Unlike their law-enforcement counterparts, rolling firefighting ordnance does not routinely patrol. But if this were so, much loss of life and property would likely be avoided.
The major reason we don't see a hook-and-ladder at every other intersection is, of course, due to the overall necessity vis-a-vis the fire-to-crime-event ratio. But there is also the spectacle factor to consider.
Whereas police cruisers are an accustomed element of our cityscapes, blaze-busting equipment, conversely, commands attention and causes commotion whether in full flash-and-scream or not.
The solution: Equip familiar conveyances such as tanker trucks, busses and mammoth SUV's with firefighting gear and hideaway emergency light arrays and deploy in combination to areas fitting the four-alarm profile.
Negative cost-effectiveness a concern? Can you really put a price on an abandoned warehouse?-- The Military, Jun 23 2001 Anti-Gawker Shield http://www.halfbake...nti-Gawker_20shieldSee OldCrow's annotation. [The Military, Jun 23 2001, last modified Oct 05 2004] Watertube http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/watertubeBy Guest Star RobertKidney [The Military, Jun 23 2001, last modified Oct 05 2004] Fire Houses http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/FireHousesMy version with the houses... [RobertKidney, Jun 23 2001, last modified Oct 05 2004] limousine/fire truck http://dsc.discover...ode/episode_02.htmlfrom the discovery channel's "monster garage" show [SquidInk, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] Can I have fire fighting equiptment on my house? Admitidley it could only spray perhapse 4 houses but if every 3rd house had one we would all be safe. Also door to door salesmen and jehovas witnesses would be kept at bay by high presure water... gets my vote-- RobertKidney, Jun 24 2001 And yours mine. Mad *and* beautiful! The finest kind.-- The Military, Jun 24 2001 The fire dept should also be supported by an ring of KGB-style spy networks to gather informational and "re-eduacate" the public about fire prevention.-- lubbit, Jun 25 2001 Thanks to the kind emailer who suggested "magic door signs" (with PSD/FD identifier). A fine idea, to be sure. We may have to opt for magnetic ones, though, until the the talents of Mandrake are more widely shared.-- The Military, Jun 26 2001 I'm confused about the dalmations. (And the mandrake.) Looks OK otherwise.-- angel, Jun 26 2001 Apologies, angel. Dalmatians are recognized as firehouse mascots in the US. "Mandrake the Magician" was a very popular comic strip here for many years. His talent was creating instant illusions. I had forgotten the name had disparaging connotations elsewhere. Thanks for reminding me to keep the references real.-- The Military, Jul 01 2001 You gotta be insane, how will the firemen know they are on their fire truck, and not some other truck, you trying to get somebody killed.-- smartnut, Mar 12 2003 smartnut, when you drive, how do you know you're in your car and not some other car?-- waugsqueke, Mar 12 2003 The heavy mesh grille in front of where he sits, and the fact that his doors don't open from the inside.-- 8th of 7, Mar 12 2003 there's a show we have here in the states called Monster Garage where a team of mechanics and gear-head dudes turn an ordinary car into some kind of other crazy vehicle... on the second episode of the show, they turned a limousine into a fire truck. (see link)-- SquidInk, Mar 12 2003 I like RobertKidneys idea with having the equipment at your house. Pure genius-- joshkouri, Mar 12 2003 im a firefighterand u need a firefighters honest oppinon. u cant have a firetruck on every cornerin a city. and unmarked firetrucks thats a HUGE joke. people need to spend more time helping save ppls property and lives instead of sitting on there asses eating chips and drinking sodas. then maybe youll know whats going on and have the right to express your oppinons until then SHUT UP. OK a firetruck to seat 5 men alone costs 150,000.00 dollars not including gears which is 3,000.00 dollars per firefighter, and 6,500.00 dollars a scba(breathing equipment)and other firefighting equipment run up to 100,000.00's of thousands more money.what the fire service needs is to get more federal and state moneys,and more dedicated workers not know nothings runnings us down. you ignorant ppl need to smell the roses. # 1 your house insurance is rated by how far a fire dept is from your locationif a fire company is 10 miles away from u thats 100 dollars more per mile as fire depts shut down to lack of funds and persional your insurance rates increase. to keep that from happening a fire truck on every block isnt going to help without trained and quilified people to opperate the equipment on that vehicle. just think about what i said . pull you heads out of your asses, smell the roses and apprecate what us firefighters are trying to accomplish-- firefighter340, Dec 19 2003 every so often some pimply little adolecent feels the need to visit some type of forum and add their rediculous comments. They often pretend that they own something or are someone, and it's terribly obvious that its all BS. A few days ago I was looking at car reviews and one of these fools posted about their Dodge Viper in much the same manner as [firefighter340] happens to be a REAL LIFE firefighter.... ugh... sorry for the rant.-- KLRico, Dec 19 2003 Whats wrong with CAPS anyway?
On an unrelated note, does anyone know where The Military went?-- RobertKidney, Dec 19 2003 im going to very blunt w/u KL Rico. if u dont think im a real firefighter post me some questions SMART ASS. Ill awnser then for you. Give it a shot or keep your damn lips shut. ill be waiting for you next Smart ass awnser.-- firefighter340, Dec 19 2003 I am in quite a conundrum [The Military]. I don't like your idea. It seems a little pointless, sorry. But then that would mean that I would be of the same opinion as [firefighter340] who, judging by his spelling and grammar, is an completely and utter idiot. I would've quite liked a firefighter's opinion on the matter, but if this moron worked at my local fire station, I'd be constantly worried that if I ever needed their services, he'd try and rescue the fire from a tree, then extinguish the neighbour's cat. As for [KLRico], it's just as well you're not a fireman too. I also hope you don't own a Dodge Viper, because I expect you're the sort of person who drives off without removing the fuel hose. In fact, I've just seen [firefighter340]'s last comment. And even though I now hate him even more, I'd really like [KLRico] to ask some questions. But that's just because I'd like to laugh at his spelling some more. But if you haven't learnt how to spell "ridiculous" yet, don't even bother.-- quaero curvus, Sep 09 2005 [quaero curvus] Did you notice that you are about 20 months late breaking up that petty internet fight? Thanks for keeping the peace. Much appreciated.-- sophocles, Sep 09 2005 lol I didn't even look at the dates. I was just so enraged by their butchering of the English language that I went off on one. Cheers for the heads up about the dates though. And I shall look forward to whenever either one of them can actually spell their password correctly, come back on here and speak their mind. A sentence or so should cover it.-- quaero curvus, Sep 09 2005 random, halfbakery