I have been involved in the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards-making process for fire apparatus since the late 1980s when I was first promoted to apparatus chief in the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department. I was selected to be a voting member of the committee in 1997 and became an alternate after I retired. It is a good process and one that I firmly believe in.
NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, is continuously being worked on and goes through a number of steps before being adopted and published approximately every five years. As many of you may know, the new edition has been approved and will go into effect for apparatus contracted after January 1, 2009. It should be available for download online in July, and print editions will be available for purchase shortly thereafter.
I always encourage the students in my apparatus purchasing seminars to obtain the apparatus standard; read it; and, above all, use it as a guide when purchasing apparatus. In my class at FDIC 2008, I interjected many of the changes that will be in the update, and one of the students asked if the NFPA was going to give a guide to the changes. The answer to that question is no, but it gave me an idea for an article for this year’s Apparatus Supplement!
I have painstakingly gone through the final draft of NFPA 1901 (2009) and compared it with the 2003 edition, highlighting the various changes. There were many editorial adjustments and numbering changes that did not alter the intent of the standard, so I did not bother with them, but I did include the things that might affect your next purchase.
Please understand that no committee member or other person can answer for the NFPA. The information contained in this supplement includes my personal interpretation and comments, written in my own words, based on my attendance at the numerous committee meetings and the tons of paper proposals and committee replies that we have reviewed. You can request a formal interpretation from the NFPA if there is anything in the standard (not this supplement) that you don’t understand.
FDIC 2008 was another hit with the fire service! Record numbers of attendees climbed on the latest apparatus, kicked the tires, and went home with countless brochures of the newest products available. I did, too, and had to pay an extra $50 because my suitcase was so heavy! As always, I walked around the exhibits, took photos, interviewed salespeople, and took notes. Presented here are some of the things that caught my eye. Next year should be even bigger and better when the displays are moved out of the RCA Dome and into the new Lucas Oil Stadium. I can’t wait, but I may have to think about renting a “Jazzy” to get around!
Finally, on a sad note, I am reporting the details of a firefighter fatality that occurred in April involving a piece of fire apparatus. A young, knowledgeable, well-liked deputy chief was the incident commander at a fire in an industrial facility when he was struck and killed by an aerial waterway that was dislodged.
I was part of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigative team for this accident and thank NIOSH for allowing me to bring this important training issue to the fire service before the formal report is published. NIOSH determined that the information we gathered was too critical to delay.
NIOSH investigates firefighter fatalities, and its mission is strictly to deliver the information about the incident to the fire service to prevent future accidents and fatalities. NIOSH reports are routinely posted on the Fire Engineering Web site. This is important information that everyone in the fire service should review.
As a member of the NIOSH investigative team, my input will be part of the final report, but the findings and recommendations in this article are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the views of NIOSH.
I hope you find this information useful. Grabbing a line from the late former Fire Engineering Editor Tom Brennan, I want to leave you with these “Random Thoughts”: (1) Get involved with the NFPA standards-making process; (2) do your homework and research when specifying a piece of apparatus (many fine vendors are willing to help); and (3) train, train, train! Many accidents are totally preventable with proper vigilance and training.
Fraternally,
Bill Peters
