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Utility Truck in Place of a Ladder

Brothers/Sisters

Hello, I am a volunteer firefighter from a rural fire department in the heart of Iowa. Recently, there has been a debate on using a city’s utility truck in place of an aerial truck, when the need arises to conduct an exterior attack, when it is unsafe to use a ladder. As you can a imagine, a rural fire department is not going to have the need or funding to be equipped with an aerial. I have heard in the past that this practice is not legal, such as from an OSHA standpoint. Does anybody have any documentation or knowledge on this practice? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

Stay safe,

Ryan

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Permalink Reply by Larry Lasich on January 6, 2009 at 8:33am

Plus, Ladders have, well, ladders. Once the bucket is in place, it has to drop to get anything (firefighters, air bottles, victims) changed

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Permalink Reply by Marty Mayes on January 6, 2009 at 10:56am

Ryan,
I own a ladder testing company. We test aerials and ground ladders. The fire aerial ladders are built to a much higher standard than other commercial aerial devices. They as a rule are built 2 to 4 times greater than the rated load, depending on the manufacture. Then the NFPA requires that they are tested and certified every year. The same applies to ground ladders, it's why we don't buy them at a local hardware store. The reasons for this is to minimize the risk we take on an already dangerous fireground. I am a big believer that we should only use equipment designed for the job. From our PPE to our aerials.

Also, check with your insurance carrier. My guess is you would not be covered against injuries sustained on non fire department aerials. That is is big concern, who pays the bills.

One last thought. Really condsider the need for an actual raised master stream. At most fires the elevated master stream amounts to little more than a public relation tool. I know it can be hard to watch something burn, and take little or no action. The fact is,when using an elevated stream, we usally only spray alot of water and let it burn out anyway.As Chief Brunicini says,"burn it down in style".

Marty

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