Fire Departments Suck on ladders.

So a guy gets stuck in a tree while chasing his parrot and can't get down. No problem. The fire department have ladders on all their fire trucks, right?

Evidently not. They had to try police helicopters and then a coast guard helicopter to get him down.

Where the hell are the ladders?

Somebody needs to check this out and hurry before we actually need a ladder to save a life.

Reply to
deke
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The devil is in the details, Deke. The ground was too wet to use a ladder, and the guy was high in a tree that wasn't otherwise easily accessible.

Luke

Reply to
Luke Howett Fitzhugh

How high up? Last I looked the NFPA standard was only about two stories worth. Even with the trucks, a lot depends on the placement. Was it close enough to the drive way to get to? Was the ground too soft to get the truck there? Was there enough room between the tree and other obstructions to maneuve the ladder on the truck? Location is everything. For example, the City-County Building in Ft. Wayne, IN was built in such a manner that the ladder trucks couldn't get too close to it. Even with the 70 foot ladder, the best they could do was the third floor. Anyone care to guess where the FWFD offices were located??

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

I don't understand. I can go down to the store and buy a 60 foot ladder for less than $200. I'd expect the fire department to have ladders that are at least twice as long and maybe 3 times.

Soil too soft? So grab some pads from the station and make a path. And get a tow truck and pull it out later. That takes all of 10 minutes to get one of those vultures out to help you.

Tree in the way? Chain saw.....

Incompetence seems to be rampant.

In my state, every time a fire fighter breaks a fingernail, all the firefighters abandon their designated posts and attend his visit to the doctor. It is completely out of hand and something needs to be done.

My other pet peeve is swat teams. They spend months in training to determine how long it takes high school kids to lay there and bleed to death from gun shot wounds, then add 4 hours to that and then they cowardly ease their way into the building.

Reply to
deke

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Reply to
GROUP MODERATOR

Why? Most responses are to houses, etc. and the two story ladder would work. Even largest percentage of non-residential responses are probably one or two story strip malls, warehouses, etc. In most of the times when you need higher ladders you will be able to use the ladder trucks or quints.

Again why? You want to take a piece of apparatus out of service for an extended period of time or risk damage to it when the main situation is stablized and there is no immediate danger. That makes a hell of a lot of sense.

Yep, take down some trees for no apparent reason when there are other options available and the situation is not immediately threatening. Lawsuit waiting to happen there .

You woudl probably be wrong.

Okay the real reason comes out. You don't like FF for some reason.

Yep. They should just barge in and get their own selves possibly shot up so you can feel better about their response.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

Umm, I sure hope your house doesn't catch on fire anytime soon or a loved one doesn't end up in a hostage situation Your ignorance of the fire service only makes you look like an idiot. Why would they have a ladder that is taller than any building in town? Come on! There is a huge difference between a ladder from the hardware store and a piece of fire equipment. If you can show me the city or town that would approve the purchase of a ladder truck just in case someone climbs up a tree after a bird, I'll give you credit for your statement. Until then, quit commenting in ignorance.

Reply to
dgoalie

No, you can't.

Luke

Reply to
Luke Howett Fitzhugh

Best I could find at Home Depot or Lowes was 40 foot for $350.00 and that was only rated for 250 lbs. Don't know what the fire ladders are rated for, but that would seem low by the time you get a FF, gear and a rescuee on the ladder.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

The bizarre thing about this fiasco is the total cost of the rescue: $10,000. The guy risked his own life, and the lives of the rescuers, trying to save a parrot that cost him $2000. He used some seriously poor judgment.

The taxpayers should be loading their shotguns right about now...

Luke

Reply to
Luke Howett Fitzhugh

You seem to know what you are talking about. Why don't you join your local FD and give them the benefit of your expertise? Could it be that you are chicken or just like to blow off in the 'net to show your ignorance?

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

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They claim to be the oldest supplier of fire ladders in North America. They further state that all their extension and roof ladders are rated for 750lbs with a 4:1 safety factor. I don't think you'll be buying one of these at the borg.

Reply to
Mortimer Schnerd, RN

True. But the original suggestion was that one could bop down locally and grab a 40 footer for $350 or so. These guys you have to special order and the cheapest 40 footer is over $1600. Not really within the OP's stated parameters.

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

The OP claimed that he could buy a 60-footer for under $200.

Luke

Reply to
Luke Howett Fitzhugh

Well I ws giving him the benefit of the doubt (g). I did not find a

60 footer even at duosafety.com. The other consideration is how many people would it take hump something that big from the truck to the scene. That has to be heeaavvvvyyyy.
Reply to
Kurt Ullman

What I don't get is, the shmuck with the parrot managed to get into the the tree. (I assume the parrot flew). Therefore, the chances are good that a Rescue team member could, to. After that, you don't need a ladder, you need a rope.

I expect they called out the helo because it was a good opportunity to get some relatively safe training time in, With the money not having to come from the training budget. But I suppose it could have been a case of, when you've got a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Reply to
Goedjn

People have a whole different set of judgments when it comes to their pets. Some of the whacko-s will take more care of Fluffy than their kids. Some even think the pets are their kids. Agree, they should send him the bill for the rescue. Same with mountain climbers that put themselves at risk.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Would depend a lot on where he ended up I would suppose. First and probably foremost, the FD (unlike the civilian) has to answer to OSHA and various other people on safety issues. If the person got too high up in tree, there could be concerns about getting too much weight from other people in the area causing branches to break. Could be similar concerns about looping ropes around, etc. The FF would have to have some sort of safety apparatus to keep them safe from falling that might mess up the ability to get to the guy. As has been noted on numerous occassions, I have yet to see a cat's skeleton in the tree. I am thinking that if the guy had gotten hungry enough, he would have found a way down (g).

Reply to
Kurt Ullman

A rescue team member could probably climb up there, but it would be very dangerous for him. People who are stupid enough to get themselves into such situations can behave unpredictably and endanger their rescuers. Plus, the hazards of the climb and physical effort required also makes it more hazardous. Luke

Reply to
Luke Howett Fitzhugh

Please post the source for the $200 sixty foot ladders.

Reply to
Larry W

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