Emergency responders and public safety agencies are uniquely impacted by the advent of new technologies and trends in transportation, communication, and city management. While other industries and markets can transform or disappear as new technologies emerge, emergency responders must continuously adapt their practices, tools, and protocols to remain effective to the communities they serve. The Continue reading
Large-scale evacuations in both metropolitan and rural areas during a major flood event can prove to be more than difficult. Evacuating a subdivision is one thing but, imagine evacuating an entire city of more than a million. The challenges can quickly overwhelm local first responders. Standard fire apparatus can prove to be less than adequate Continue reading
Wildland fire apparatus design and production have changed drastically, as have all apparatus with the ever-advancing automobile industry. Over the span of the past few decades, the standard has moved from repurposed trucks to engineered, precision wildland fire apparatus. Today, members of the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) are taking the lead to design and Continue reading
The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association’s (FAMA) core mission is to protect and advance the interests of the fire and emergency services community, a critical pillar of American safety and security. Every day in the United States firefighters, police officers, and other first responders navigate busy highways and roads to respond to car accidents, 911 calls, Continue reading
The Fire Apparatus Manufacturing industry is rapidly evolving. The trucks of today are more powerful, more precise, and have more sophisticated electrical and mechanical systems than the trucks of years past. As trucks continue to evolve, the specification, purchasing, and maintenance processes do as well. It is important for agencies of any size to fully Continue reading
The Fire Apparatus Manufacturers’ Association (FAMA) is committed to the manufacture and sale of safe, efficient fire apparatus and fire equipment. Its goal is to provide tools and information to promote fire apparatus safety. With that goal in mind, member companies have been learning about the process of creating a clean apparatus specification, also known Continue reading
Every year, thousands of fire department apparatus specifications are reviewed by Fire Apparatus Manufacturer’s Association (FAMA) member companies before they are used to produce fire apparatus. While items such as tire ratings, engine size, seating requirements, hose carrying capacities, etc., are often defined in minute detail, the working area of the apparatus (the pump operator’s Continue reading
Every fire department’s got one of them, or if they don’t, they know one of them: the person who knows every little model number and fact about every light fixture on the market. They can state how many flashes per second, how many lumens, and what the year a specific fixture was released. But, as Continue reading
Growing up as a kid I suffered through several long vacation rides to Florida in the back of my father’s station wagon with all the windows rolled down. I was always jealous of the kids whose parents had the “fancy” cars with power windows and air conditioning. Air conditioning for fire trucks started when early Continue reading
We at the Fire Apparatus Manufacturer’s Association (FAMA) stay intimately involved in the National Fire Protection (NFPA) standards process to make sure that new trends in NFPA 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, and NFPA 1906, Standard for Automotive Wildland Fire Apparatus, are both positive and practical. One of the current discussions involves complaints from Continue reading