Firefighter Derek North, a 34-year-old volunteer with the Lakeland/Lanier (Ga.) Fire District, died when the department's 1966 Ford Fire Knocker overturned at an intersection. The apparatus driver, firefighter Chad North — Derek's brother — reportedly swerved to avoid a collision with other traffic.

In 2009, Derek North was one of 16 firefighters killed in vehicle collisions in the United States. While the number of on-duty firefighter fatalities was the lowest in more than a decade, vehicle accidents consistently are the second-leading cause of death (behind heart- and stress-related disease) to firefighters.

A Pound of Prevention

According to one of the industry's legal experts, attorney Jim Juneau, 15,000 fire apparatus accidents occur every year in the U.S., ranging from dislodged compartment doors to the more serious, which result in 5,500 lost-time firefighter injuries each year at an annual cost of more than $7 billion.

Are emergency-vehicle accidents more of a human-resources problem than a design or manufacturing problem? Juneau believes that the lack of driver training, speed, intoxication and unused seatbelts are issues that should be included and enforced in standard operating procedures.

"No department policies [addressing] seatbelts and bad tires? Either somebody is not looking or not caring," Juneau said.

The case of Matthew Tramel provides a clear example of what Juneau means. Just after midnight last June, the 18-year-old Tramel, a Pembroke, N.C., volunteer firefighter, was responding to a car fire when he lost control of his personal vehicle and struck a tree. Police reported that wet conditions and speed contributed to Tramel's death. He reportedly wasn't using his seatbelt.

Let that set in for a moment: an 18-year-old volunteer firefighter responding to a car fire is dead because he allegedly was drving too fast for conditions and wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

According to Juneau only cultural change will save more firefighters' lives. "It has to start with the fire chief, passed down to the officers and passed down to the company offers to the firefighters," Juneau said. "If they don't wear seatbelts, give them a day off. Not because you're mean, but because you want to impress upon them that when we talk about safety, we mean it, and you either comply with it all or you will not be in this department."

He concluded that, "A fire department is a professional organization and you run it in a professional way."

But that's only part of the equation. Juneau also strongly believes that communities that want good fire and emergency response services must be prepared to pay for the level of service they want and the services they get.

Ironically, apparatus manufacturers have invested millions of dollars in research and technology to make fire and emergency service vehicles safer. The past several years have seen rollover-protection systems, front and side airbags, seatbelt harnesses and sensors among the latest features available on new apparatus — but there's a downside to built-in safety.

However, Laurence Stewart, fire service specialist for the National Fire Protection Association, cautioned that building additional safety into the NFPA standards will increase costs — as in the January 2009 update to NFPA 1901 that required the addition of chevron striping, seatbelt sensors and video recorders.

"We can't keep adding equipment without pricing the equipment out of the reach of municipal governments. … The handwriting is on the wall that the size of apparatus is getting smaller because of the expense of maintaining these herculean vehicles," Stewart said. "Fire departments may need to look at their mission and buy a 'Swiss army knife' vehicle, or one that will do everything they want and do it affordably."

Stewart added that the number of fires per year has dropped and the demand for the use of apparatus isn't as high. The increase in emergency medical services for fire departments means taking on more expensive equipment for medical calls and for medical resources.

The Golden Age

Over the past decade, the American fire service has been encouraged to look more closely at European fire apparatus. One reason is that European fire brigades have a much lower firefighter fatality rate than the United States. Recently, new apparatus appearing in the U.S. is offering steps that unfold when the door opens, accessible ladders, and lower, leaner and more affordable apparatus — just like in Europe.

Another developing trend in the U.S. is that most manufacturers have introduced standardized apparatus. Indeed, the consolidation of fire departments might spur further standardization of pumpers, engines and even aerials. Some believe that efficiency will increase when everyone knows the capacity and volume of all responding apparatus, a scenario that standardization will foster.

Budget pressures also will force standardization of equipment, according to Alan Saulsbury, former president of Saulsbury Fire Apparatus and a third-generation apparatus builder. He added that terrorist events, natural disasters and pandemics also will be driving factors that shape the future of emergency service vehicles.

Saulsbury breaks the history of American fire apparatus into six distinct eras: steamers — 1850 to 1910; mechanical engines — 1910 to 1940; post-World War II — 1940-1960; the Innovation Era — 1960 to 1980; life/safety development — 1980 to 2000; and support services — 2000 to 2020.