City Of Rochester, NY Fire Apparatus

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You know, I was just thinking the same; as much as I despise KME, from reading all of that, a majority of the problems inly in a poor spec. I refer this to Chief Reeves, how many times recently has he talked about spec'ing a piece of junk? While it sounds like the guys that actually use them had very little say until it was too late, the people who DID spec. them have no room for complaint. I would call this spec. unsuccessful, and I have no irons in the fire.

I make it a point not to openly criticize another department's apparatus committee; I did not sit on Rochester's committee and I don't know what conditions were imposed upon them. Their process sounds like it is very different from Syracuse's, but that is their right and their choice. Sometimes committees are handicapped from the start by politics and price . . . And while I don't know if that was the case here, those things can be a tough hurdles to ever overcome regardless of the knowledge and capabilities of the committee members. Early and continuous input and feedback from the end users is a critical part of any successful specifications package, although it can represent a major departure from how many departments do things. On the face of it, it seems like the majority of the major issues with Rochester's KME rigs could have been overcome early in the spec process . . . . And certainly before four units were completed and accepted. But again, I don't know the conditions their committee was working under, what they were requested or required to do, or by whom. I keep hearing that my next book should be "How NOT to buy a fire engine", and while I will continue to maintain that every good fire apparatus starts with a complete, correct and collaborative specifications package, there are also a number of "external influences" that can result in poor apparatus. I wish Rochester good luck and many years of good service out of their new rigs . . . I have no doubt that was the intention of their apparatus committee from the start.