Kansas City area fire apparatus

[MFD76]

Lawrence Quint 2 FRONT

[MFD76]

Lawrence Quint 2

[MFD76]

NEW Lawrence Quint 2 REAR

[MFD76]

Lawrence, Kansas Fire Department



Quint 2 and Ladder 2 at the Drill Yard for ground ladder testing.

[Guest]

Thanks for the rear shots.

[MFD76]

[quote name='MFD 61 KS' post='308358' date='May 24 2009, 23:30 ']Lawrence, Kansas Fire Department OFFICERS SIDE



1986 Pierce Lance (ten-man cab) 1500/500

Engine 6 (Reserve) ex Engine 2

#1 of 2 identical delivered

Delivered with Federal Aero Dynic light bar with speaker, now speaker in bumper.



I left the build number at home sorry but I know this one had 1 on the build plate.



THE ORGINAL LOOK IS PICTURED ABOVE IN GA DAVES PHOTO[/quote]



Engine 2, Engine1 now Engine 6 Job #E3340-01 12/86

[MFD76]

[quote name='MFD 61 KS' post='308361' date='May 24 2009, 23:36 ']Lawrence, Kansas Fire Department OFFICERS SIDE



1986 Pierce Lance (ten-man cab) 1500/500

Engine 7 (Reserve) ex Engine 3 ex Engine 1

#2 of 2 identical delivered

Delivered with Federal Aero Dynic light bar with speaker, now MX 7000 with CPI speaker behind the grill.



I left the build number at home sorry but I know this one had 1 on the build plate.



(Assigned to Engine 3 on delivery)





Sorry for the inside shots, there is no apron at Fire House One and it was toward the end of the work day.[/quote]



Engine 3 now Engine 7 Pierce Job #E3340-02 12/86

[hadg317]

I was in Kansas City MO this weekend and had the chance to stop by Station 14. I wasn't there very long before they were out the door to a call and unfortuniately didn't get any pictures. I do have a couple of questions:



1. Why is the Battalion Chiefs Aide a Captain? Does the Captain fill a roll in the Command Staff at an incident or is this on the job training?



2. Are there only Captains or are there also Lieutenants in the Fire Dept.



3. Do the rescue companies run with 2 officers all the time?? If so do they do this so they can split the crew when they arrive at an incident and have an officer with each crew?



Thanks for clearing these questions up for me.



They guys out there were a good bunch and I would have loved to spend more time talking to them.

[MFD76]

[quote name='hadg317' post='308811' date='May 26 2009, 08:02 ']I was in Kansas City MO this weekend and had the chance to stop by Station 14. I wasn't there very long before they were out the door to a call and unfortuniately didn't get any pictures. I do have a couple of questions:



1. Why is the Battalion Chiefs Aide a Captain? Does the Captain fill a roll in the Command Staff at an incident or is this on the job training?



2. Are there only Captains or are there also Lieutenants in the Fire Dept.



3. Do the rescue companies run with 2 officers all the time?? If so do they do this so they can split the crew when they arrive at an incident and have an officer with each crew?



Thanks for clearing these questions up for me.



They guys out there were a good bunch and I would have loved to spend more time talking to them.[/quote]



Glad you had a good time. The KCFD guys are great, they are a extremly agressive fire department on the fire ground and the knowledge base is incrediable there. Drop me a line on the Fire Pics mail next time you are headed here it KC.



1. Forever the Chief's Driver-Aide was a FAO. The FAO was a second set of eyes and ears in the rear of the building or inside for the Chief or a command aide. In 1996 the city cut this postion and the Batt Chiefs had to drive themselves for three months. The Union and Fire Chief went to work to regain this postion. This was when safety was taking off in the fire service. So the Union presented a plan to the city that was rather genuis. They stated they need Safety Officers in each of the seven Batt districts called DSO District Safety Officers. The city agreed. The Union stated they need to have the ability to supervise or lead so they need to be a Captain. The city agreed. They also said they will drive the Chiefs so they arrive at the same time when command is estiblished. Now the first arriving Batt Chief takes command and his DSO serves the same role as the old FAO-Aide did support for command. The second arriving Batt. Chief and his DSO assume safety and work as a two person team or might be placed in charge of a division inside. This was the great switch routine seven FAO-Aides are now seven Captain-DSO-Aides no real cost savings for the city. Now DSO's will step up and be the Acting Chief when the Chief is gone but most Batt Chief try to rotate all of their Captains through the Acting Cheif role. So when the Chief is gone the CAR rides with two Captains one as DSO and one as Act Batt. Chief. The DSO always has to be a Captain by the policy book and contract.



2. KCFD has not had Lieutenants since the 1920's. At some point they went to all Captains. My only guess is the job discriptions are so close why not pay all supervisors the same and it keeps the same level rank all the time in the muilti company fire houses. Lieutenants are not big in the KC metro. It is funny only four career departments out of the forty or fifty in metro use Captain and Lieutenant. The rest reflect KCFD with all Captains. Also in the mutil comapany houses the senior captain on the pumper one of the three shifts is the house captain.



3. Rescues have One Captain and Two FAO's. In KCFD most of the time the FAO rides out as Act Capt. when the Captain is gone. So on the fireground the Captain, FAO, Fireman form one team and the 2nd FAO senior, Firemen, Firemen form the second team spliting the company. The Trucks work in the same way. 1st due truck Captain and Fireman form the Search team and the FAO and Fireman go to the roof and Vent. 2nd due Truck opens up walls and pulls celling for the pumper company.



Hope this helps, Stay safe, Rick

[hadg317]

Rick,



Thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[MFD76]

[quote name='MFD 61 KS' post='308844' date='May 26 2009, 11:08 ']Glad you had a good time. The KCFD guys are great, they are a extremly agressive fire department on the fire ground and the knowledge base is incrediable there. Drop me a line on the Fire Pics mail next time you are headed here it KC.



1. Forever the Chief's Driver-Aide was a FAO. The FAO was a second set of eyes and ears in the rear of the building or inside for the Chief or a command aide. In 1996 the city cut this postion and the Batt Chiefs had to drive themselves for three months. The Union and Fire Chief went to work to regain this postion. This was when safety was taking off in the fire service. So the Union presented a plan to the city that was rather genuis. They stated they need Safety Officers in each of the seven Batt districts called DSO District Safety Officers. The city agreed. The Union stated they need to have the ability to supervise or lead so they need to be a Captain. The city agreed. They also said they will drive the Chiefs so they arrive at the same time when command is estiblished. Now the first arriving Batt Chief takes command and his DSO serves the same role as the old FAO-Aide did support for command. The second arriving Batt. Chief and his DSO assume safety and work as a two person team or might be placed in charge of a division inside. This was the great switch routine seven FAO-Aides are now seven Captain-DSO-Aides no real cost savings for the city. Now DSO's will step up and be the Acting Chief when the Chief is gone but most Batt Chief try to rotate all of their Captains through the Acting Cheif role. So when the Chief is gone the CAR rides with two Captains one as DSO and one as Act Batt. Chief. The DSO always has to be a Captain by the policy book and contract.



2. KCFD has not had Lieutenants since the 1920's. At some point they went to all Captains. My only guess is the job discriptions are so close why not pay all supervisors the same and it keeps the same level rank all the time in the muilti company fire houses. Lieutenants are not big in the KC metro. It is funny only four career departments out of the forty or fifty in metro use Captain and Lieutenant. The rest reflect KCFD with all Captains. Also in the mutil comapany houses the senior captain on the pumper one of the three shifts is the house captain.



3. Rescues have One Captain and Two FAO's. In KCFD most of the time the FAO rides out as Act Capt. when the Captain is gone. So on the fireground the Captain, FAO, Fireman form one team and the 2nd FAO senior, Firemen, Firemen form the second team spliting the company. The Trucks work in the same way. 1st due truck Captain and Fireman form the Search team and the FAO and Fireman go to the roof and Vent. 2nd due Truck opens up walls and pulls celling for the pumper company.



Hope this helps, Stay safe, Rick[/quote]



Having a driver for the Chief in my view is very important. It is a second set of eyes and ears. We always teach in rookie school to work in at least two person teams so why should the District Chief (Batt) work alone. This helps maintain the two people for safety.



I forgot to mention in the Mid-West we work three shifts A,B,C either 24-48 or the Detroit/Berkley rotation of 24-on, 24-off, 24-on, 24off, 24-on, 4days off. KCFD and KCKFD and most Missouri side suburbs are 24-48. All Kansas Side Suburbs are the Detroit/Berkley. This is differnt than the 9x6 four group rotation that is common on the East Coast.

So where in NY and Boston you have a Company Engine or Truck with a Captain on one group for supervison and overall command of the company and Lieuteant's that supervise the company on the other three groups. So even in double companies you each company has its own commander the Captain.



In the Mid-west you find either all Captains like KCFD or Like my department A Captain and Lieutenant on each shift. So in my department we have three Captians and three Lieutenants one of each on A, B, C Shift. In KCFD and a few suburbs (Olathe, Independence ect.) you are assigned to a company and do not rotate between companies unless you are detailed to fill-in. So you are a Truckie or an Pipeman and you always work with the same guys. KCFD you bid on senority to switch companies if you want to switch.

The other side is were all members rotate each day between the Truck and Engine never having a perment assigment (Merriam, North Kansas City, KCKFD, Overland Park ect.).



So I ride as a Lieutenant on the Engine 1st day the Truck 2nd day the Engine 3rd day and after four days off I ride the Truck 1st the Engine 2nd and the Truck 3rd day. All the while my Captain rides the other rig Engine or Truck. I really do not like this rotation and believe in perment assigments for safety and crew readyness, but it is my departments decision and as an officer I support the Mission of the Department and Chief's decisions. Haveing no real companies and one on each shift really can create problems and issues, you become the jack of all trades somewhat. I am lucky because my Captain and I have an excellent relationship and we work well together. This is not always the case. So I am an advocate in our Mid-west situation for all Captains with assigned companies or assigned companies with a company commander like the east coast.



Stay Safe, Rick

[Guest]

[quote name='Ladder 68' post='308378' date='May 25 2009, 00:19 ']I understand sleepless days and sleepless night...amazing how a lack of a nap can mess up the whole shift...



On the issue of KCKFD...what companies do they have as far as companies, numerical assignments, etc?



Thanks in advance.[/quote]



I'll try and answer some of these as well if MFD 61 KS doesn't mind. Kansas City Kansas Fire Department runs 22 fire companies and 12 ambulances out of 18 firehouses. Out of the 18 houses only 4 are double houses with a Pumper and either a true Truck or a Quint. All Pumpers and Quints are ALS w/ a medic assigned, but on some days they might drop a couple fire companies and EMS units to BLS depending on staffing. Its KCKFD policy that on all transports to a hospital that a medic must ride in, so the medic from an ALS fire company must ride in if the EMS unit is BLS. If the EMS unit is ALS and the fire company is BLS then nothing special takes place. The Trucks are BLS. All Pumpers run with a min. of 3 guys a Captain, Driver & Firefighter, Trucks run w/ 4, but can drop to 3 and Quint run w/ 4 at all times. The ambulances are called EMS, 9 of the 12 are staffed 24/7 with most times a FF/Medic & FF/EMT. The other 3 EMS units are crossed staffed by either a Pumper or a Quint when the city is low on EMS units. The house number and the rig number reflect one another. Here's a run down of the houses & rigs.

HQ's - Pumper 1, Truck 1, Heavy Rescue 1 (crossed staffed by T1), Car 32 (Shift Commander/Asst. Chief) This house is also home to the USAR team which is made up of both members of the Pumper and the Truck and houses a USAR rig, 2 trailers and soon a new pick-up, all of which still don't have a number assigned to them, so the guys at HQ's call the rig "BUD 1" being a refurbed beer truck. Headquarters holds all Administration, Prevention & Training Divisions. So there is plenty of white shirts around Monday-Friday. Cars 30-40 run out of HQ's. Car 30 being the Chief.

FH2 - Quint 2, Haz-Mat Support 2 (crossed staffed by Q2), KC Metro Haz-Mat Trailer (Pulled by HMS2), EMS 2 (ambulance) Car 41 (EMS Supervisor)

FH3 - Pumper 3, Haz-Mat 3, EMS 3

FH4 - Pumper 4 & EMS 4 (crossed staffed by P4)

FH5 - Pumper 5 & EMS 5

FH6 - Quint 6, Brush 6, Car 64 (Safety Officer), EMS 6 & EMS 26 (E26 is Crossed Staffed by Q6 as a last EMS unit in the city)

FH7 - Pumper 7, Truck 7 & Car 62 (Safety Officer)

FH8 - Pumper 8, Brush 8 & Tanker 8

FH9 - Pumper 9, Brush 9 (Pulls Boats), Boat 9, Car 61 (Safety Officer) & EMS 9 (There is a 2nd Boat here, but unknown number given. This Boat was given to KCKFD by KCFD as a grant for a quick response by water to the downtown airport to my understanding)

FH10 - Pumper 10, Quint 10, Foam 10 (New one at the shop), Air 10 (Cascade Trailer), EMS 10 & Car 22 (South BC)

FH11- Pumpoer 11

FH14 - Pumper 14 & Truck 14

FH15 - Pumper 15, Air 15 (Cascade Trailer) & FD Shop/Property

FH16 - Pumper 16

FH17 - Pumper 17 & EMS 17

FH18 - Pumper 18, Boat 18 & EMS 18

FH19 - Pumper 19, Brush 19, EMS 19 & Car 24 (West BC)

FH20 - Pumper 20 & EMS 20 (crossed staffed by P20)





Hope this helps, I'll be more than happy to help with anymore questions.

[MFD76]

[quote name='Steve Loftin' post='308421' date='May 25 2009, 09:34 ']Why 10-man cabs?[/quote]



Hi Steve,



I really don't have an answer, I will check with some of my friends in Lawrence.



Stay safe, Rick

[MFD76]

Consolidated Fire District Two N.E. Johnson County (CFD#2) Prairie Village, Kansas



Truck Company 3 (23) at Fire House 3 with Engine 3 (23)



2006 Pierce Dash 105ft Steel Ladder 1500/500

[MFD76]

CFD#2 Truck 3 (23) rear



Althougt a Quint CFD#2 treats their two Trucks as Trucks on the fire ground. They also carry Hurst Tools for pin jobs and are responsiable for rescue work. The other CFD#2 Truck is a 2000 Sutphen 100ft Tower Ladder at Truck 1 (21). They just placed an order with Sutphen for a new 100ft Tower for Truck 1 (21), over a million dollars. Both are housed with Engines.



Currently two of the three Engines are rescue style bodies but run as Engines. Soon CFD#2 will return to small standard engines with side mounted ladders.

[MFD76]

CFD#2 rear open



Two 20ft roofs

One 28ft single fly extinsion

One 35ft single fly extinsion

One 10ft attic



Nice NFPA complement of ground ladders but not as good as an ISO complement.

[MFD76]

CFD#2 rear closed

[MFD76]

CFD#2 Truck 3 (23) flying over Roe Ave.

[MFD76]

CFD#2 Truck 3 (23) daily ladder check.

[MFD76]

Southern Platte Fire Protection District (Parkville, Missouri near KCI Airport)



Engine 3 at Fire House 3

1996 Pierce Dash 1250/1000

The Dash replaced a 1979 Seagrave W 1250/1000 pump in lime-green



I drove this pump many times, great rig.