I have been an active participant in the fire and emergency service world since March 1964. Had you asked me then to tell you what I thought things would be like at the turn of the century, I don't know if I could have foreseen the equipment we now possess and the services we deliver. A lot of what we take as gospel now was unknown in my early years as a responder.
Just think of some of the devices which make our work easier and safer. When I went through U.S. Air Force fire school in 1966, my classmates and I were instructed in the use of Chemox oxygen-generating self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). I was always suspicious of entering a burning building with something that could explode if it was exposed to oil or oil-related products. At the beginning of my career in Newark, NJ, the fire department had only recently made the conversion from canister-mask breathing apparatus to the world of modern SCBA.
After a series of back injuries during my first year as a Newark firefighter, the weight of the SCBA cylinder became a real issue for me. I sure could have used the ultra-lightweight equipment now in use.
The same holds true for the hose, nozzles and ladders we now use. I broke into the fire service when there was still a surplus of World War II-vintage double-jacketed, cotton 2 1/2-inch hose equipped with brass fittings. Our nozzles apparently were crafted from lead, or so it seemed as we learned to carry and operate them in a safe manner.
Who can forget the joy of raising a 50-foot wooden bangor ladder - you know the type, with the poles that had a habit of falling off. I can recall learning to do the old church raise with a monstrous wooden behemoth of a ladder.
Another painful throwback memory comes from hanging onto the bar on the back of a pumper as it made its way through the clogged streets of Newark. I am sure that those backstep days are one of the reasons for my bad back and knees. I can recall friends who were seriously injured by falls from a backstep. I can recall falling from the backstep of a pumper back in my Alaska days with the Air Force in 1967. I was lucky - I bounced a bit and tore some skin from my knees and stomach. How much nicer the ride is now, as we respond seated and belted?
Out Of The Past
What devices do we depend on now that did not exist 25 years ago? Smoke detectors and personal alert safety system (PASS) devices come quickly to mind. A great deal of our work load comes from a device that did not exist in the not-too-distant past. A recent save in my fire department came about when a member activated his PASS device and was found.
The dispatch function is an area we frequently ignore. My earliest years as a first responder were governed by the steam horns of the fire department and the roof-top siren of the first-aid squad. Many calls were missed during times when the wind was blowing the wrong way or we were listening to loud music on the radio. I can remember how great it was when we got the simple alerting device back in 1969 that went beep, boop, beep. It was Stone-Aged, but very effective for the times. Now we are blessed with an abundance of lightweight pagers, radios and other alerting devices.
Easily used computer equipment did not exist for the first two decades of my career. I am a graduate of the pen, pencil and paper school of fire administration. These last few years have been some of my most productive, thanks to the four computers which make up my stable of electronic horses.
What's Ahead?
So much for the past 25 years. Now for a few musings for the year 2025.
Barring some totally unforeseen event, fire engines and aerial devices will still be around. I think that safety issues will dictate a move toward the tower ladder style of aerial unit. My experience tells me that it provides a safer operating platform, and it will be this issue of safety that drives us in that direction. As structural stability and lightweight floor and roof truss construction continue to proliferate, the tower can provide a greater measure of safety for firefighters of the future.
I would fervently hope that Class A foam becomes more widely accepted. The improvements in how we combat fires using this product will continue, as the research and operational experience grows. It would be a real treat for me if the pumper that protects the Old Fireman's Home, where I will probably be in 2025 at the age of 78, has a full Class A foam system. As inventions go, this has been a great one. I would envision the trend as running from rural communities, to the suburbs and lastly to the cities. The cities will be last, because they will be the least willing, or able, to afford the costs of changing over.
I would envision an explosive growth in the use of thermal imaging equipment. Given the upcoming legislation in a number of venues which supports the purchase of this equipment, I would expect to see the costs drop, and the availability increase. Research and development over the years will probably lead to a time when each operational firefighting unit will carry some form of lightweight, easy-to-use imagining equipment. This will allow for fires to be fought more efficiently.
Like any longtime engine company fire person, I pray for improvements in the area of hose and nozzles. While there is probably a practical limit to the potential for lightweight hose, I think that this is an area where great stride still lie out ahead of us.
The same holds true for turnout gear and SCBA. Here is an area where I may get a little Buck Rogers in my prognostication. In the firefighting world of 2025, I can see where our personnel could be operating in extremely lightweight one-piece ensembles, where the breathing apparatus is built right into the protective suit, along with the protective helmet. This is not as much of a stretch as it may seem. I see it as the logical future extension of where we are now headed.
I can also envision a day when every home is protected by a total alarm package. This will include smoke and fire detection, burglar alarm, carbon monoxide detection, supplemented by some form of medical monitoring. This will provide a total protective package as well as a much better level of protection for the citizens which the emergency service of the future will still be sworn to protect.
It is difficult to envision what form computers may take in the future. I can remember as a child Dick Tracy talking into his wrist radio. We already have onboard computers. We also have personal data managers which can be carried in a shirt pocket. It is exciting to think of a time when you would have the power to manage a fire with a computer that can interact with your vocal an visual cues and provide interactive operational data in a real-time mode.
I like to fantasize over the possibilities which exist in the world of virtual reality. Imagine conducting a full-scale drill for a department of 100 members in which every individual is a player in the virtual scenario. You could burn and re-burn your community without ever losing a building or injuring a firefighter.
Personal Factor
The most important piece of the puzzle in 2025 will still be the individual firefighter. This is just as it was in 1825, 1925 and 1999. Well-trained individuals, schooled in the emergency service arts and sciences, will be the central focus for using whatever technology is developed over the first quarter of the next millennium.
It is my strong opinion that training will continue to grow in importance over the next several decades. As the size of our agencies continues to shrink, each player on the team will have to take on more roles. And the best way to gain and maintain skills is by a continuous program of training, as outlined above. This must be supplemented with an increased emphasis on physical fitness and safety. Perhaps by 2025, a way will be found to make exercise easy to do. Who knows?
Anyway, it's my fervent desire to get together with you at the Firehouse Emergency Services Expo in 2025 to see just how close to the real thing we all were. Here's hoping.
Dr. Harry R. Carter, a Firehouse® contributing editor, recently retired as a battalion commander with the Newark, NJ, Fire Department, where he also served as chief of training. He is also a past chief and active life member of the Adelphia, NJ, Fire Department. Dr. Carter is an Associate of the Institution of Fire Engineers of Great Britain (AIFireE).
