There was an article on CNN regarding fire hose that came dislodged from an engine in Massachusetts that can be read here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/29/massachusetts.fire.hose.deaths/index.html?hpt=T2

I was just curious to see what other departments do for equipment and vehicle checks... what you check, how often you check it, if you do anything to prevent stuff from falling off the truck, and if you have any driver policies such as drivers checking trucks either before the truck pulls out (which I think every driver should do irregardless but I know it gets missed sometimes) or after it gets put back in-service after a call. Simply for discussion.

We do rig checks monthly,everything gets checked. with our check sheet its made so simple and in a nice orderly fashion and with 3-4 guys on that rig you can give each guy a section. air packs, portable equipment, etc. everything with a motor/engine gets pullout fluids checked and run till their hot, then recheck the fluids top off if needed. the rig itself is checked, fluids belts hoses, run test pump test generator test lights sirens everything. We have 5 rigs, we do two on the first Tuesday before meeting and the other 3 before the next meeting.

the biggest and most embarrassing moment to have is get called to a fire expected to do a job and the saw wont start or the fan runs out of fuel in 3 mins. or you have to leave the scene early cause the rig is out of fuel. Its happened to many and will happen again, and the only way to prevent it is to do checks plain and simple. that and it keeps guys refreshed as to where the equipment is and how to use it!

great idea palightfreak, more companies should pay attention to that.