Changes we've seen in the fire service

[pauloghia 5]

I was hired on the job early in 2001 and left in 2007, then returned recently as a volunteer. I was surprised at the changes from the time I left to now and the ones I've seen in the fire service in the span of time from 2001. For example, I read that a change to NFPA 1901 says that firefighters aren't to wear their helmets in moving apparatus. For another example, from the time I was hired to the time I left, I made the transition from low-pressure 2216 psi MSA SCBA's with a separate PASS device, to high-pressure 4500 psi Scott AP50's with integrated PASS and HUD. What other changes has everyone seen since either 2001 or 2007? Obviously the old saying "200 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress" is only a joke.

[Newburgher 241]

I know of lots of changes since I got into the fire service. Most of the changes for me happened before 2001 however.

We used to ride back steps, gasoline motored rigs with manual chokes and bias ply tires, no onboard generators. Pump panel throttles were connected by a cable, not electronic. We wore long coats, rubber pullup boots, fireball gloves, no hoods, steel bottle 2216 psi packs with an elephant trunk. Nobody had TIC, PASS alarms, or rechargable handlights and only Chief officers had a portable radio. Acountability systems? Seatbelts? Yeah, right! Bunker pants were a West Coast novelty. Laying a supply line meant 3" hose, single or double lay, depended on how bad the fire looked. This is what I remember since 1986. I know there are guys on here older than me that have seen even more changes in their time on.

[pauloghia 5]

I remember the elephant trunks. I called them Snuffleupagus tubes. They were on my first assignment, an archaic 1978 Jaco/Ford with a gas engine, manual shift, booster reels and 750 gpm pump. The other firehouse had the newer rigs, lucky me. I'll never forget after I left the city and volunteered for a couple of years. We received a 2005 ALF (similar to the one at Richmond Engine on Staten Island) and trying to unfasten myself and the SCBA from the seat at its first fire. I had known but had to relearn the hard way that the brackets now locked lol. It was the first year I think that seatbelts came in orange instead of black and the panel was completely computerized. I might be wrong, but I think air packs beginning next year will require an escape system to be attached and in my absence, bourke shields became approved eye protection. Maybe I'm wrong but if memory serves correctly, FAST/RIT didn't exist in 2001, or the concept was only beginning. My first captain began in 1975 and he's said a lot of the same things you have in the past.

Edited February 25, 2012 by pauloghia

[NJMedic 96]

when I became a volunteer in 1985 with had John Bean Hi pressure lines for fire attacks, three quarter boots.....one guy had bunker pants and he was considered "weird". No portable radios. No ladder company work, even though we has a snorkel, roof ventilation was done after the fire was out. back step riding...which was fun on a short wheel base midi pumper at 70 mph on the highway. Dual 3 inch lines from the hydrant. Officers worn Scott sling packs...firefighters worn Scott IIAs. No RIT/FASt teams. seatbelts....on a fire engine? Manual transmission with gas engines.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I was hired on the job early in 2001 and left in 2007, then returned recently as a volunteer. I was surprised at the changes from the time I left to now and the ones I've seen in the fire service in the span of time from 2001. For example, I read that a change to NFPA 1901 says that firefighters aren't to wear their helmets in moving apparatus. For another example, from the time I was hired to the time I left, I made the transition from low-pressure 2216 psi MSA SCBA's with a separate PASS device, to high-pressure 4500 psi Scott AP50's with integrated PASS and HUD. What other changes has everyone seen since either 2001 or 2007? Obviously the old saying "200 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress" is only a joke.

Eh...while advancements in standards and equipment has changed...the old quip you quoted unfortunately is alive and well. "We do it different here." "That's the state way of doing it" are sayings that are still alive and well. Get past that and in some states you still can't advance because of organizations that cry at curriculum hour increases, resistance to regulations and standards and so forth. So no...we're still pretty impeded by tradition, pride and ignorance.

[firecapt32 282]

Good lord where oh where to start this thread. I will do it in segments--because my memory need time to digest things and time to remember allof it

lets start with open air cabs--nice in the spring and summer--not so nice in the winter.

Scott pacs?? we didnt need no stinking scott pacs-- fact is we didnt have any. used MSA filter maske that had litmis paper as a indicator of of how much time you had left---try seeing that in the dark.

Wait see the memory is kickking in--- we had one new fangled bottle of air carried in a suitcase type not even a suitcase looked more like a magicians case where he keeps Charlie McCarthy--you young guys go google him

more later after I nap and take some gincakoba.

Edited February 25, 2012 by firecapt32

[pauloghia 5]

Oh yeah I forgot one. I've made the transition from VHF to UHF and now, 800mz. When I looked at the 800mz radio for the first time a month ago, I was completely confused with it.

[x129K 1,393]

Ahhhhh...the good old days when the buildings weren't trying nearly so hard to kill us.

[wraftery 1,275]

I started the job in 1971, and didn't have to Google Charlie McCarthy.

On my interview, one of the questions was "I see you have 3 years of college. Do you plan on finishing college and leaving the FD for a real job?" Yes, things have changed.

Before somebody adds a post saying how dumb those old guys were, let me explain how all those changes came about. We, the old guys made the changes that you are sometimes taking for granted.

One of the first changes I recall was the great reliance on that red rubber booster line. After a few races to prove that it was faster and easiet to stretch 1 1/2" than it was to stretch the "red line," the old booster line became compartment space for something new.

Then we decided that it was rather stupid to keep thoae SCBAs in a suitcase. So along came air pak brackets and more compartment space. and so on and so on.

So, for the youth of the Fire service, remember that you aren't smarter than us old geezers. We gave you a lot of things to make the job easier and safer. So far, you may have contributed nothing, simply inherited it.

Tradition is not a bad thing. It's your responsibility to keep up the tradition in the Fire Service to make the job better and safer as those before you have done. Those SCBAs didn't come out of the suitcases because the Commissioner said it was a good idea.

[X2321 133]

I remember an old guy in the firehouse who used to tell me when he first got in it was his job to feed the horses.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I remember when I joined that the public loved all emergency service workers and no cops or firefighters were facing layoffs. Oh how the times have changed.

Edited February 25, 2012 by SRS131EMTFF

[SECTMB 612]

Riding the rear step or up in the hose bed putting on your gear while the truck was responding. Not 'your' gear, the gear in the racks mounted on the truck for everyone, first come first served.

Canvas coats, rubber boots, poly helmets, quickly replaced, personally, with nomex coat, bunkers, gloves and leather cairns new yorker helmet.

Those elephant airpack hoses that pinched off when you crawled through a window and cut off your air.

The manual transmission 1948 open cab, no doors engine that had to be double clutched and you'd get passed by civilian cars if you had more than one lane of travel.

Our new engine in 1974 with the first diesel automatic in the department. The end of civilians passing us while responding.

2-1/2" hose replaced with state of the art 3", 1-1/2" attack lines replaced with 1-3/4".

Plectrons in the house, sirens and horns for outside. Motorola Minitor pagers only if you bought one for yourself.

One portable radio per truck, two frequencies, 46.14 and 46.26

Wood ground, roof and attic ladders.

Blue 'Kojack' light for your POV.

Having wig-wags before the PD on my POV.

No County fire training facility.

Being one of the first five members of your department to become one those new EMTs.

Tower ladders, or elevated platforms, were very rare.

Getting in on the 'mini-pumper' craze with an underpowered, overloaded, 4 wheel drive that sank to the axles first time off road.

But, after 40 years, helping your neighbors and those visiting your community, in their time of need, never gets old.

[Fireman488 57]

I started the job in 1971, and didn't have to Google Charlie McCarthy.

On my interview, one of the questions was "I see you have 3 years of college. Do you plan on finishing college and leaving the FD for a real job?" Yes, things have changed.

Before somebody adds a post saying how dumb those old guys were, let me explain how all those changes came about. We, the old guys made the changes that you are sometimes taking for granted.

One of the first changes I recall was the great reliance on that red rubber booster line. After a few races to prove that it was faster and easiet to stretch 1 1/2" than it was to stretch the "red line," the old booster line became compartment space for something new.

Then we decided that it was rather stupid to keep thoae SCBAs in a suitcase. So along came air pak brackets and more compartment space. and so on and so on.

So, for the youth of the Fire service, remember that you aren't smarter than us old geezers. We gave you a lot of things to make the job easier and safer. So far, you may have contributed nothing, simply inherited it.

Tradition is not a bad thing. It's your responsibility to keep up the tradition in the Fire Service to make the job better and safer as those before you have done. Those SCBAs didn't come out of the suitcases because the Commissioner said it was a good idea.

I started on the Police Job in 1968, with a four year college degree, and was asked why I was "wasting" my education...

At the same time in my volunteer FD career side of things, extinguishing room and contents fires with a booster line and no SCBA was routine...

[pauloghia 5]

when I became a volunteer in 1985 with had John Bean Hi pressure lines for fire attacks, three quarter boots.....one guy had bunker pants and he was considered "weird". No portable radios. No ladder company work, even though we has a snorkel, roof ventilation was done after the fire was out. back step riding...which was fun on a short wheel base midi pumper at 70 mph on the highway. Dual 3 inch lines from the hydrant. Officers worn Scott sling packs...firefighters worn Scott IIAs. No RIT/FASt teams. seatbelts....on a fire engine? Manual transmission with gas engines.

I still know a few departments in eastern Kentucky that are running the John Bean Hi-pressure rigs. Those things are awesome. I even have a pic of a rare enclosed clab FMC they built that's still ran as 1st due.

Edited February 26, 2012 by pauloghia

[PCFD ENG58 1,085]

How about you called on 46.26 and you got your answer on 46.26 from your base who new where you are because he was from your job !

Edited February 26, 2012 by PCFD ENG58

[SteveOFD 176]

Obviously the old saying "200 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress" is only a joke.

There have been many advances in Firefighting technology over the years which have made our jobs easier, but IMO "200 years of tradition, unimpeded by progress" in many areas is not a joke. You only have to look at the NIOSH Firefighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program website to see that the same things keep injuring and killing Firefighters.

There is a saying that I heard or read, and I paraphrase it here, which goes something like "Firefighters are some of the most creative people in the world, because they can get almost anything done with almost nothing, but they are also some of the dumbest people in the world because they haven't created a new way of injuring or killing themselves in a long time."

As Sir Winston Churchill said "Those that don't learn from history, are doomed to repeat it." Too often we ignore history (LODD or FF injury) because we believe that this history can never happen to us, that that event occurred in a different State, Country, etc. and it can not ever happen to us.

[FFPCogs 863]

Riding the rear step or up in the hose bed putting on your gear while the truck was responding. Not 'your' gear, the gear in the racks mounted on the truck for everyone, first come first served.

Canvas coats, rubber boots, poly helmets, quickly replaced, personally, with nomex coat, bunkers, gloves and leather cairns new yorker helmet.

Those elephant airpack hoses that pinched off when you crawled through a window and cut off your air.

The manual transmission 1948 open cab, no doors engine that had to be double clutched and you'd get passed by civilian cars if you had more than one lane of travel.

Our new engine in 1974 with the first diesel automatic in the department. The end of civilians passing us while responding.

2-1/2" hose replaced with state of the art 3", 1-1/2" attack lines replaced with 1-3/4".

Plectrons in the house, sirens and horns for outside. Motorola Minitor pagers only if you bought one for yourself.

One portable radio per truck, two frequencies, 46.14 and 46.26

Wood ground, roof and attic ladders.

Blue 'Kojack' light for your POV.

Having wig-wags before the PD on my POV.

No County fire training facility.

Being one of the first five members of your department to become one those new EMTs.

Tower ladders, or elevated platforms, were very rare.

Getting in on the 'mini-pumper' craze with an underpowered, overloaded, 4 wheel drive that sank to the axles first time off road.

But, after 40 years, helping your neighbors and those visiting your community, in their time of need, never gets old.

Ahhh yes the good ole days and they were indeed good, wouldn't trade them for anything. I for one am glad I joined when I did (1980) and had the good fortune to have come up in those days and under the veterans I did. And while I can relate to everyrhing above nothing hits home more so than your last statement, so much so that I just have to repeat it:

But, after 40 years, helping your neighbors and those visiting your community, in their time of need, never gets old.

Cogs

Edited February 27, 2012 by FFPCogs