The tremendous rise in rescue vehicle and rescue-pumper use in the last 10 years is similar to the tanker growth in the 1960s, the explosion of mini-pumpers in the '70s and the rapid increase of aerial platforms in the '80s. It is, in effect, the next dramatic change in the evolution of our fire apparatus. This growth represents not just the acquisition of new rescues, but a total cultural change in the fire industry to deliver more effective rescue services to the taxpayer.

This evolution is the result of a new look at hazards, needs assessment and personnel evaluation, and the changing role of fire departments in providing services to their community. As 95% of most responses don't involve a major fire, many departments are evolving into broader emergency services providers. The future of rescues will continue to be an evolution of education, equipment design and apparatus concepts.

Reasons for change

Before diving into the future of rescue vehicles, we should first look at what the rescue mission of the future might be. This mission will largely be based on the demands and expectations placed on emergency services providers by the government and the public.

The demand will expand to include the core services of motor-vehicle extrication, lighting, breathing-air supply, emergency medical services and others, and also more specialized services such as trench rescue, water rescue, confined-space rescue and mass-casualty incident responses. Departments will be expected to have basic equipment to handle these types of responses, with more specialized equipment coming from regional sources. We have seen this for 50 years in Europe, and these changes will evolve in the next 10 years in North America.

We will need the ability to communicate with those regional resources; city, national, military and mutual aid agencies; and civil service departments such as highway, police, sewage, environmental protection and others. We will see the use of global positioning systems to track personnel and equipment, pre-planning programs and displays to give vital reference information, surveillance devices to give situation updates, and monitoring sensors to keep track of vital utilities.

There also will be demands for more effective procedures and equipment to handle traffic control and protect vehicles and responders at the scene of motor-vehicle accidents. In the future, responders will use speed reduction and direction devices such as huge arrow signs, rumble strips, lighted traffic cones and other equipment to protect themselves and better manage oncoming traffic. Responders also may use dedicated fire department blocking vehicles with collision air bags, traffic arrow signs and special warning lights.

Finally, the new “bring them home alive” emphasis in the fire service is long overdue, but we haven't seen anything yet. In the next 10 years, there will be a growing awareness for the need to provide personnel rehab, monitoring, tracking, decon and accountability. Again electronics will play a key role and will change SOPs, training, emergency operations and equipment in a radical way. We also have ongoing accountability by management for the physical fitness of firefighters. This change will require that firefighters leave the active ranks earlier in their careers or transfer to less stressful positions. Equipment for on-scene personnel monitoring will be linked to incident command vehicles that will respond to every incident.

Tool innovations

It seems like innovations in rescue equipment are everywhere, with new companies offering patented widgets, and well-known companies inventing and introducing new rescue equipment each year. The move to quicker, faster, easier and more-compact gadgets is happening everywhere, from hydraulic rescue tools to traffic control devices, from SCBA to personal protective gear. With this increase in equipment comes the question of what to do with it all.

Who in the world would have ever thought of the word “architecture” in the design of a rescue vehicle 20 years ago? Today this word is absolutely required in the engineering of every rescue apparatus. Today's purchaser is faced with the very real questions of how to organize services, how to place equipment and how much equipment can be carried on a single rescue apparatus.

Future rescues and equipment layout will be designed and engineered by professionals in their field. The day of having a few shelves and slide trays is over. We will be carrying more equipment to provide more services than present apparatus. Future rescues will carry even more equipment and will provide a wider array of services than present vehicles. Every cubic inch of usable space will be utilized, and there will be more powered slide trays and equipment racks for equipment. Few fire department personnel will have the expertise to engineer equipment layouts and functionality of vehicles, and manufacturers and consultants will have to play a larger role in rescue vehicle architecture to handle all the new equipment.

Individual departments will be expected to have rescue apparatus to provide core services such as breathing air, generators, floodlighting, and both hydraulic and compressed-air power sources. In the last 10 years, we have seen dramatic changes in the size and types of generators used on apparatus. When the NFPA classified lighting critical to the mission of fire apparatus, the fire service finally decided to get out of the dark ages. In 10 years, we moved from portable 5kw generators to fixed 40kw systems, and now we are headed to 100kw apparatus-mounted systems. In addition, we moved from a few portable 500-watt incandescent lights to elevated light towers providing 600,000 lumens of lighting on a rescue scene. The need for other large and flexible fixed vehicle systems will grow in the areas of breathing-air sources, hydraulic rescue tools and utility air compressors.

The future apparatus fleets

Today the average fleet looks something like this, regardless of department size:

• 50% pumpers.
• 15% tankers.
• 15% aerial devices.
• 20% rescue and support vehicles.

If 95% of today's responses are for non-fire incidents, why is 80% of our fleet designed for only 5% of our actual calls? As fire apparatus fleets grow to accommodate specialized vehicles, the percentage of fire vehicles will decline. The remaining pumpers and aerials will be modified and updated to supply a wider scope of support services.

Compare this to the projected fleets of the year 2020:

• 40% pumpers.
• 15% tankers.
• 10% aerial devices.
• 35% rescue and support vehicles.

With the change in fire department services, we will see more multipurpose vehicles that are smaller and carry less equipment and personnel. Where will the equipment and people go? It will be the same as European apparatus: pumper tenders, people-movers and support vehicles.

The move to four-wheel-drive chassis will grow, especially in northern areas. Apparatus will decrease in size and be replaced by shorter, lighter and less expensive chassis, as we already see in other countries. We are going to learn to design more into smaller packages — very similar to our automobile evolution from the 1960s to the 2000s.

Future pumpers will have smaller pumps, but they will retain their firefighting capabilities by using more effective foam systems, nozzles and delivery systems. Pumpers also will provide a wider array of services and equipment, spend more time out of the fire station, drive more miles and be replaced sooner. Future aerials will be smaller with few or no ground ladders, hose and equipment. Electronic sensing devices will direct remote-control monitors, and GPS will direct firefighters to the pinpointed location of a fire.

Take command

Incident command vehicles will become regional in nature and acquisition will be on a major city, state and national level. Due to the low use and high importance of such vehicles, most fire departments will have small vehicles or sections of vehicles that can be linked to the larger regional incident command vehicles. The first-responding fire departments will provide immediate and transitional resources until they can link up with other arriving units. However, this linking must be engineered into every fire department pumper, aerial and rescue support vehicle of the future.

Other regional apparatus like special aerials, cranes, high-volume pumpers, hose wagons, decontamination units, rehab vehicles and others will evolve naturally. The high-cost/low-run nature of these units will push fire departments to turn to group purchasing with national or state grants.

Overall, the life expectancy of apparatus will drop from the current 30 to 40 years to 15 to 25 years — and this is expected to happen within the next 10 years! The culture of our industry will no longer tolerate operating unsafe and out-of-date fire trucks. This cultural shift, combined with expected changes in national standards and laws, will force fire departments to accept that retiring 25-year-old apparatus will not put the fire service out of business.

The amount of apparatus maintenance performed by fire departments will be drastically reduced. Because of the complexity of the chassis, engines, electronics and other systems on future apparatus, fire department shops will focus mainly on preventive maintenance and light repairs. The lack of qualified technicians will drive fire departments to outsource major repair services — and this will also happen in the next 10 years.

Safety will be engineered standard on every chassis of the future. There will be a new initiative in the future to move NFPA standards away from the current minimum standards to “best standards” for equipment and apparatus. National standards for safety will be raised to unprecedented levels, which will reflect demands for improved firefighter safety.

A new kind of “rescue”

The concept of a single rescue truck has evolved into a group of apparatus now termed as “support vehicles.” These vehicles will be more complicated and will provide a wide array of services. In recent years we have added more dedicated vehicles for breathing air, decon, rehab, command, lighting/generator and more, and it's expected that these vehicles will grow to be as much as 35% of our fleets in the next 15 years and even more in the next 25 years.

Fire vehicles, such as rescue pumpers, will also provide more services and equipment. The real design challenge for future apparatus is similar: How do we do more, carry more and do it in a smaller package?

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Alan Saulsbury formerly was the owner and president of Saulsbury Fire Rescue Inc. and was past president and director of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturer's Association. He has also been employed as a fire protection engineer and an apparatus consultant for vehicle and component manufacturers. Presently, he is a member of the NFPA 1901 Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus committee and is President of Fire Spec Services Inc., which provides technical specification services for the fire and ambulance industry.

Funding of Future Apparatus

In the future, there will be an even greater emphasis on the non-interruption and/or quick restoration of critical services such as transportation, utilities and commerce to minimize the economic impact. Consider what the economic impact on our nation was the month after 9/11 versus the replacement cost of the buildings. The indirect financial impact on the nation's economy was far greater than the specific disaster. Government officials now realize the cost of services or fire apparatus is an immeasurable fraction of the total lost potential related to an incident. This potential will drive apparatus acquisition in the future.

The advent of the national grant programs is only the beginning of new funding sources for apparatus for the future. Yes, government is getting smarter! They are consolidating everything: schools, fire departments and even military bases. Group and co-op purchasing is just getting started in the fire service. Such group purchasing will not be just for GSA and big cities; but it will find its way to the smallest volunteer fire departments.

Volunteer fire departments will have to move from funding fire stations, equipment and apparatus with barbecues, bingo, carnivals and coin drives to new venues. Apparatus and equipment will cost too much for conventional funding drives. Changing lifestyles in the next 10 to 20 years may radically change the face of today's traditional volunteer fire department. There will be tremendous pressure on government from both the public's expectation of services and the fire department's search for funding of personnel and fleets.

Career fire departments will still have to seriously address personnel issues because they reflect 95% of their budgets. Even though the fleet mix will change, this does not mean the total cost of apparatus will decrease, nor will we have fewer personnel. Firefighting personnel will have to be trained on “multiple apparatus” with “multiple missions.” Actually, the total number of career firefighters will increase due to the consolidation with volunteer departments or the demand for more services by communities that may require personnel on a 24-hour basis.