Our engine is out on assignment in the Sequoia National Forest and our power windows stopped working this morning on our way up to the station we are covering. After talking with our home unit fleet manager, and doing some inspection, we found the issue was only a blown fuse thankfully. But I found myself thinking, had this been another issue such as a power window motor failure or other part malfunction, Its 4th of July, no auto shop is open and we would have to risk having our truck broken into near the hotel we are staying at(It’s a shady area). And the obvious issue is, our truck is out of service because we cannot respond to fires with our windows half way down. Having electric power windows in our fire engines are not only a safety issue, but also a security issue.
There are other scenarios where I could see this being an issue such as AC running out and we can’t role our windows down during an assignment for ventilation and there are valence windows in the newer freightliners either. This is not a complaint, but rather information and unfortunate scenarios I foresee happening in the future. |
