Not liked appliances at any of the stations that have them in SF&R. They are neither a good WRL or a high reach appliance, would be much better with a dedicated machine for both jobs. They are also very slow in both driving speed and boom operation.
Added by James Baxter on 25 November 2006.
If anyone has some information and specifications on this appliance and would be willing to pass it on to me, as our station are about to receive one.
I prefer if this appliance is installed with snorkel/hydraulic platform.
Added by Bomba995 on 08 February 2007.
quite funny in a way that a lot crews from SFRS don't like them. we heard SFRS is reviewing these machines whilst our brigade L&B is looking at buying a few!
I saw one on the back of a low-loader been smashed up week before last heading down south. Anyone know what happened? I hope the crew were OK, OIC wouldd have had a shock as windsreen shattered. I know crews didn't like them but thats taking it a bit far!!
Too big, tall, long, how will they fit retained stations when it becomes a hand me down, they topple over, what happens when they need a service ? do you get spare appliances ? we had these 30 years ago and they werent a good idea then, a huge waste of money !!
I was on this one when it rolled over at slow speed going around a roundabout in Hamilton on 20th May 2007! It doesn't look as good as this now...... in fact, they are totally unstable and dangerous; the FBU know about that!!
picture #1458 and picture #3188 have pretty heavy discussions going on, about these "Quints". In North America, the builders have longer and wider chassis' to mount all this gear on; as most communities are much newer than in Europe and consequently have much wider street lay-outs. The few older communities have been mostly "improved" by Great Fires and/or Urban Redevelopment. As Big Al says, while a CARP/Quint is very tempting for a Town/City interested in its first Aerial; they must make sure of a back-up - either getting an older Aerial at same time, or ensuring that a neighboring community has one available on Mutual Aid. Great 'Site. Regards, Pat_R-B
The a r p is only a money saving machine bring back the tl sfr before lifes are lost
Added by Colin richards on 28 October 2008.
.....i would like to put my own (copyrighted) pictures of this very same arp on this site, taken on it's very last day in service; that's the picture of it's very last day as a frontline fire fighting vehicle showing the damage for it to be written off, you know the one where it's lying on its side as it was going around a roundabout on its way to a fire call......would like comments on this please......the ball is starting to roll!!
The initial purpose for developing Quints in the USA was to reduce staffing -- specifically in St. Louis Fire Department. When the machines were introduced about 1/3 of the workforce were lost to early retirement, attrition and a few layoffs. The concept was intriguing and many cities, towns and rural departments followed the lead. Here's the hitch: Here in the USA the pumper and aerial (usually totalling 8 firefighters) have two very differing job assignments. Problem is, an arriving quint has 4 members aboard, and its the ladder task that usually suffers.
Quints work in the volunteer service b/c it gives the capability of two apparatus in one where you never know what apparatus or how many personnel may show up. Plus as has been pointed out, it works better in the US b/c the are longer and wider, thus a lower center of gravity. Compare this pic to some of the quints from US manufacturers.
Thank you RG for providing the volunteer perspective. I'd be curious to learn if the Fire Brigades Union has taken issue with these multi-task appliances?
Added by Steve bonner on 06 February 2006.