I have never seen so many pictures of wrecked, twisted and crushed fire trucks as I did this past week at the 18th Fire Department Safety Officers' Association's Apparatus Specification and Vehicle Maintenance Symposium in Orlando. While many of the fire truck accidents involved cars and driver error, too many included firefighters who became projectiles and died.

There was one message this year that reverberated — without any prompting — from most of the speakers. Safety. Safety. More Safety. Here are some highlights:

Sean Kilcarr, senior editor of Fleet Owner magazine, was quite positive about the new engines that will be required in 2007. He also introduced a few new buzzwords, including ultra low diesel fuel. "Less sulphur means less corrosion," said Kilcarr. "This is the 'green' card that appeals to city managers for a cleaner environment if you're trying to convince [them] to purchase a new vehicle."

Kilcarr also noted that electronic control braking systems, or ECBS, will soon appear in the U.S. market. However, "none of this stuff will work in saving a firefighter's life if they are not buckled in their seatbelt," he said. "Airbags are not a primary safety device if they don't wear a seatbelt and a crash occurs."

NFPA 1901 Safety Task Force Committee Chairman Robert Tutterow's presentation on specifying safety in apparatus recommended that departments:

• Remove SCBAs from cabs,
• Hold officers and operators accountable, and
• Prohibit the use of personal vehicles for response.

Texas trial lawyer Jim Juneau gave the most riveting presentation of the conference. He pointedly told attendees what to do when something is wrong with an apparatus: "If you're not in charge of the apparatus, bitch! If you are in charge of the apparatus, listen!" He noted that regular preventive maintenance checks are "absolutely essential."

As for seatbelts, Juneau asked, "How many times are the seatbelts tucked into the seat cushion? They should never leave the shop tucked into the cushion." He said that mechanics should put the seatbelts where they belong and notify the officer and chief in writing.

Jump seats were next on the list, along with the fact the six firefighters had died in the past three years after falling from them. Juneau said he had recently heard that Irwin "Buzz" Gross, the Brookline, Mass., firefighter who fell from an apparatus and died in 2004, had been sitting next to Joseph Tynan Jr. when he fell from an apparatus in 1982. Tynan sustained severe head injuries and died 20 years later. Juneau added that he had heard that a California firefighter who fell from an apparatus was originally from Brookline. "If I were the chief of Brookline, Massachusetts, I'd quit," Juneau said.

Juneau then took on tanker rollovers. From 1977 to 1999, there were 73 tanker deaths; 78% or 54 were rollovers resulting in firefighter fatalities. "Riding in a tanker may be among a firefighter's most dangerous duties," he said. "There is a movement to remove lights and sirens from tankers."

Juneau's final message: "Why take the trouble to wear helmets, gloves, gear, hearing protectors, SCBAs, PASS devices, etc., and not wear seatbelts en route?"

Jim is always a dynamic speaker, but by the time he finished this presentation, I was nauseated. It was powerful. The pictures were riveting and his statistics frightening. As we left, one attendee said, "I wish my chief were here."

Safety. It's not going away.