We have preached for years the importance of getting out and surveying your area to know ahead of time what you will face on the fireground. One of the most important (yet often overlooked) components of a good area survey is sharing the information with the other shifts. We recent received an excellent example from Tony Ferreiro, Carpentersville (IL) Truck 981. He shared that his shift goes out once a month on Sundays and actually ladders buildings in their area with the aerial. This obviously allows them to determine optimal positions, and identify any limitations ahead of time. Beyond the area familiarization component, setting up the aerial on actual building is a valuable training tool for new or relief drivers. When it comes to sharing the area familiarization information Tony sent in this attachment which was shared with the other crews. The simple attachment is just a few pictures with descriptions of what they found of interest in that particular building, like a roof over. The example could have gone one step further to show the aerial set-up in a few spots on the building to show good and bad placement.

Area familiarization is an essential tool in being a well prepared truck company, but sharing this valuable information with everyone else is just as important.

The crew from DCFD 13 Truck #4 sent in these photos of an upgrade they made to the tip of their aerial. They removed the bulky spot lights often found on an aerial’s tip and replaced them with LED light strips. The main purpose of the modification was to reduce the profile of the tip, while maintaining adequate illumination for operations. The LED’s operate off the rig’s batteries, so the generator does not need to be in operation for them to be used. As you can see from the photos, the LED’s still illuminate the area of operation, and are still quite an eye catcher while operating on the roof. Another benefit is that the LED’s do not tend to have the blinding effect like traditional spot or flood lights.