When a fire is bearing down on your location, the last thing you need is for the brakes on your fire engine to lock up, disabling the vehicle.
Below is a Rapid Lesson Sharing report recently released by the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center. Click on the two images to see larger versions.
Some fire engines are more fire resistant than others. They don’t have to be completely fire proof, but it is dangerous to have parts, systems, or areas on the vehicle that are extremely vulnerable to moderate, short-term heat or susceptible to be easily ignited from a burning ember. Some of the bush fire engines in Australia have fire curtains that can be deployed on the interior side of the widows, and have permanently installed external nozzles or sprayers that can be activated to protect the truck and it’s occupants.
What are your thoughts about some vulnerable points on fire engines that could be improved in order to lessen the risk to firefighters?
