Top 5 Lessons from the Fire Truck Training Conference

Chris Mc Loone

Much like the firehouse kitchen table, when you put a group of fire apparatus repair technicians in a room, solutions to any number of challenges are revealed. An important component of the Spartan Fire Truck Training Conference is the opportunity to network with like-minded attendees who have encountered any number of challenging repairs.

But, in almost every class I sat in on, every problem one person had was already experienced by someone else, who shared the solution. This week has been full of lessons, but here the top five (in no particular order):

  1. Know where to find the model/serial numbers on your fire apparatus components.
  2. If you can’t find the model/serial number or it is damaged, the camera on your phone is your friend—a picture of the component will go a long way.
  3. Vendors learn from technicians as much as technicians learn from vendors.
  4. If the technician tells the chief, “That crew—I don’t know what they’re doing,” after repairing the same thing multiple times, don’t be that crew.
  5. If you’ve had a challenge with a component, someone else has had the same challenge and has the solution.

After the day’s classes, attendees were invited to a vendor reception where various Spartan ER and REV Fire Group partners had an opportunity to familiarize students with their products—another networking opportunity but this time to learn more about the features of the products they’ve been learning now to fix all week.

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