BY WILLIAM C. PETERS
These photographs offer a number of points to ponder. I’ll give you a few, in no particular order of importance, to stimulate your thinking about apparatus features.
REFLECTIVE STRIPING
NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus (2003), indicates the following: A reflective stripe(s) shall be affixed to the perimeter of the apparatus. A stripe or combination of stripes shall be a minimum of four inches in total width and cover 50 percent of each side, 50 percent of the rear width, and 25 percent of the front width. Reflective graphic designs shall be permitted to replace all or part of the required striping if the design or combination covers at least the same perimeter length(s) required.
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2) This commercial apparatus required the use of a smooth plate for the application of the four-inch stripe. |
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(4) This commercial chassis required a smooth plate with a three-inch strip to be mounted below the one-inch strip that was applied below the grille. |
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In most cases, the sides and rear of the apparatus provide enough flat area to affix a compliant reflective stripe. Sometimes this might require a smooth plate to be affixed, especially when the rear of the apparatus is covered with tread plate.
■ WILLIAM C. PETERS retired after 28 years with the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department, having served his last 17 years as battalion chief/supervisor of apparatus, with the responsibility of purchasing and maintaining the apparatus fleet. He served as a voting member of the NFPA 1901 apparatus committee for several years, representing apparatus users. He is the author of Fire Apparatus Purchasing Handbook (Fire Engineering 1994); two chapters on apparatus in The Fire Chief’s Handbook, Fifth and Sixth Editions (Fire Engineering, 1995); the instructional video Factory Inspections of New Fire Apparatus (Fire Engineering, 1998); and numerous apparatus-related articles. He is an advisory board member of Fire Engineering and the FDIC and lectures extensively on apparatus purchase and safety issues. Peters can be contacted through his Web site FireApparatusConsulting.com.