Quote:I can not say exactly what their Fire call load is of any types.... but I will say that is a LOT of tax dollars being spent on a rig that is only staffed with 2 people.. yes, 2!!! as I last spoke with an Apopka Lt, they run 4, 2man engines, 1, 2 man tower which cross staffs their Rescue, 4, 2 man ambulances, a 1 man Battalion and have a "Squad" which is an SUV with 4 men in it, that does a lot of inspector work during the day also running calls as a man power unit. it's a joke in my opinion and NOT safe at all.Exactly what is the problem with these vehicles in relation to being staffed with only 2 firefighters?
Speaking from experience, a 2 man engine, although no where close to being ideal, is not necessarily the "joke" that you think it is. Depending on the community and common types of calls, 2 man units can handle the vast majority of calls without problem or being "unsafe". Although a first arriving unit with only 2 firefighters at a structure fire presents certain limitations on what can be done safely and efficiently, the bigger staffing question is how many firefighters in total are you putting on the fireground and how quickly can that happen?
The NFPA 1710 standard for (initial) fireground staffing is 15-17 firefighters arriving within 8 minutes. If a department can meet this standard or come very close, does it specifially matter that they arrive in 3-4 vehicles vs. 6-7 vehicles?
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