| NOFD's Fire Apparatus and Other Vehicles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Our present fleet of fire apparatus consists of three engines, two engine/ladder combinations (1 Quad & 1 Quint w/ a 75' aerial ladder), two 2,000 gallon water tankers, one brush firefighting vehicle, and one technical rescue unit. We also have a 14' covered trailer containing a mobile breathing air refilling station and cascade system, two utility vehicles, and one OCEMS ambulance. The age of our major fire apparatus range from 1982 to 2010. The two oldest pumpers are reserve engines, used to replace one of the front line units when down for service or repairs. All apparatus, regardless of age, are maintained to the highest and most current standards for emergency vehicles. The safety of our citizens and responders is our highest priority which is the biggest reason that our maintenance program is so thorough. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Just What is a "Quad" and a "Quint" ? |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Modern fire apparatus are multi-functional and complex vehicles. However, the basics of today's fire truck are essentially the same as that of the very first motorized apparatus; they're just packaged a little differently today.
In horse and buggy days it took at least three apparatus to carry the same items that are now carried on one fire truck:
There were horse drawn "chemical" wagons that carried a small tank of soda and acid, a slightly larger tank of water, and a small diameter fire hose. These chemical wagons were used to exstinguish small fires or to begin attacking structure fires while the steamers and hose wagons hooked up to a water source and began pumping. To use the chemical wagon, a hose line was laid and the soda, acid, and water were mixed through the fire hose. It worked just great until the tanks were emptied. With the dawn of motorized fire apparatus and three formerly separate functions were merged onto one truck chassis. Fire pumps were developed that could be driven by power from the truck's motor. So, a modern motor driven fire engine (called a triple combination pumper or "triple") consisted of:
Hook & Ladder trucks were also motorized and consisted of two primary components:
So, essentially and "engine" or "pumper" was known as a "triple" and the two component aerial ladder apparatus was known as a "truck." Some ladder trucks were built without an aerial ladder and were often referred to as "city service" ladder trucks. In the 1920's and 1930's, ideas of combining engine and truck apparatus onto one large truck chassis became reality. Fire Apparatus manufacturers began to offer "triples", "hook & ladder" trucks, quadruple, and quintuple combinations. With all that said, here it is in a nutshell:
Of course, all fire apparatus carry a wide variety of other equipment than the items listed above. This includes things such as breathing apparatus, hydraulic rescue tools ("jaws of life"), thermal imaging cameras (TICs), two-way radios, emergency medical equipment, power saws, ventilation blowers and fans, etc. Numberous other types of fire apparatus are used across the country including:
As a whole, the fire protection districts service Oldham County and Oldham County EMS operate some of the most modern, well equipped, and best maintained emergency response vehicles in the nation. Reliability and safety are regarded as the top priority with these fleets. Additionally, fire trucks and ambulances are very expensive and are regarded as significant, long-term investments of public tax money. On average, a fire department will own a major apparatus and keep it in front-line service for 20 or more years. For these reasons as well as a sense of pride, we work very hard to provide regular service, preventive maintenance and good old "TLC" for our "rigs." |