InterceptRadio.com Forums

SFD Ladder 13 is in service at Station 11 in West Seattle. This is a result of the pending closure of the 1st Ave. S. on ramp to the West Seattle bridge and until the new on ramp opens in a year or so. It was determined that Ladder 7 who normally responds as a second truck company to West Seattle would be substantially delayed by either attempting to cross the lower level bridge (when the massive container truck traffic blocks the roads) and/or by being forced to cross over the 1st South Bridge.
I'm also hearing rumors of 'rolling brown outs' of fire stations and can't help but wonder if that is where they plan to acquire the manpower for manning L-13...while SDOT pays for overtime to man L-13.

Yep, heard about the Ladder-13 rig going in service. The entire staffing and overtime backfilling of all positions associated with the L-13 deployment are funded through SDOT.

I'm wondering if they could've got away with creating a FDNY-like "Squad" unit. This is a hybrid unit, which has truck co. type personnel, who are trained in those disciplines, along with some other tech. rescue skills, but operated off of a engine. The squads rig is an engine, but has all the tech rescue gear, and truck co. stuff. Of course the big drawback is the absence of a 100' aerial device. I mean, how often does the stick get put up anyways? And if it's a "big" fire, then you're going to get multiple ladder trucks anyways.

As far as rolling brownouts, haven't heard alot. However I heard that Stations 16 and 21 have been thrown out as potential candidates.

I agree with CAR as a "Squad" might work better for that area as Rescue 1 coming out of Station 14 on 4th Ave S. & S. Horton St. will have a long response if it is needed for a technical rescue situation in West Seattle with the road closures.................

Does anyone know if Ladder 13 will be a 3 or 4 man crew? With Ladder 13 being station at Station 11, it could be a faster "ladder" response in the White Center area in which North Highline could request instead of Ladder 54 (Tukwila) or Ladder 29 (Burien / Normandy Park)........just a thought!

L-13 crew is four. Or at least there were four on the app. this morning. It's one of the older 'tillered' rigs which is strange to see in West Seattle.

I heard the entire City will be Tillered in the future. Tillered Rigs in SFD were bought for the Downtown area so they could maneuver the hills and be able to make the turns. I was told due to weight limitations and DOT rules that Tillers meet the requirements. This was told to me by a Station 2 Ladder 4 guy.

_________________
Realistic Patrolman PRO-48, Uniden BC-800XLT, Radio Shack PRO-2018, Uniden BC-895XLT, Uniden BC-245XLT, RCA RP-6100,
Realistic PRO-2006, Uniden BR330T, Uniden BCT15X

I was thinking that there are more 'high rise' buildings growing in outlying areas of the City, too. West Seattle is gaining more and more structures over five stories of varying types so it only makes sense.

I think the biggest reason why the SFD doesn't have an all TDA fleet is because they're constrained by the size of their stations. A lot of them were too small for a tiller. Now that they're doing remodels or rebuilds of pretty much all the truck company stations, they may be making them big enough to hold TDAs.

My brother talked to the driver of a new one enroute from Wisconsin to Sea via the dealer at Eugene. He said this is the 3rd delivery this year as Seattle qualified for grant money from the previous admin to replace equipment after 9/11. They put a weight in the tiller seat and drive the rig like a trailer. The 55 gal tank is good for about 250 miles.

_________________
"I was installing un-programmed radios"