire attack. Nothing can beat the speed and accuracy of a human guiding a nozzle from the proper vantage point. Because of the speed that many of these fires travel, a ground attack walking along side the apparatus (the way the US Forest Service recommends) is impossible and dangerous.

   

  We feel it is important as well as necessary for manufacturers to be able to continue to build apparatus that incorporate an exterior Fire Attack Operational Area as long as safety is their first consideration and the body meets roll-over protection standard SAE J1194.

  Rick Meier, Chief & Nick Fehringer, Asst. Chief
  Peetz VFD
  Peetz, CO

   

• Currently our department has the capability with two apparatus to pump and roll with a firefighter safely buckled into a harness and protected by a rollover protection system. This system, created by Blanchat Manufacturing, was researched by our department and compared to many other systems and we believe it is the safest on the market and have seen its use as essential on the Urban interface and Wildfire scene.

   

  Firefighter safety is always first with our department, period. This style of rollover protection gives our department the capability to fight fire with the precision and effectiveness of a firefighter at the controls of the nozzle nestled safely in a protective enclosure. Our department views this as an advantage over the use of a monitor because of precision and conservation of water. This system also allows for the firefighter to be evacuated from the hazards of the fire scene in an expedient manner without the possibility of being hit by the apparatus while keeping the fatigue factor low for our personnel. With wireless communication capability included, it also provides a wider, more efficient view of the scene by the firefighter while the driver can concentrate on safe driving practices. We plan on adding additional apparatus of this configuration as our community grows and our Urban Interface fires increase. They have been essential to our firefighting needs and are under heavy demand by our mutual aid departments because of their safety and effectiveness.

  Stewart D. Bryan, Fire Chief
  City of Greenwood Fire Department
  Greenwood, AR  

• I've got a great helmet cam video of a fast attack from this position.

   

  The following video shows a fast attack on the south end of a grass fire in butler county ks. These fires are common in our area and when driven by the wind can run quite fast. One structure was endangered and the fireground was split by a fence. One duplicate grass truck was north of the fence with the endangered home and this unit was the south. With two firefighters per grass rig, the fire was controled in a quarter of the time it would of taken walking alongside the rig.

   

  https://youtu.be/imkeLMGK7B8 

  Bruce Lemaire
  Rose Hill, KS

 

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