John Fisher

a man with a beard wearing a helmet and a crown says we want shrubbery ALT: a man with a beard wearing a helmet and a crown says we want shrubbery

The students probably wonder why I keep referring to "a shrubbery" while teaching 290.

Just not JD's.

🤮

Marcia Ball for me, thanks!

Think about this. Do you really think any city is going to dedicate 50' per block for fire truck parking and another 50' for delivery trucks. I agree we need to accommodate all modes of transit (cars, delivery, busses, bikes, emergency use, etc), but we need to be realistic as to the 2° effects.

Can we ensure that no delivery truck parks in that nice wide open spot? My point is that planning needs to take into account Mr. Murphy.

It's easy to say, "oh, just plan for it". Reality is different.

If you'd like, you can look at this example a block away. You can still see the UPS truck in the lower left. Now cars force the turntable outboard, which reduces reach. Again, it's not really my battle anymore. It's just a geometry reality that all sides need to be cognizant of.

The latter is a result of the former. Were it not for the bike lane, the UPS truck would be parked closer to the curb. Or maybe it would be parked in the double turning lane in the middle of the street. No way to know.

Point is that Mr. Murphy will always intervene.

Mr. Murphy is always there. And the public simply doesn't respond well to, "Well, there was a bike lane."

Here's a great example that took me all of 5 minutes to find. If I want to spot a truck on a corner to cover both sides of the building, I lose height due to the UPS truck.

Thank you for engaging thoughtfully. I can't speak for all cities, but I can tell tell you my former city didn't much consider fire safety when looking at bike lanes.

The simple fact is that putting in a truly protected bike lane does affect fire response. Even if it works in a perfect world...

E.G.

The thing you've missed here is that many cities put parking medial to the now protected bike lane. That moves the fire truck about 10'-15' further out.

1. If you want serious discussions use your full name.

2. You know damn well that such data doesn't exist.

3. I support protected bike lanes. But bike lane advocates and taller building advocates need to agree on the balance. In my city, parking is medial to the bike lane, reducing aerial reach.

It's essentially one story difference. I have no influence on the standards in either country. Just giving background on the whys.

EMS rigs stay on the road all day. Fire apparatus does not.

Look at where the turntable (ladder base) is on most fire trucks. You're assuming a single ladder truck in perfect conditions. But mid or high rise fires require two. The turntables usually end up on the corners. Especially if one expects them to cover two sides.

Park the ladder truck 20' futher back because there's a double parked UPS truck.

That is the norm in most of North America.

Oh, man, would that size station anger both the urbanists and protected bike lanes advocates.

American FD's can't afford a different vehicle for each type of emergency. Plus, we've discovered that invariably, crews are on the wrong vehicle for the emergency at hand.

So... there's a tradeoff. If you want height, the ladder must be closer. So the narrow streets and protected bike lanes lose. If you want narrow streets, then you sacrifice height.

The extra 25' is to accommodate the variables of not being able to park the ladder in the optimum spot. The hypotenuse is fixed. If the base of the triangle is further away, the height must be lower.

Plus more ladder height equals the need for wider outriggers.

The 100' ladder length is determined by maximum height reach. That isn't possible if the truck must park further away due to things like protected bike lanes. Hypotenuse and all.

We can't have the smaller fire trucks that are often called for if you also want longer ladders.

You will have to speak to my spouse. I am on board.

My sore toe has won me temporary acceptance of my fur lined tie died Crocs.

Milking this for all it's worth.

We should apply. And give them our socials.

Strong work!

Granted, they did add 5 station. So 100% increase in call volume. And a 10% increase in fire stations.

Yup. But it was fairly new then. And a lot slower. But then everywhere was. It's been almost 10 years since I looked at run volumes, but even then they were up 100% 1990-2017.

Yup. It was a training station back in the day, before Haz Mat and US&R.

My first assignment with SDFD.

Sorry to hear that. We all have the stories. I think it's only going to go up with increased use of lithium batteries and other toxics, coupled with less regulation.