Mariemont’s Fire Truck: An Awesome Piece of Equipment (I would encourage readers to read the comments by former Assistant Fire Chief Tim Feichtner)
The new fire truck is a firefighter’s dream. This type of fire truck is called a ‘quint’ reflecting four capabilities that include an aerial ladder, pumping capabilities, a tank for water and storage of ground ladders and tools.
The span of the aerial ladder is 107 feet with a 750 pound tip load that easily accommodates the weight of both the firefighters and rescued victims. The truck has a 400 gallon water tank and can pump 1500 gallons of water per minute.
The vehicle accommodates six firefighters and a 1000 foot large diameter supply hose and many smaller hoses. Its state of the art toolbox includes the extricating ‘jaws of life’ that can cut through metal and other barriers to remove trapped accident victims.
What puzzles me is whether Mariemont really needs a $750,000 fire truck with a 107 foot ladder as opposed to a standard fire truck that costs roughly half as much when you already have fire departments with two ladder trucks within a radius of 3.2 miles. Additionally, virtually all dwellings within the Village of Mariemont are two stories and the few that are over two stories have sprinkler systems that meet code. Furthermore, due to the risks of collapse, firefighters no longer climb out onto roofs.
I know it is comforting to have a fire department with a superior ISO rating of 2, but is this really necessary? Most insurance companies do not base their rates on ISO ratings. Moreover, Terrace Park residents feel quite safe with an all volunteer fire department (24 volunteers) that annually costs between $130,000 and $150,000 per year to maintain versus Mariemont’s cost of $821,187 in 2013 (exclusive of the $254,000 installment for the fire truck).
Mr. Wendell,
This letter is in response to your article suggesting that the purchase of a new fire truck for the Village of Mariemont was unnecessary.
Previous articles you have published have made it clear that you do not support many of the decisions made by Council and may even have an underlying animosity toward some of them.
I know there are some who have a dislike for the elected officials of this community. However, it is time that people stop hiding those opinions behind blog attacks and start discussing issues with one another as adults. It is also time for people to have an understanding of the effect these type of public statements have on the employees and volunteers of the community. It seems that every time we turn around, there is a target on our backs.
I have worked for the Village of Mariemont since 1999. Still to this day, I cannot understand why the public servants of this community are constantly under scrutiny and constantly used as pawns in people’s political wars.
In May of 2009, the residents of the community voted by a significant margin to keep their own fire department. Knowing that we were wanted here and were going to remain within the community, we immediately went to work to make changes that would reduce costs without sacrificing any of the services. We, as a responsible organization, worked with the Mayor, Council, and Chief Hines to develop a plan that would provide the same high-quality Fire and EMS services while reducing expenses. We agreed to make personal and professional sacrifices for the good of the Village.
At that time, you published a letter in which you stated, “A highly rated, independent Fire Department and Rescue Squad increases our home values in Mariemont, and also enhances the stature of the Village. Having a local fire department is just good business.” You further stated that you would have found it “unfortunate to relinquish these quality services, because of the preferences of just a few officials.” You personally had encouraged people to vote against the merger and you were right to do so. For instance, since joining the Little Miami Fire and Rescue District in 2009, Newton’s charges from the district have increased from $600,000 per year to $1,100,000! Meanwhile, our costs have held steady and, in some categories, such as salaries, they have even decreased.
Please understand that individuals do not become Police or Firefighters to get rich. The common answer to why we do it is, we like to help people. We are the individuals who run toward the chaos when everyone else is running away. Unfortunately we meet most people at one of the worst time in their lives. All we ask in return is to be provided with the gear and equipment we need to insure the safety of the residents and ourselves.
“What Puzzles Me Is” how someone with no firefighting experience can sit back and assume what the Mariemont Fire Department needs or how they should operate. It may be kind of obvious that you touched a nerve. Do you know what it is like to leave your home in the morning and say goodbye to your spouse knowing that could be the last time they see you? Do you know what it is like to put your life up as collateral for a resident every day you walk through the door of the Village Building? I am sure the answer to these questions is “No”. Why is it so common that individuals not certified in our profession seem to have the answers without ever speaking with us?
To this point, I have been speaking from the heart. Now it’s time to clear up some of your false facts.
I am pretty sure where you get your information. You cannot compare us to any neighboring fire district. It is as everyone likes to say “Apples to Oranges”. If you have questions about Mariemont, call one of their Chiefs, not a neighboring community.
One of the articles you wrote in June of 2013, positively portrayed the Village’s purchase of a fire truck. Now 18 months later, you have taken that same article, redacted some paragraphs and added some new questions.
You asked, “Is a $750,000 fire truck needed?” The answer is yes!
I need for you to take a step back and look at the big picture for a moment. Our previous fire truck was 23 years old. We replaced it for $755,878.12. If you ask me, we did pretty well. In comparison, the police department purchases one new police cruiser every year. That is a necessity, not a choice. If you take a conservative figure of $30,000 and multiply it by 25 that equals $750,000. The police department makes a smaller purchase every year where we make one big one every 25 years. This specific piece of equipment you questioned was built to serve the needs of the community now and for the next 25 years. We are paying for it over a period of three years, with only one payment left to go. Other than maintenance, the truck will cost us nothing until it needs to be replaced some 25 years from now.
Now, let’s clear up some terminology before we get into this. A “Fire Engine” carries a pump, equipment, firefighters and water to the scene. A “Ladder” Truck carries tools and firefighters to the scene. A “Quint” has five functions. It carries a pump, water tank, fire hose, an aerial device, and ground ladders.
Mariemont purchased a Quint. I would like to know how many fire trucks you have built to know that a “standard” fire truck cost half as much. I am assuming you are calling a standard fire truck what we refer to as an “Engine”. What is a standard fire truck? Fire trucks do not necessarily roll off an assembly line like your family car. Every department in the United States basically designs a truck to fit the needs of their community. This again is not comparable. Mariemont made the decision to replace the “Quint” with another “Quint” and not an “Engine”. We looked into buying a demo like a neighboring department did with their “Engine” in 2003. This did not make sense because the demo units cost more than what we built our current truck for.
Before we get onto the “nitty gritty”, there are different sizes of ladders on top of a Ladder Truck or a Quint. There are Mid Mounts and Rear Mount Aerials. This is where the aerial ladder is positioned on the apparatus, but I assume you know this since you know so much about our profession already.
There are light duty aerials, which normally are rated for 250 pounds. There are medium duty aerials which are rated for 500 pounds and heavy duty which are rated 750 pounds. The ratings are while not flowing water.
Mariemont purchased a 107’ Heavy Duty Aerial on top of the Quint. We previously utilized a 100’ light duty aerial. This means that when the aerial was in use, it could safely hold 250 pounds on the tip of the aerial.
I’m not a shy individual as you can tell. I weigh approximately 200 pounds, but once I put on my protective fire gear, breathing apparatus and carry the necessary tools, I am adding an additional 70 to 80 pounds to my weight. If you add it all up, I exceeded the tip load on the old aerial all by myself. However, firefighters normally work in pairs. If I needed to climb the aerial and was exceeding the tip load by myself, my partner could not even climb the aerial with me. What if I needed to rescue you from a window? You and I without my gear would have exceeded the tip load. The old aerial was no longer adequate and no longer passed today’s safety requirements.
The length of the aerial is also extremely important due to the set-backs of some of the homes in our community.
You say there are two ladder trucks within 2.3 miles of Mariemont. Remember, a ladder truck is not comparable to a “Quint” and their ladders are not at least 100’. I am also unclear as to where you got your statistics, as the distances you cited are off just a bit. Below is a list of five of the closest firehouses with aerials and their distances:
Little Miami Newtown Station – 75’ Quint 2.73 Miles
Madiera Indian Hill Station – 75’ Quint 3.53 Miles
Anderson Township Station 101 100’ Quint 4.99 Miles
Cincinnati Fire Station 18 100’ Ladder Truck 4.17 Miles
Sycamore Township 100’ Ladder Truck 5.28 Miles
(All Info from Mapquest)
The problems with depending on the apparatus from surrounding communities are response times and availability. What good is it going to do us if it takes them longer than our trucks to get to a fire? With our small streets, there is no room for them to get into the scene. What good is that truck if you can’t use it?
With a Quint, we can arrive on the scene first and go to work pulling hoses to put the fire out. If the aerial is needed we can assign a crew to that task because it is sitting in front of the structure.
You state that “most of the dwellings within the village are two stories and the few that are over two stories have sprinkler systems that meet code”. This is true, but do you understand that a sprinkler system is to aid in preventing the spread of fire. They are not meant to extinguish all fire and can commonly be overrun depending on the type of material burning and the fire load in the structure. Just because you have a sprinkler system does not mean a fire can’t burn a building down. Look at the new condos. They are considered three stories. For the firefighters to reach the balconies or roof, it will take all of the 107’ of ladder we have. What a firefighter understands that others may not, is you have to keep the “Quint” far enough back from the structure so that it is not destroyed if the building would collapse. That set-back distance needs to be calculated into the total length of the aerial ladder when a Quint is being designed and when it is being used.
Your assumption that “firefighters no longer climb out onto roofs” is the most absurd thing I have heard in my 17 year career. I am not sure who told you this, but this alone should cause your readers to question the validity of your position. Firefighters are now taught using the 5th Edition of the International Fire Service Training Association’s textbook. If you read Chapter 11, it talks about ventilation. Nowhere does it say we don’t get onto roofs. We need to climb onto roofs to ventilate and sometimes cut a hole to release the smoke and gases to assist in improving conditions on the inside so firefighters are able see better to find the fire and potentially save property and life more quickly. Due to the pitches of the roofs in Mariemont and some of them being slate, it is safer to conduct this procedure from the aerial itself and not be on the roof.
The aerial is not only to get firefighters to the roofs. We also use the aerial to rescue individuals from balconies or window. If there is not a rescue of victims, the aerial can be placed at the window or balconies to give firefighters a second way out should things get bad on the inside.
In your last paragraph you compare the Mariemont Fire Department to the Terrace Park Fire Department. This again is “Apples to Oranges”. I have nothing against Terrace Park. They have some great men and women on their crews, but Terrace Park’s Fire Department is made up of all volunteers. There is a significant response time difference between the two departments. Mariemont is staffed with Firefighter/Paramedics in the station where Terrace Park has Emergency Medical Technicians and firefighters that respond from home. They contract with Miami Township Fire Department Clermont County for Paramedics. Terrace Park does not have a nursing home, 3 schools, a rail yard and an industrial area that houses an extremely large steel plant and other businesses. We provide a top notch service that is never complained about when we are needed.
We are essentially an insurance policy. We are ready to be used when needed. If you want to pay for a cheap policy, you will get cheap coverage. In our case, you are paying for a medium-priced policy and getting top notch coverage. I would suggest you compare Mariemont’s budget with the surrounding departments. You will probably find that it is the lowest excluding Terrace Park because they are not staffed 24/7.
I can assure you whether you want to believe it or not the apparatus that was purchased was a necessity. It replaced an old and unreliable piece of equipment that was no longer safe or in compliance with today’s standards.
While some want to use police and fire departments as political fodder, twisting statistics to meet their own agenda, we prefer to deal in facts. This response to your article is an attempt to help you to understand that you cannot judge the effectiveness or efficiency of the Mariemont Fire Department based on information you have been given by other fire departments. Additionally, you cannot present that information as fact without including statements about the motive those other departments might have to criticize this department, such as convincing the public that we need to consolidate services. Our agenda is simple. We want to provide Mariemont residents with the most safety possible while holding down costs as much as we can. Is it possible that surrounding departments are looking for additional revenue streams (tax dollars from Mariemont residents) to help cover the high cost of new buildings and new equipment? That would certainly give them a reason to attempt to convince you and others that it is Mariemont’s best interest to merge, when in fact, it is in their best interest, not ours. We may not have a new “state-of-the-art building”, but our facilities and equipment allow us to provide our community all the same services at a significantly lower cost.
I would never presume to tell a surgeon which instruments he should use. I find it interesting that people with no firefighting experience feel qualified to tell us what equipment we should have.
Thank you for your time. Should you wish to discuss this further with someone other than the chiefs, please feel free to contact me.
Thank you,
Tim Feichtner
Mariemont Firefighter/Paramedic and former Assistant Fire Chief
Tim,
Thank you for your comments and comprehensive discussion of our fire service in Mariemont. This clarifies many issues and is a discussion that the residents of Mariemont deserve to hear. For the Mariemont fire department to merge with LMFR would incur considerable costs, although in the long run it would probably be a cost saving strategy. Incidentally, I have no ax to grind with the public officials in Mariemont. The purpose of Mariemont.com is to inform. You imply that we are unfairly attacking village administration. I don’t feel that that is a valid assessment. By the way, your comments to our fire department post on Mariemont.com is the first time a public official either elected or un-elected has commented about a post over these past three years.
I congratulate you for being the first–a blog, by definition, is a vehicle for exchange of views and information
Question: How many Mariemont firefighters and policemen actually live in Mariemont?
Answer: I don’t believe that a single Mariemont police officer lives in Mariemont. I know that because the Mariemont Town Crier listed each officer’s place of residence [not actual address] a year or so ago. Over half of the Mariemont police live in Union Township in Clermont County and commute to the Village.
I would guess the same holds true for Mariemont firefighters. Does anyone know if any firefighters live here?
So instead of chatting about these issues with you public servants in person, we’re forced to do so via the ‘Net. Would you prefer no dialogue whatsoever? If so, you’re working in the wrong community.