VIDEO: Two years ago, the Orange County Fire Rescue Division created an Apparatus Committee with the expectation of taking a look at its current apparatus, and specifically its fire engines, in order to find ways to become more efficient. The results were recently revealed in impressive fashion.
“Efficiency and safety were our two main goals when we went to redesign the engine,” said Battalion Chief Brian Beechner. “We put out a survey to the entire department, all 1,200 members, asking specific questions about what we can do to increase efficiency.” “When firefighters are riding around all day in the cab, they don’t want to be subjected to the potential carcinogens on some of the equipment stored there,” explained Beechner.
Knowing what it needed, the department went to work designing the new engine, which features lower hose beds – with different hose loads and sizes – to make it more efficient to deploy them.