Quint's

[xerb1962]

Can any of you firemen tell me why they call quint's, quint's?

 

[car2back]

a "Quint" is short for quintuple combination pumper; They serve 5 purposes that combine the duties of an engine & a ladder: Water supply, a pumper, hoses, ground ladders, and an aerial ladder.\

Skiatook FD has a quint (Engine-5) but I don't really care for them. (too heavy, and overrated)

 

[troymail]

Five functions - water, pump, hose, ground ladders, aerial ladder


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quint_(fire_apparatus)

 

[okcrescue]

In OKC they don't have Quints, but they have teleboom's or telesquirt's which I believe are basicly the same thing as a quint. Which means that it is basicly a engine, has pump and also a small arial ladder that's not rated for very much weight.

 

[tomokla]

Quints have their place. But the definitions stand. The grand majority of ladders that role off the shelves today are, in fact, quints. The only non-quint apparatus I'm aware of in the area are TFD L2 L4 L29 L22 L88. All the suburbs and the rest of TFD's fleet run quints - even if they are called ladders.

 

[troymail]

In theory, they provide a cost savings and flexibility - in my area, a quint can be called on as an Engine to advance handlines to the fire or as a truck company - although it seems they sometimes forget when they arrive what function they went sent to do (example: SOPs says the 2nd arriving engine picks up the hydrant and pumps the water but what if you're on a quint and you were dispatched to be a truck?).

 

[xerb1962]

Yep, Guthrie has a quint that does all that, five things :Engine,Ladder,Tanker,Hose,Ground ladders.
Thanks for the replys!

 

[plaws]

Quints have their place. But the definitions stand.

I always liken them to Leatherman tools - they're like having a whole set of tools in one, but they're never *exactly* the right tool.

St Louis went all-quint probably close to 20 years ago - how did that turn out? Seems like a big city FD would *want* to have Engine crews and Truck crews and not have everyone try to be both.


No one yet has asked "were the functions ever separate" ... yup. When I was a medic for the privateer serving Cambridge, Mass, in the late 1980s, most of Cambridge's Engines (except 1, 8, and 9, I think) were two-piece companies, and Engine and a Wagon. *Very* short wheelbase, which was an advantage in some Cambridge neighborhoods. And the Wagons did have small pumps and tanks, and could run separately.

Looks like Engine 4's Wagon was only retired in 2000 - http://www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/~cfd/images/eng4current.jpg The Wagon is on the left, Pump on the right. Older pumps matched the wagons.

 

[oSutrooper]

Yep, Guthrie has a quint that does all that, five things :Engine,Ladder,Tanker,Hose,Ground ladders.
Thanks for the replys!

Sounds like that is Guthrie;s only truck lol

 

[xerb1962]

LOL, One of 15 I believe plus three meat wagons. (oops) Ambulances.