LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Departments
Some comments and suggestions concerning apparatus emergency warning lights
After reading the April 1986 issue of FIRE ENGINEERING, I feel compelled to respond to the article written by Robert Aldrich and Charles McKusick regarding emergency warning lights on apparatus.
Before you can address warning systems, you must first consider the training of the personnel who will use them, for without training, all the systems made are worthless. An operator with his “butterflies” out of control becomes a menace to the public, his fellow associates, and himself. He must realize the limitations of his equipment, their primary function, and be totally in control of the situation.
My first chief probably said it best when he told us, “Get to the incident as soon as possible, but, at all costs, make sure that you get there.”
Always proceed as though the person you are trying to warn may react negatively.
The authors are to be commended on the emergency vehicle warning guide, as it is one of the best I have seen, and uses a sound, basic, common sense approach. I have listed below the guide 1 use, which merely defines in greater detail what was recommended.
- Two cab-mounted rotating beacons, parabolic or sealed beam mounted forward on the left and right sides to create a flash rate of 90 fpm each. You don’t need eight sealed beam
- bulbs and all those mirrors as found on some light bars.
- Where law permits, one white 360° strobe mounted in the center of the cab as high as possible for inclement weather.
- A headlight flasher system or separate grill lights at least seven inches in diameter. Not both systems, pick one.
- Two revolving rear lights with parabolic reflectors to create 90 fpm.
- A steady siren tone using a mechanical siren “rise and fall,” or the wail setting on an electronic siren with intermittent air horn as needed.
- Use cab-mounted spotlights at night as an additional aid by creating a wigwag pattern.
- Obviously, the issue of proper emergency vehicle lighting needs to be addressed in much more depth. Hopefully, my letter will spark some interest toward this end.
Rick Bolly
Lieutenant
Ann Arbor Fire Department
Ann Arbor, MI
Eye-catching colors
While the debate over what color emergency response vehicles should be continues, the April 1986 cover photo of the massive pileup on Interstate-5 near Sacramento, CA, shows the red emergency vehicles to be predominant in color, while the lighter colored ones blend into the scene. Also note that the red colored vehicles involved in the accident stand out from the rest.
Daniel W. Smith, Jr.
Assistant Chief
Sunman Rural Fire Department
Sunman, IN
An answer to the remote smoke alarm question
In January 1986 Letters to the Editor, H. V. Longley, Jr., said that he was “trying to obtain a smoke detector with the sensing unit in the attic and the alarm unit in the living area of my home.” We have installed exactly what he wants in all of our fire stations.
The photoelectric smoke detectors contain a transmitter that sends a radio signal through cement walls and floors to an automatic dial telephone. This telephone console audibly announces “fire” for 30 seconds to allow for easy cancellation of false alarms. It then dials the first of two telephone numbers that you programmed into it. If nobody answers the first phone, it dials the second number. If the first phone is answered, the automatic dialer announces the message that you put into the machine when you programmed it. If the listener wants to handle the situation himself, he dials 3. That stops the second number from being dialed automatically. If he decides to get into action, but wants more help, he hangs up and the second phone is dialed and given the same message.
The system also comes with a medicalert feature and a third sensor that triggers the device in case of flooding, power outage, or heating/cooling system failure.
The Emergency Call System is made by AT&T and only costs a few hundred dollars. Price depends on how many smoke detectors you buy and if you want to buy the simple 100 model for fire alert only or the 400 model that has all the other functions.
Andrew C. Berthold
Management Assistant
Salinas Fire Department
Salinas, CA
