The 81 new CA OES Type 6 engines are being assigned to Fire Departments now. They have a set of Jaws of life cutters, ram and spreaders in addition to tools for wildland fires. Does anybody know where they are being assigned to?
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Or pictures?
I have seen the specs and honestly I feel they are way to big for a type 6. They are almost as long as a 34. I feel type 6 should. Be smaller, shorter easy to get on tight areas and do patrol and mop up . Just my 2 cents
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Having done a lot of type 6 work, that is not a type 6, that is a school bus.
A bench seat (do they even make those any more?) and absolute minimal gear goes with the territory. It is uncomforable and austere and it is supposed to be that way.
It is all worth it when you are able to work the rig up a Cat line and get right up to whatever is burning without having to deploy a bunch of hose and pick it up later.
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Although the GVW on the light duty chassis have risen dramatically over the past decade they are still light duty. Compartments get filled, just a fact in the business. Lots of compartments = lots of weight. Chassis in general flex far more that in the distant past. Heavy, very long lowest bid makes the longevity and serviceability of these units questionable. With that said I hope these go out to rural departments available for IA on not just veg fire but MVA, car fires and all risk incidents.
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I heard the Bay Area is receiving 5 of them
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SFFD received 5 of them.
OCFA got 5.
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Seeing them go to large agencies, ability to staff may be a top issue when assigning? Anyone have any info on how they are being assigned?
Will they be staffed with 3 ?
I think maybe 4 but it will be tight.
Technically type 6 engines have minimum staffing of 2. What is the water tank capacity on these engines? Hopefully it’s more than 150 gallons. Not really sure what the intended mission is for these engines with extrication tools and all. Not the traditional type 6 engine make up.
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300 gallon water tank with a 20 gallon foam tank. A set of Jaws of Life extrication tools ( spreaders, ram and cutters) is provided. a 22 ft Little Giant multi position ladder is stored under the hose bed.
I heard a rumor that they may try to pair them up with REMS so they have extrication tools if needed
I believe OES wants them staffed with 3.
And midship.pump.plus aux
Definitely not the intent of a Ty 6. This thing is more like a Ty 3 with less hose. That’s assuming it has less hose.
(Starts completely unqualified opinion)
Yeah as soon as I read they had extrication equipment, my mental image (assumption) of this vehicle and its mission changed. Sure enough the photo later in the thread with an F550 and custom utility box confirmed many of our suspicions. Trying to do too many things at once vs a few specialized missions. I thought this platform was to fit a role the Type 3 physically outgrew, fitting into tighter spots with water and wildland tools, running on skid trails etc. I’m pretty familiar with this chassis in various setups, and with those tires and wheelbase and weight, this thing will be lacking everywhere. But, I do understand OES is filling an all-risk role, and also must justify the tax-dollar spend, so another jack-of-all-trades resource is likely all we’ll ever get from this direction, for good or bad. Knowing OES internally, they try to dilute every specialized resource they have to avoid having something sitting in a lot that rolls only a few times a year. That frustrates a lot of us who expect specialization, but then get a jack-of-all-trades resource that shows up that can communicate via satellite, but also cook your breakfast and tie your shoes too, you know, just in case that mission-scope popped up. 
(end completely unqualified opinion)
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Totally agree with what you are saying
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