I am not an avid proponent of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and its fire apparatus standards. My multifaceted evaluation of NFPA 1900, Standard for Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting Vehicles, Automotive Fire Apparatus, Wildland Fire Apparatus, and Automotive Ambulances (2024 ed.), may be similar to others associated with the fire service. That assessment is favorable for parts agreeable to, critical of those disliked, and noncommittal for portions not understood or not meeting a personal agenda. This first-year analysis will attempt to be more objective.
It is worth repeating that I commend the NFPA for its quest in ensuring a safe working environment for firefighters by defining (in its own words) “……the minimum requirements for the design, performance, and testing of new automotive fire apparatus and trailers designed to be used under emergency conditions to transport personnel and equipment and to support suppression of fires and mitigation of other hazardous situations, including wildfires.” This definition is from NFPA 1900, Page 1900-75, Section 7.1.1* Scope.
- FA Viewpoints | NFPA 1900 and Required Equipment
- Podcast: NFPA 1900—What You Need to Know About the New Apparatus Standard, Part 2
- Podcast: NFPA 1900—What You Need to Know About the New Apparatus Standard, Part 1
History
The first NFPA fire apparatus standard was published in 1914. Multiple revisions were made to it over the years, and in 1991 it was split into four individual standards. Five years later the four were recombined into a single document. Separate standards were introduced covering specialized apparatus and emergency vehicles. Today’s NFPA 1900 is another amalgamation of four apparatus standards into a single document covering the vehicles reflected in its title. Judgment is not made on why standards were combined or separated.
Completed in October 2022, NFPA 1900’s final revision was completed on the 27th of that month. Its Section 7.1.3.1*(3) states that Chapters 7 through 27 are for apparatus that, “Are contracted for on or after January 1, 2024.” Section 7.1.3.2 states “Nothing shall prevent the use of the standard prior to January 1, 2024, or for vehicles with less than 10,001 lb (4501 kg) gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), if the purchaser and the contractor both agree.”
What does the preceding paragraph mean? Apparatus manufacturers and assumedly their dealers and vendors knew, or should have known, of the standard’s contents before January 1, 2024. It is reasonable to believe that in the 15 months prior to the standard going into effect they would have made prospective customers aware of upcoming modifications and significant changes. If your fire department signed a contract for a fire truck before January 1, 2024 it did not have to be NFPA 1900 compliant. Whether choosing to be compliant or non-compliant with the new standard was a wise decision is debatable.
Complaints
In my orbit, I have not heard or read of apparatus purchasing committees complaining about the new standard. The same goes for apparatus manufacturers. Some dealers and vendors have remarked on the document’s cost as well as its size, complexity, and difficulty in navigating through it. What has been frustrating for all parties has been the inability to access the document online to reproduce pages for educational purposes.
It appears purchasing committees have accepted NFPA 1900 as is. I am not aware of any anti-NFPA 1900 hostility as evidenced when previous standards specified hot-topic emotional issues such as the colors of rear chevrons, saying helmets shouldn’t be worn in the cab, and mandating fully enclosed crew-cabs.
Some buyers and sellers have inferred the new standard “may have” caused the cost of apparatus to increase dramatically. I haven’t seen any cost analysis substantiating such inferences. It would be interesting to see a monetary cost-per-regulatory change in the document.
Committee Membership
An oft repeated but not necessarily factual comment is fire apparatus manufacturers run the NFPA committees. The three major committees that oversaw and promulgated NFPA 1900 are the Technical Committee on Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting; the Technical Committee on Ambulances; and the Technical Committee on Fire Department Apparatus.
Membership in all three represents users, installers/maintainers, labor, research/testing laboratories, enforcing authority, insurance, consumer, and special experts. For the sake of brevity, technical subcommittees are not listed, however, membership supposedly is similar to the parent committee.
It is possible that input from some committee members may have been influenced by an allegiance to a past or a current employer or to a prior vocation. A member who works for — or formally worked for — an entity manufacturing widgets may have overly promoted widget inclusion in the document. Members representing organizations not directly related to firefighting that do not actually use fire apparatus may have over-emphasized promoting technical and substantiating data for their areas of expertise (i.e. training and testing). Some active firefighters have disdain for people such as the widget manufacturers that don’t actually talk the talk or walk the walk that they do. Priorities for NFPA 1900 requirements may differ between the career and volunteer sectors.
The preceding is not a condemnation of committee membership — nor of the NFPA itself. So far, it appears the committee chairs have done an acceptable job in amalgamating the four former standards into one. I believe it is a good start.
My Opinion(s)
Belittling or compromising firefighter safety is incomprehensible in any shape, manner, or form. Disagreeing with some of the methodology, terminology, or even subject matter included in NFPA 1900 is not a condemnation of the document nor is it an attack on firefighter safety. It is a difference of opinion on how to achieve a common goal.
That being established, my opinions are as diverse as the document itself. The amalgamation into one document of individualized and somewhat uniquely mission-specific NFPA standards for aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) apparatus, ambulances, wildland apparatus, and what I call “regular” fire trucks has resulted — in my opinion — in a 375-page unwieldy, hard-to-use document.
The document is too big. It is not easy to use. Not every fire department operates every vehicle covered by NFPA 1900. Some don’t operate ambulances. Probably very few operate ARFF vehicles along with structural/wildland apparatus. Specialty emergency vehicle manufacturers and their sales representatives may not care how the other two types of vehicles are built nor what they have to be in compliance with.
Being so specialized, ambulances and ARRF probably should have their own documents. The section on ARFF rigs takes up 20% of NFPA 1900, and the sections on ambulances account for one-third of it. It is logical that structural and wildland rigs are combined because of their commonality and a trend to multitask their functions into one apparatus.
I concur with NFPA 1900’s objective in establishing criteria for vehicles to safely transport firefighters and their equipment to an emergency scene. Dictating what ancillary equipment it must or should carry and how to use the equipment is not in its purview.
The standard has pages of ancillary equipment data not particular to transporting firefighters and their equipment. Included are suction hose friction losses, electric cord connections, and diagrams of component parts such as foam systems. I don’t believe it should be an educational text on firefighting. It is possible to overwhelm otherwise interested parties by the size and content.
Operational Impact
It is too early to make an objective analysis of the impact NFPA 1900 has made on the efficiency and fireground effectiveness of an apparatus. To the best of my knowledge, there are no hard figures available for how many NFPA 1900 compliant rigs have actually been delivered or how long they have been in service.
Extraordinarily long delivery times for apparatus contracted before the January 1, 2024, effective date may find apparatus being delivered years after NFPA 1900 went into effect. It is unknown if apparatus contracted before January 1, 2024, for dealers’ stock programs with scheduled delivery times two or three years in advance will have to meet the new standard. I’d ask.
Rank and file firefighters may appreciate a document that is small, easy to use, and explicitly applicable to the type of apparatus they are purchasing. They deserve it.
BILL ADAMS is a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board, a former fire apparatus salesman, and a past chief of the East Rochester (NY) Fire Department. He has 50 years of experience in the volunteer fire service.
