Syracuse still has its 135-foot Emergency-1 (That's what they called them when it entered service in June of 1985). It's built on the Hurricane chassis and is one of twenty-seven 135' aerials built by them. It is currently assigned to Rescue Company 1 as a third piece, due on target hazards such as Syracuse University dormitories, high-rise apartments and hotels, and basically anywhere else the Rescue Company officer feels it may be of potential use. It's designation is currently Rescue Truck, although that may change soon.
We did an in-house rehab of the vehicle at our Division of Maintenance a bit over a year ago, repainting it to our new dark red color scheme (it looks pretty sharp, too - I'll post a photo when I'm not on my IPad). The Syracuse Fire Department is currently, and predictably, undergoing the same budgetary pains as most other municipal fire departments and we are facing the potential closure of an engine company and the subsequent realignment of other companies. We had reinstituted Squad Company 1 a couple of years ago to perform vertical vent duties, and they ended up having responsibility most of the time for actually operating the Rescue Truck at alarm scenes it responded to, so it will in all likelihood be reassigned to that company as a second piece with the same response parameters it had previously. Not sure what we'll call it yet, maybe Squad Truck.
It certainly has its uses, although its actually alarm response numbers are low. While as a fireground commander it's a nice tool to have in my box, it's very difficult to justify the million-dollar cost of replacing it. It still passes its third-party aerial certification every year and is in very nice shape with only 17,000 miles on the clock, but at the end of the day it's still a 28-year-old rig and eventually a decision will have to be made. Tough times call for tough decisions, but that's what good management is all about. Reality has a way of focusing your attention wonderfully, and at the end of the day it's all about keeping the maximum number of asses in the maximum number of seats.
And we move on.
We did an in-house rehab of the vehicle at our Division of Maintenance a bit over a year ago, repainting it to our new dark red color scheme (it looks pretty sharp, too - I'll post a photo when I'm not on my IPad). The Syracuse Fire Department is currently, and predictably, undergoing the same budgetary pains as most other municipal fire departments and we are facing the potential closure of an engine company and the subsequent realignment of other companies. We had reinstituted Squad Company 1 a couple of years ago to perform vertical vent duties, and they ended up having responsibility most of the time for actually operating the Rescue Truck at alarm scenes it responded to, so it will in all likelihood be reassigned to that company as a second piece with the same response parameters it had previously. Not sure what we'll call it yet, maybe Squad Truck.
It certainly has its uses, although its actually alarm response numbers are low. While as a fireground commander it's a nice tool to have in my box, it's very difficult to justify the million-dollar cost of replacing it. It still passes its third-party aerial certification every year and is in very nice shape with only 17,000 miles on the clock, but at the end of the day it's still a 28-year-old rig and eventually a decision will have to be made. Tough times call for tough decisions, but that's what good management is all about. Reality has a way of focusing your attention wonderfully, and at the end of the day it's all about keeping the maximum number of asses in the maximum number of seats.
And we move on.
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