California on fire...

[don4331]

It seems crazy to me that during a state of emergency, California is inspecting the fire trucks from other states before they'll let them go to the fire.

Imagine your house is on fire, you local fire department calls another department for mutual aid, but you have to wait for your ciry to inspect the other departments fire truck before they'll let it come to your fire.

I think the fact that it made it 100s of miles to help you is good enough, and I highly doubt any FD would send a truck that they weren't 100% confident would do the job.

Up here in Canada, there are 7 different threads for hydrants:

An Alberta truck can connect to BC, it just leaks. But as the BC hose is larger, it can't connect to Alberta.
Stopping for a few minutes to confirm that the truck had the required threads on their hose/adapters seems worth it, as opposed to getting to the scene and finding out the truck can't connect to the hydrants
I believe USA has more than 10 different threads - Chicago and Phoenix both have 2 within the cities.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Up here in Canada, there are 7 different threads for hydrants:
View attachment 122389
An Alberta truck can connect to BC, it just leaks. But as the BC hose is larger, it can't connect to Alberta.
Stopping for a few minutes to confirm that the truck had the required threads on their hose/adapters seems worth it, as opposed to getting to the scene and finding out the truck can't connect to the hydrants
I believe USA has more than 10 different threads - Chicago and Phoenix both have 2 within the cities.

That seems... less than efficient.

 

[sgtsandman]

That seems... less than efficient.

The military runs into the same issue. Like breathing air and respirators, there is no standard. Part of it is because the government is forbidden to show preference to a particular system because they are usually only made by one manufacturer.

I'm sure the intentions when the laws, rules, and regulations were made were good and probably were a result of some sort of problem that came up at the time. So, unintended consequences pop up like they always do.

 

[sgtsandman]

 

[don4331]

That seems... less than efficient.

If you are American LaFrance (defunct now) and you want your customer to be locked into your products, the best way to do that is customization. So, by specifying a different thread on the hydrants & hoses, once the town/county/state (province) has done their initial build out, they are your customer forever.

So, might not be...efficient, but it is good business - if you are in the market of selling fire equipment.

 

[Bill]

If you are American LaFrance (defunct now) and you want your customer to be locked into your products, the best way to do that is customization. So, by specifying a different thread on the hydrants & hoses, once the town/county/state (province) has done their initial build out, they are your customer forever.

So, might not be...efficient, but it is good business - if you are in the market of selling fire equipment.

Maybe there should be a law mandating they all use USB-C connectors.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Maybe there should be a law mandating they all use USB-C connectors.

Get with the times, the world is bluetooth and contactless! Just like all the front drivelines at SEMA... and all the humane meat at the grocery stores where no animals were harmed... slightly different but same thought...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you are American LaFrance (defunct now) and you want your customer to be locked into your products, the best way to do that is customization. So, by specifying a different thread on the hydrants & hoses, once the town/county/state (province) has done their initial build out, they are your customer forever.

So, might not be...efficient, but it is good business - if you are in the market of selling fire equipment.

Meanwhile the hydraulics on a Kinze planter will plug into the ISO hydraulic outlets on a John Deere tractor and a CNH tractor and even my 1953 Allis-Chalmers tractor...

 

[pjtoledo]

do I see a big market for adapters?

 

[Bill]

Get with the times, the world is bluetooth and contactless! Just like all the front drivelines at SEMA... and all the humane meat at the grocery stores where no animals were harmed... slightly different but same thought...

Wireless is great up until you try to use it in an area with a high noise-floor. Then things don't work as they should.

 

[Bill]

do I see a big market for adapters?

I see someone's house burning down in the background while a firefighting crews tries to find the correct adapter only to find out they need one with metric threads.

 

[superj]

Wireless is great up until you try to use it in an area with a high noise-floor. Then things don't work as they should.

or your phone battery dies

 

[DeeRanger]

An interesting piece on those menacing and fierce Devil winds.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

That darn Santa Ana guy is never up to any good...

 

[superj]

i remember, as a kid growing up in socal, that some days the santa anna winds would be so bad that we would not be able to ride our bikes to school or play any kind of sport that required a ball. basketballs would blow away, soccer balls, tennis balls, and anything else not being held on to, even your back pack would blow away if you only had one text book in it. you would be stuck trying to walk your bike and hope you didn't lose grip on a dollar or your hat, because they were gone.

i imagine its not so bad in town anymore since everything is built up but back in the 80s and early 90s, we had lots of fields in riverside so the wind had a good run to beat you up and blow dirt in your eyes. i will never forget those winds. people complain about hte 25-35 mph winds here and i laugh thinking about how it was during that certain time of year the santa anna winds came into town