Rig Recon Live

Bruce Quick and Jason Witmier welcome Jason Nickelson, Fleet Administrator for Mesa Fire and Medical, to discuss managing a large, diverse fleet and spec’ing apparatus for extreme Arizona conditions. Nickelson outlines Mesa’s fleet (about 250 total units, including 70 apparatus and 30 ambulances) and primary manufacturers (Pierce, E-One, Horton). He explains how Mesa standardizes key chassis components across brands to simplify maintenance, supported by a large parts room and regional service...

Rig Recon Live hosts Bruce Quick and Jason Witmier talk with Chief Poitras of the Limestone Fire Department in northern Maine about ordering the department’s first new fire truck in 30 years. Poitras shares his background as a third-generation chief and fleet mechanic, outlines Limestone’s rural coverage (including contracted service to Caswell) and reliance on water shuttle due to limited, low-flow hydrants, and explains how call trends drove them to design a rescue-style pumper. The committ...

Bruce Quick and Jason Witmier discuss fire apparatus pump panel design, emphasizing end-user specifications that improve usability, maintenance, and apparatus size. They compare manual push-pull valves, rack-and-sector, and handwheel controls, highlighting mechanical advantage, slow-close requirements, handle locking, and layout tradeoffs that can affect wheelbase. They address electric valves, explaining past reliability issues, modern redesigns for high-pressure wet environments, a 10-year ...

On Rig Recon Live, Bruce Quick and Jason Witmier follow up their episode on rising apparatus costs by outlining practical ways departments can control the price of their next rig. They discuss using OEM “stock,” “retail,” or program units with common options instead of extensive customization, and emphasize that labor-intensive features can raise costs, using roll-up versus hinged compartment doors as an example. They note new technology isn’t always more expensive, citing FRC’s Radiant light...

In this episode of Rig Recon Live, Bruce Quick and Jason Witmier break down why fire apparatus costs have risen sharply in recent years and why comparisons to mass-produced cars miss the reality of highly customized, labor-intensive fire truck builds. Using real examples, they note a custom pumper that cost about $625,000 in 2015 versus a similar well-equipped stock unit around $925,000 today, with aerials now commonly $1.5M+ and tractor-drawn aerials nearing $2M. They attribute increases to ...