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Fire Engine Photos
No: 35778 Contributor: Ronald Henderson Year: 2013 Manufacturer: Other Country: United States of America
Manhasset Lakeville Firebird 125
Here you are Rob. I have the neg so can send a better print if required., I did some video of it as the very nice men insisted on displaying this and the tractor trailer. Happy Days. The Kenworth was bought because at the time it "was the cheapest" tractor.
Here you are Rob. I have the neg so can send a better print if required., I did some video of it as the very nice men insisted on displaying this and the tractor trailer. Happy Days. The Kenworth was bought because at the time it "was the cheapest" tractor.
Rod says "This Firebird was quite an (unnecessary) investment for a town with 8, 600 inhabitants which already had a 100 foot aerial, but it was very handy when it came time to decorate the village Christmas tree"...is this a worldwide syndrome?? Seems very common in many countries!
Added by Jacques PETER on 24 August 2013.
Added by Jacques PETER on 24 August 2013.
Here in the US, local governments are entirely independent and some small towns have quite a strong tax base - especially affluent commuter "bedroom communities" in the suburbs of major cities like New York.
Because they have very few fire calls, they cannot justify full-time firefighters, and being a volunteer is traditionally a right of passage and a part of growing up for able-bodied young men so there is no shortage of members.
The result of a strong property tax base and no payroll expense is that there are ample funds to build very fancy fire houses and to acquire lots of expensive custom-built equipment.
Nassau County, which is contiguous to New York City, has a population of 1.4 million and has no less than 190 separate volunteer fire companies - some only a mile apart!
It is a fire engine buff's paradise - every department has custom trucks, and many have numerous aerials, rescues and special purpose units, plus a fleet of late-model SUVs and police-specification staff cars for the chiefs, assistants and deputies. Many parts of New Jersey and Westchester County are very similar.
Watching FDNY tackle a fire a few blocks from the county line is an education. Effective, dedicated, fast-moving firefighters working under a unified command system with standardized equipment - the threat is minimized very quickly.
Look at a video of a well-involved structure fire in the suburbs being handled by half a dozen different volunteer fire companies and you will often see a very different picture. Poor apparatus placement, lots of standing around, chiefs discussing what to do next, and firefighters taking the initiative and sometimes working at cross purposes, even combining interior and exterior attack, or driving the fire at each other!
Attendances can be impressive, with a dozen or more pieces of apparatus, but individual chiefs and firefighters attend very few serious incidents, so inevitably experience is often lacking.
It all goes back to "you get what you pay for", but a much smaller county-wide paid organization might well function more effectively at the same cost.
Added by Rob Johnson on 31 August 2013.
Because they have very few fire calls, they cannot justify full-time firefighters, and being a volunteer is traditionally a right of passage and a part of growing up for able-bodied young men so there is no shortage of members.
The result of a strong property tax base and no payroll expense is that there are ample funds to build very fancy fire houses and to acquire lots of expensive custom-built equipment.
Nassau County, which is contiguous to New York City, has a population of 1.4 million and has no less than 190 separate volunteer fire companies - some only a mile apart!
It is a fire engine buff's paradise - every department has custom trucks, and many have numerous aerials, rescues and special purpose units, plus a fleet of late-model SUVs and police-specification staff cars for the chiefs, assistants and deputies. Many parts of New Jersey and Westchester County are very similar.
Watching FDNY tackle a fire a few blocks from the county line is an education. Effective, dedicated, fast-moving firefighters working under a unified command system with standardized equipment - the threat is minimized very quickly.
Look at a video of a well-involved structure fire in the suburbs being handled by half a dozen different volunteer fire companies and you will often see a very different picture. Poor apparatus placement, lots of standing around, chiefs discussing what to do next, and firefighters taking the initiative and sometimes working at cross purposes, even combining interior and exterior attack, or driving the fire at each other!
Attendances can be impressive, with a dozen or more pieces of apparatus, but individual chiefs and firefighters attend very few serious incidents, so inevitably experience is often lacking.
It all goes back to "you get what you pay for", but a much smaller county-wide paid organization might well function more effectively at the same cost.
Added by Rob Johnson on 31 August 2013.
Montréal in Canada has a similar unit but 150 foot in 1977. Very problematic in winter with the hydraulics, the truck was sold only 10 years after, not common for Montréal.
Added by Seb on 21 September 2013.
Added by Seb on 21 September 2013.
I am not sure how long Manhasset's Firebird was in service, but I do know that for several years its booms were never deployed at a fire! On the rare occasions when it was turned out, it was only because the ground ladders it carried in its side compartments were needed.
I was told it cost almost twice as much as a 95 foot Baker Aerialscope tower. These were used by FDNY and by several other Long Island fire companies - and still are! I also learned that it was "off the run" a lot of the time, although I don't know why. Apparently, spare parts were very difficult to obtain.
Unfortunately, it became a bit of a joke among other Long Island volunteer fire companies, partly because it was such a beast but not least because there were no buildings high enough to justify a 125 foot aerial anywhere east of Manhattan at the time!
It was replaced by a 95 foot tower ladder, which I think may have been an E-One.
Added by Rob Johnson on 21 September 2013.
I was told it cost almost twice as much as a 95 foot Baker Aerialscope tower. These were used by FDNY and by several other Long Island fire companies - and still are! I also learned that it was "off the run" a lot of the time, although I don't know why. Apparently, spare parts were very difficult to obtain.
Unfortunately, it became a bit of a joke among other Long Island volunteer fire companies, partly because it was such a beast but not least because there were no buildings high enough to justify a 125 foot aerial anywhere east of Manhattan at the time!
It was replaced by a 95 foot tower ladder, which I think may have been an E-One.
Added by Rob Johnson on 21 September 2013.
Wow I actually know the fate of this exact fire truck! I recognize it from a photo album of a volunteer fire department I was on in 2011. It was in service with lacy-lakeview, tx. A run down industrial suburb of waco, about 5000 population though probably less then. The town didnt eve. Have 2 story buildings! It saw some action in waco at a warehouse fire but other than that it just broke down a lot playing with the boom in training and demos. I was told it was sold to a window washing company who I imagine would have scrapped it by now. The only thing left are old rechargable flashlights still stenciled with the original owning dept.
Added by Jay m on 24 August 2016.
Added by Jay m on 24 August 2016.
Other
This Firebird was quite an (unnecessary) investment for a town with 8, 600 inhabitants which already had a 100 foot aerial, but it was very handy when it came time to decorate the village Christmas tree.
Added by Rob Johnson on 22 August 2013.