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The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

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Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#231

Post by [deleted] »

freehunter wrote: post #210
mrguyorama wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, from quickly looking at some images of UK firefighters, it seems the difference to me is that their equipment is modern , an not just in a design sense. Their helmets look better designed to protect the user and their fire engines look like they weren't purchased in the 70's. So maybe the difference is that in the UK, they don't have to use old equipment

Maybe I'm not looking at the right pictures, because a quick Google Images search for "uk firefighters" and "us firefighters", I see no functional difference in what they're wearing, and the only difference in the firetrucks is that American firetrucks are massive bricks and UK firetrucks are either a European-style truck that looks basically the same as a US-style truck or are a Ford Transit van with some hoses. The…

[deleted]

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#232

Post by gsnedders »

exegete wrote: post #223
curun1r wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL at SFFD giving any shits about costs. This is the same department that power grabbed emergency medical response away from dedicated paramedics in ambulances. Responding in full ladder trucks to take care of drunk homeless people...yeah, they do that, costing millions every year in added expenses and road repairs. But good for them for saving a few bucks on ladders, that must make a huge difference.

Also from the article: >There's a city-specific reason why San Francisco has stuck with wood rather than swap over to metals, and the answer lies in looking up. The high-voltage cables and wires that guide the city's (oft-maligned) public transport system Muni, and trolley cars crisscross above nearly every street, mean that ladders made of conductive elements are generally just too dangerous to use. >"I think there'…

How do other countries with OHLE cope? AFAIK, most use metal ladders. Just rely on quickly getting the wires isolated?

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#233

Post by dawnerd »

AdieuToLogic wrote: post #27

The Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs"[0] show made a segment involving the SFFD's ladder construction/maintenance crew. In it, they explained that wooden ladders are cheaper to maintain than aluminum ones and I think also discount fiberglass ladders as well. It's worth a watch if one is interested in this topic. 0 - http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/dirty-jobs/about-this-show...

Another one of his shows, Somebody's Gotta Do It is also worth a watch http://mikerowe.com/shows/somebodys-gotta-do-it/s308/

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#234

Post by gsnedders »

cascom wrote: post #183
toomuchtodo wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some communities simply can’t afford to pay a fire brigade, hence a volunteer squad where everyone chips in.

For most small towns I think its more the fact that a fire is a pretty rare occurrence (a couple call outs a year with a major fire every few years) so its more of a cost/benefit decision - they're willing to add ~5 min to the response time for a rare event in order to deploy $1m+/year to other higher priority areas

In the UK the majority of firefighters are on retainers, and will spend a few hours a week training, but otherwise just rely on pagers. They're paid a few thousand per year plus hourly and callout rates.

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#235

Post by VectorLock »

gsnedders wrote: post #232
exegete wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also from the article: >There's a city-specific reason why San Francisco has stuck with wood rather than swap over to metals, and the answer lies in looking up. The high-voltage cables and wires that guide the city's (oft-maligned) public transport system Muni, and trolley cars crisscross above nearly every street, mean that ladders made of conductive elements are generally just too dangerous to use. >"I think there'…

How do other countries with OHLE cope? AFAIK, most use metal ladders. Just rely on quickly getting the wires isolated?

I think when the electrical service wires have insulation it isn't as much of an issue as opposed to the electricity driven trollies needing bare conductors.

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#236

Post by gshulegaard »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #219
curun1r wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL at SFFD giving any shits about costs. This is the same department that power grabbed emergency medical response away from dedicated paramedics in ambulances. Responding in full ladder trucks to take care of drunk homeless people...yeah, they do that, costing millions every year in added expenses and road repairs. But good for them for saving a few bucks on ladders, that must make a huge difference.

Coming from NYC, it is somewhat surprising to see such anger directed at fire departments. Here, the FDNY seems universally loved.

TBH I am from the Bay Area, work in SF, and I have never seen ire like that directed at SFFD before. I wouldn't take this example as representative or common.

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#237

Post by gshulegaard »

curun1r wrote: post #216
AdieuToLogic wrote: post #27

The Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs"[0] show made a segment involving the SFFD's ladder construction/maintenance crew. In it, they explained that wooden ladders are cheaper to maintain than aluminum ones and I think also discount fiberglass ladders as well. It's worth a watch if one is interested in this topic. 0 - http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/dirty-jobs/about-this-show...

LOL at SFFD giving any shits about costs. This is the same department that power grabbed emergency medical response away from dedicated paramedics in ambulances. Responding in full ladder trucks to take care of drunk homeless people...yeah, they do that, costing millions every year in added expenses and road repairs. But good for them for saving a few bucks on ladders, that must make a huge difference.

I am not sure what you are referring to. I was involved in a motorcycle accident in October of 2017 and I was treated by SFFD paramedics in an ambulance.

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#238

Post by chrisseaton »

gshulegaard wrote: post #237
curun1r wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL at SFFD giving any shits about costs. This is the same department that power grabbed emergency medical response away from dedicated paramedics in ambulances. Responding in full ladder trucks to take care of drunk homeless people...yeah, they do that, costing millions every year in added expenses and road repairs. But good for them for saving a few bucks on ladders, that must make a huge difference.

I am not sure what you are referring to. I was involved in a motorcycle accident in October of 2017 and I was treated by SFFD paramedics in an ambulance.

Why does the fire department respond to a medical emergency?

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#239

Post by estebank »

Cofike wrote: post #195
eigenvector wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the biggest differences between Europe and North America in this regard is that in European cities, emergency vehicles have to be designed to fit a 1000-year-old city in terms of width, turning radius, maximum weight, etc. This leads to a much more compact shape and shorter wheelbase. In North America streets are designed to fit emergency vehicles. You're not allowed to build a street so narrow that a fire eng…

You should see some streets in San Francisco. No way that a fire engine is fitting on those.

The narrowest street in San Francisco is roughly a regular European street. This[1] is par for the course on most European cities, while San Francisco has very few streets narrower than this[2] (and the average is probably wider, if you look anywhere westwards of Park Presidio where theoretically two way streets are wide enough for traffic to continue flowing in both direction even with double parked trucks.

I would also point out that I'd prefer narrower streets in SF[3].

[1]: https://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photo-narrow-san-francisco-...

[2]: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.7998615,-122.4141133,3a,75y,...

[3]: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/08/san-francisco...

Re: The San Franciso Fire Department makes its own wooden ladders by hand

#240

Post by kenhwang »

AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #219
curun1r wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LOL at SFFD giving any shits about costs. This is the same department that power grabbed emergency medical response away from dedicated paramedics in ambulances. Responding in full ladder trucks to take care of drunk homeless people...yeah, they do that, costing millions every year in added expenses and road repairs. But good for them for saving a few bucks on ladders, that must make a huge difference.

Coming from NYC, it is somewhat surprising to see such anger directed at fire departments. Here, the FDNY seems universally loved.

SF in general seems to be more vitriolic towards public services. Might be the entrepreneurial mindset of the region rubbing off.
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