Mounting and storing equipment on apparatus is a balancing act. The equipment should be easily accessible, because every second counts on a fire scene, but it also has to be stored safely and securely so it doesn't pose a threat to firefighters during transport — especially in the event of a collision.
“Equipment mounting and storage has become very specialized in the fire industry,” says Jason Witmier, KME's pumper-tanker product manager. “Customers want equipment mounted so that it is organized and easy to access, but safe so that it does not come out of the bracket during a high-speed response.”
In storage, every single square inch has to be used effectively. Wasted space means that something that could have been brought along had to be left behind.
But effective storage design doesn't happen in a vacuum: It has to work in tandem with other elements of apparatus performance. For instance, proper weight distribution can minimize vehicle rollovers during high-speed turns. This means that storage has to be distributed throughout the truck body such that the overall equipment load is properly balanced from side to side, front to back, and top to bottom.
Balancing access versus firefighter safety is another tricky storage issue. Equipment that is close at hand in the cab can become deadly missiles during a rollover. “This is why many departments have removed SCBA equipment out of their cabs,” says Joe Messmer, owner of Summit Fire Apparatus. “When SCBA and other tools are stored elsewhere on the apparatus, departments are seeing fewer firefighter injuries while driving, or climbing in and out of the cab.”
But even this is changing. “A few years ago, there was a push to get equipment out of the cab so that injuries were avoided in the event of a crash or rollover incident,” Witmier says. “Recently the trend has gone back to mounting the equipment in the cab [to be] easily accessible to the firefighters as they exit the cab to go to work but in a mount that can handle the NFPA required 9 G force.”
Fire departments want to maximize the amount of equipment they can carry while doing it as affordably and safely as possible. This is where custom design comes in. Departments can specify storage for the equipment they need instead of buying cookie-cutter designs and trying to cram everything.
“Since each fire department has unique and specialized needs, we ask several questions up front,” says John R. Greible, Crimson Fire's eastern regional sales manager. “‘What the apparatus is to do?’ and ‘What equipment is to be used?’ are asked before we even think of what type of system to design and build. Once we have all the necessary information, we can then begin to place the equipment into a template to engineer and design the apparatus body to accommodate the equipment needs of our customers.”
Innovations in apparatus design can ease mounting and storage headaches. For instance, KME recently released the Challenger line of pumpers, which feature deeper compartments and specialized storage options.
“Suction hoses on this apparatus are stored in the previously unused space behind the roll of a roll-up compartment door,” Witmier says.
Even with custom design, there is always equipment that seems to defy smart storage. In particular, smaller items can end up being tossed into bins and boxes, providing ample opportunity for damage due to banging against other tools, difficult access and lost tools.
Solutions to this problem include pull-out tool boards and customized slide-out trays. In the same vein, mounting brackets can be tailored to optimize storage space on your truck. This literally may require walking around the basic apparatus prototype, picking up pieces of equipment and placing them to see where they best fit. This also can be done by manufacturers in their computer design systems. In some instances, a mounting bracket can be designed to hold multiple pieces of equipment, as long as such layered storage can be done compactly and safely.
Another way to deal with limited mounting and storage is to create space in previously unused areas, such as fenders. “Compartments in the fender can store items like spare SCBA cylinders, absorbent bins, wheel chocks and fire extinguishers,” Witmier says. But creating such space has to be done without compromising vehicle performance and safety. “If the fender could have been shorter and provided a better handling vehicle with a smaller turning radius (smaller wheelbase), did you really accomplish anything?” he asks. “That's the biggest thing that I like to stress to the end user: Don't be fooled by the person who has this great idea to use wasted space unless that space already existed on current body designs.”
The key to effective equipment mounting and storage begins with evaluating what equipment a department really needs. Remember, every piece of unnecessary equipment that a truck's haul increases fuel costs and vehicle wear.
When buying new apparatus, always check to see if there are improved, lighter-weight versions of the equipment needed. Every ounce cut pays back in operating cost reductions and extra space for other equipment.
Effective equipment mounting and storage requires careful equipment selection, informed apparatus design, space maximization (such as fender compartments) and a willingness to adopt efficient storage solutions such as pull-out tool boards. Do it right, and an apparatus will do more while maintaining or even improving road handling and personnel safety.
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