The Station Wagon Assumes New Stature!
—San Diego F. D. photo
Once a plaything of the “Country Gentleman,” the modern unit is rapidly becoming a “workhorse” of the fire service
ANY CRITICAL REVIEW of the progress of the nation’s fire service must include consideration of what is happening in the field of fire department command vehicles, with emphasis on the station wagon. This progressive development is assuming greater importance every day.
Briefly, it has to do with the “new look” which has been given the commonplace “wagon”; its resurgence as a medium for meeting emergencies of many kinds, as well as for the important task of transporting fire department command personnel. Impressive as is the rise of the station wagon in the fire service, it has not displaced the universally popular automobile sedan as a command conveyance, and it is doubtful if it ever will. What it has done is to bring to the fire service a new tool possessing unique and individual characteristics and possibilities for broadening the scope and efficiency of the fire department.
History fails to disclose the identity of the fire chief who first chose the station wagon in preference to the more popular sedan passenger car for his own command vehicle. Nor is it clear just which fire department first realized die potentialities of the station wagon as a fire fighting and emergency unit, capable of performing any one of the different tasks discussed later on.
We do know that the station wagon made its debut in the 1920’s as the “estate wagon.” In the beginning, its highly finished wood paneling and other plush features, not to speak of cost, limited it more to the “country gentleman” than the average fire chief. It is within the realm of probability that initial experiments to develop the station wagon into an instrument of fire fighting and first aid was first sanctioned by suburban and small-town fire departments. This would be in keeping with the fact that the station wagon became the right hand of the farmer and rancher long before it found universal acceptance with suburbanites and city folk.
Regardless of its ancestry, the station wagon has become a definite entity with the American fire service, particularly with departments of smaller communities and fire districts where its multiple uses are most appreciated. This fact may easily be determined by a check on automobile registrations and even more convincingly, by observing the motor vehicles bearing fire department insignia at county, state or regional conferences of fire fighters.
How and where used
The versatility of the station wagon is evidenced by its wide range of application, among the more important of which are the following:
Command Vehicle: For the most part, the station wagon has found its greatest use in the battalion, deputy and assistant chiefs’ categories. When employed solely as a command vehicle, the station wagon specifications include the necessary warning signal lights and siren. Mobile radio is a must today. Portable radio units are also considered a necessity for command operations, and are finding their place on command cars to an everincreasing degree. The final items on vehicles limited to officer transportation are the working clothes of the officer and possibly his aide or driver, and one or more extinguishers.
Commenting on the high percentage of station wagons in use by western fire departments, one fire chief said: “Don’t forget, most of our cities and our fire departments out here (Washington and Oregon) are small. Money does not come easily and departments are forced to make every penny go the limit. Even if we chiefs would like to sport nice big chromium sedans, we couldn’t do it. But we can get transportation for ourselves and for a lot of very necessary fire fighting and first-aid equipment at the same time for about what it would cost for a good late-model passenger car. That’s sort of like making our command cars pay their own freight. Besides, the folks in my town would rather see me riding around in my beat-up station wagon anyway, than in one of those flossy chromium super-streamlined jobs.”
Opinions of fire officers who employ station wagons vary as to cargo carried. The chief reason advanced for not loading the rear section of some vehicles was that the space was desired for first-aid and emergency work, that it would not be convenient and would waste time to have to remove cargo in an emergency. On the other hand, others believed it essential to carry all fire fighting and first-aid equipment that the traffic would bear. One chief pointed out that for every time they required his rig as emergency ambulance, there were many more occasions where the equipment he carried was needed at fires; also, that many of the casualties transported by station wagon when ambulances were not immediately available were ambulatory, and there was plenty of room for them in seats up front.
One other important point was noted. Not only did the various fire fighting and first-aid facilities differ between one station wagon and another, but the methods of carrying cargo also varied greatly. There seems to be little pattern or system for stowage. In few instances, the car’s costly radio receiver was so located in the storage area that it might easily be damaged by carelessly packed tools and bulky equipment. Some officers admitted no study had been made of cargo stowage and removal practices.
Rescue and Emergency: The utilitarian value of the station wagon is attested by its growing popularity in the field of rescue and first aid, including emergency casualty transportation. Within recent years, impelled by increasing demands made upon the fire department for what may be called extracurricular work, and for first aid, as well as for instituting all possible economy measures in operating
departmental equipment, some municipal fire chiefs have been conducting detailed studies of their department’s emergency operations, as distinct from fire fighting. Although the results vary, most of them have found that the great majority of service calls are for emergencies which could be capably handled by one or two trained operators with basic equipment readily carried.
One has only to analyze the statistics of the special emergency operations of most of our large metropolitan centers to verify this fact. For example, one large city reported 3,269 patients attended by its fire department squads in a certain year. Of these cases, 531 were classed as “difficulty in breathing,” 133 were fainting spells and 708 were grouped as heart attacks. The balance were listed under 63 other causes running all the way from abdominal pains and accidents in automobiles to people trapped in dumbwaiters and unknown. In the very few emergencies calling for assistance beyond the resources and capabilities of the responding squad cars, additional aid was quickly forthcoming when summoned by radio.
The net result of some of these analytical studies has been the substitution of light, fast, maneuverable station wagons for the heavier and slower rescue trucks. This does not necessarily mean shelving the rescue trucks. Far from it! It means greater economy of operation of the emergency service with no dimunition of efficiency. The larger rescue unit is retained in service to respond to multiple alarms and specials calls where its particular facilities are required.
In the City of Toledo, Ohio, Chief Arnold Papenhagen, station wagon squads cover specified districts, responding to all alarms of fire as well as to special emergency calls. According to last reports, the standard rescue truck is held for fires and special emergencies and when in service, is operated by men drawn from other units. It is said the revised procedure has practically done away with former response of costly fire apparatus, including rescue trucks, to run-of-the-mill emergency cases. The department can effectively handle a larger number of emergency calls with greater facility and economy than before the station wagon squad was adopted.
Continued on page 801
—Chicago F. D. photo
—San Diego F. D. photo
—Chicago F. D. photo
STATION WAGONS
Continued from page 675
Auxiliary Squad Cars: Faced with the acute shortage of manpower, some cities are installing special squad companies to speed personnel to areas known to possess high life and property hazards, or to large-scale emergencies. The modern station wagon, which can seat up to nine men including driver and officer, together with a minimum of first-aid fire fighting equipment, offers one answer to this problem.
Communications H.Q.: The station wagon, with some alterations, depending upon the extent of services it will be called upon to perform, makes an excellent communications and command H.Q. vehicle.
Fire Prevention Units: In the broad field of fire prevention, the station wagon offers greater flexibility than the passenger car sedan for movement of personnel and material such as printed matter, motion picture equipment, etc., necessary for educational purposes. At the same time, by equipping wagons in the fire prevention bureau or division with basic fire fighting and first-aid equipment, the personnel are qualified to meet and cope with minor emergencies encountered during their routine inspection tours. Much the same can be said for the operation of the arson squad.
Photographic Units: Nearly all municipal fire departments of any size have a photo unit. But few of them equip the photographer, or photographers, with the means of effective transportation. The station wagon is proving ideal for this important fire department undertaking. The New York Fire Department’s photography unit has its station wagon promptly on the scene of every multiplealarm fire and special emergency. In addition, it serves practically every other branch of the department.
Maintenance Units: The problem of fire department maintenance has steadily grown more complicated, with enlargement of the departments, greater complexity of apparatus, the introduction of new fire fighting equipment, and the difficulty of getting and holding trained maintenance men. The station wagon is playing its part in helping to solve this problem by taking men right to the fire stations for service.
The station wagon is facilitating field contacts, inspections, trouble shooting and supervision of operations at serious emergencies. It is also finding ready acceptance as a general utility unit.
Forestry Services: One of the first of the fire fighting forces to appreciate its possibilities was the forestry service. Station wagons are in use as command and communications cars, utility and supply, medical and first-aid vehicles, and in other capacities. One California forest ranger, whose district covers several counties, comments, “Next to my Piper Cub, my station wagon is my most valuable asset.”
Summing the advantages
Briefly, one might summarize the advantages of the station wagon as follows:
- Low initial cost compared with certain other types of motor vehicles which are reported capable of performing the same tasks; low replacement costs; and
- Economy of operation, maintenance and upkeep. Small departments have little difficulty finding service available at all times, whereas with some other larger, heavier and more specialized equipment, service facilities may be limited.
Special alterations
We have mentioned structural changes to adapt the standard station wagon model to meet the special tasks for which it is intended in the fire department. In general, these alterations or additions concerm load factors, and for the most part, they are simple in nature.
When the San Diego Fire Department, Chief George Courser, decided to install station wagons in all battalions and to outfit each vehicle with emergency fire fighting and first-aid equipment, tests were conducted by the superintendent of maintenance to determine load limitations, stress on chassis and other factors. The result was a decision to substitute heavy-duty springs and shock absorbers for the car manufacturer’s standard springs; to add alternators and heavier batteries and to make one or two other minor changes. Regulation flashing and fixed fire department lights and siren were added.
One other feature was installed in the San Diego units. This was a public address system so connected that it can broadcast the driver’s command as well as messages over the car’s radio when the receiver is left unattended.
An important detail of installation is the placement of the car radio receiver and any other electronic gear. Although the problem is less acute, with the refinement and simplification of modern radio equipment, safe and accessible installation has usually presented difficulties in most types of motor vehicles, particularly where considerable gear must be carried in the same compartment.
San Diego overcame this handicap by installing its units on special brackets so mounted that removal of any or all of the various equipment in the cargo space cannot interfere with the radio installation.
The amount and variety of fire fighting and first-aid equipment carried on the vehicles vary with local needs and limitations. The battalion station wagons of the San Diego Fire Department pack the following: Wool blanket, box of records, one 2 1/2-pound carbon dioxide extinguisher, explosimeter, first-aid kit, hand light, six red flares, one telephone set (alarm box use), two pairs canvas gloves, 6-foot folding rule, three sprinkler tongs, six sprinkler heads and wrench, 12 key guard glasses, three 3/4-inch pipe caps, three 3/4-inch pipe plugs, one all-service mask, one inhalator with extra bottle of oxygen, one smoke ejector, one demand mask with extra air bottle, one handietalkie radiophone and four redwood pipe plugs.
A number of chiefs carry special equipment of their own. One assistant chief, for example, carries a voltage test meter, a copper tubing crimper, etc.
Chief Charles Bridges, who heads the King County, Wash., Fire District No. 37, has the following equipment in his command car: Resuscitator, high-tension wire cutters, first-aid kit, one liquid and one dry chemical extinguisher, extra bunker coats and boots, portable radio, 60-watt mobile radio, two all-service masks, one wool blanket and transistor loudspeaker on car. The car is also available as an ambulance.
Chicago scraps sedans
It is significant that as part of its modernization program, the Chicago Fire Department has taken the first steps to substitute station wagons for the conventional automobile sedan.
By May 1959, the department had added to its fire fighting and emergency forces 20 new station wagons, replacing as many two-door sedans formerly used by battalion fire chiefs. Of the city’s 30 battalions, two-thirds have now been equipped with the new units and it is reported the balance will be replaced before the end of 1959. In its report for the year 1957, the department indicated it would ultimately be equipped with station wagons. It is recorded that during that year, the emergency ambulance service of the department responded to 28,884 calls, an increase of 3,482 over the previous year. Of the total, 8,453 were for vehicular and miscellaneous accidents, 597 were for airport alerts and 356 for fire alarms. Analysis of these emergency calls indicated that station wagons, equipped with fundamental firstaid facilities, could effectively handle a very large percentage of these calls.
According to the data released to FIRE ENGINEERING, the cost differential between the two-door sedan and the station wagon is comparatively small, taking into consideration the flexibility and other features of the latter.
At present, the department’s station wagons are being used in emergencies as ambulances, especially at fires when ordinarily a battalion chief would be obliged to call for an ambulance. Now the chiefs dispatch their own wagons with an injured person to a hospital near the fire, thereby saving valuable minutes.
Upon delivery to the department the standard station wagons are sent to the shop where they undergo certain alterations. In addition to stretchers and firstaid equipment, the vehicles are equipped with a portable generator which supplies illumination at ordinary still-alarm fires where the department light wagons do not respond; a hand pump which has broad applications; extra axes, pike poles and special nozzles and fittings. All new wagons are equipped with two white emergency lights, manufactured especially for the fire service.
The New York Fire Department recently announced that it has requested 28 station wagons to replace passenger cars presently used by certain division and battalion chiefs. Eventually it is contemplated that all these officers will be furnished with wagons. These units will be equipped with 1 ½-inch hose, fire extinguisher, masks, tools, resuscitators and first-aid kits. In addition, Commissioner Edward F. Cavanagh, Jr. is presently awaiting delivery of a station wagon to replace his limousine.
