LA Co. Fire/Sheriff lightbars and sirens being Srcapped

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ERIC6913

Premium Member
Member
May 29, 2010
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California
Hello fellow enthusiasts!


i just wanted to pass some sad news along about what happens to most emergency equipment in LA County. i just recently met this guy who works for LA Co. fire and he was telling me about what happens to most of the equipment they remove from apparatus. i guess they collect them for a while, pile and palletize them until they call a local scrap company to send out some 40 yard dumpsters. he says they get filled up and taken to the scrap yard where all the equipment is crushed. i am mainly talking about lightbars and speakers etc. i know we know this happens nationwide, but its always disturbing to hear it. he gave me one example that was REALLY hard to hear. they get rid of Q2B's by the pallet!!! now, why couldn't the county sell these things for money in times of need like right now??? it just seems odd to me. i guess it must be another 9/11 thing or something. hey PIMP, he told me he has two NOS Whelen CA Spec. 8000's. hey RYAN, he told me they have a CA Spec. CODE 3 Tripple-Threat as well! i inquired about CTSs', and sure enough they got those too! i also asked him about Platter lights, and he did say they saved those on a shelf. thank god some one was smart! He said they have more then he can remember right now, because they haven't called the scrap company in a while!! may they rest in peace :cry:
 
That's your United States government "at work" then crying because they're broke......again.


Yet they can't seem to figure out why yet.... :roll:

ERIC6913 said:
why couldn't the county sell these things for money in times of need like right now??? it just seems odd to me.
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ELB Scrap Haulage..


Got a nice ring to it.. gonna have to run this one by John.. :lol:
 
Does the scrap company have to bid to win a contract? Or, does the city/county just call the first one they see listed in the yellow pages?


One of you Cali guys needs to step up to save these treasures and add a new sideline to your resume.
 
03crownvic said:
Does the scrap company have to bid to win a contract? Or, do they just call the first one they see listed in the yellow pages?
One of you Cali guys needs to step up to save these treasures and add a new sideline to your resume.
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apparently they have a strict contract with one company and the company must secure and destroy after pick-up.
 
You're going to see this more & more. NYC removes all warning devices (even air horns & spotlights) from all surplus equipment for homeland security reasons. I'm waiting for the screws to get tightened on public safety vehicle mock ups used by TV & movie production companies..
 
dustymedic said:
You're going to see this more & more. NYC removes all warning devices (even air horns & spotlights) from all surplus equipment for homeland security reasons. I'm waiting for the screws to get tightened on public safety vehicle mock ups used by TV & movie production companies..
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Never used to be like that before in NYC from what I'm told anyways. Pre-9/11 I guess for $200 you could buy a used pallet of 10? Vision bars w/the brains, etc., a mixed pallet with different bars...
 
Yup. A buddy of mine has worked at a county radio shop for years. He said they dumped several pallets of GE Powercall sirens years ago. The shop is next to the landfill and they just drove 'em on over and dumped them. Sickening.


I guess the only positive thing is that it drives up the value of the survivors.
 
That's exactly true, charger, right down to the price. In July of 2001, two months before 9-11, I was at the NYC surplus auction at the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, which was almost literally in the shadow of the WTC twin towers. There were well over 100 vehicles of different types from the various city agencies, and at least 300 Visions/Vectors stacked about a dozen to a pallet, along with Streethawks, Jetstreams, and mini Jets on other pallets. They were going for a flat rate of $200 a pallet, but only a few of them sold. There was also a few McDermott bars laying around loose, but they were noticeably missing parts.


I had always heard about this auction and planned the trip so I could be there for it and just go to see what was going on. I didn't plan to buy anything. I was traveling with friends in an RV on vacation and didn't have any way to bring a pallet full home to Louisiana with me, but did manage to get a Jetstream with very nice domes for $50 from one of the pallet buyers that turned out to be like new inside.


Sadly, since 9-11, they no longer auction the lightbars, and have tightened up considerably on the other items and vehicles.
 
ERIC6913 said:
... they get rid of Q2B's by the pallet!!!
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That's a shame... all those Q2bs would make dandy boat anchors. :lol:
 
Part of this is for security, I wonder if part isn't also our consumer mentality. It's old, it's used, the taxpayers will buy us new stuff, so just trash the old. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but I use things until it is no longer economically wise to repair.
 
Wailer said:
That's a shame... all those Q2bs would make dandy boat anchors. :lol:
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As would your precious electronic sirens. The only thing Qs suck is battery juice! :)
 
Some of it is just due to the administrative hassle of literally storing, accounting and handling the stuff. To the ELB community it may sound like sacrilege, but there isn't a huge market for second hand EV equipment, so in the long run, the cost of inventorying and selling the low-demand stuff just isn't cost effective. WE may think it's a huge waste, but WE also go to those auctions and surplus sales expecting to get something as cheaply as possible. Compared to office furniture, computers, tools and stuff like that, agencies aren't going to save much money trying to sell a couple dozen Streethawks. Palletizing them, warehousing them, providing a towmotor and a skilled operator to move them around, and a clerk to do the paperwork, all that adds up in overhead, whereas a scrap hauler will provide their own ex-cons and drop-outs to do all that and pay for the privilege of recycling the stuff.


Every place that I have worked, the equipment was either handed down to another department, donated to another agency, or we'd try to finagle a trade-in, but from my side of the negotiating table most dealers, for obvious reasons, want to give next to nothing, so that they can maintain their profit margin. Which is fine, they are business people, not charities.
 
someone rescue the "Q's"!!!!!! its a crying shame :( :eek: :shock: :? :cry:
 
ChargerLighting said:
Never used to be like that before in NYC from what I'm told anyways. Pre-9/11 I guess for $200 you could buy a used pallet of 10? Vision bars w/the brains, etc., a mixed pallet with different bars...
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A guy was at the fire muster here in June and he had bought an FDNY pumper. The shop was in such a hurry to strip the old Seagraves, that they just took out the panels that had the front & back halogen lights on them. Of course this meant the rig had no tail, turn, or brake lights; so the buyer was driving around Brooklyn to find an auto parts store so he could get so truck tail lights to clamp on before he drove it from NYC to NE Ohio..
 
Usually if a larger city or county scraps the bars and sirens they are worth scrap. Anything that is worth keeping is usually saved for spares or replacement parts. Honestly fleet garages dont care about collectablilty of lights. They want and need the space that is being taken up with old bars. One day I will scan and post the picture I have of the back of a shop with a pile of about 200 Cook county RV26 bars with the sireno can lights and CP100's a few made it out the rest were taken for scrap.
 
I can remember about about 15 years ago, the City of Columbus radio shop filled a dumpster with about every type of Federal beacon made in the 60's & early 70's, They were no longer needed for parts or replacement and they needed the space. A few people that worked next door at the fire dept service center managed to grab a few for their personal collections.
 
I have 2 LA Co. FD lightbars Survivors that made it out in time.


One is a Code 3 SD select-alert (utility vehicles or brush units would be equipped with this bar)


One Federal California Twinsonic (usually mounted on water tenders. or full apparatus) No Paramedic light though


Both bars were given to a northern California/Nevada volunteer fire dept. most likely the dept. needing new lighting, and the lights were donated by L.A.
 
Been there... I worked for LACoFD as a contractor after 9/11 for specialized upfits. One time at the end of one day, I saw 8 Jetstream lightbars that were tossed in the dumpster along with some misc lights. I grabbed 4 and took them home. A little buffing of the lens made them just as good! A few days later, alot more old stuff were tossed and decided to inquire to the shop fire Chief about taking possession of the lights. A firm no. Since then, I obeyed and didn't take another item but sure was painful to see them dumped during house cleaning! Of the 4 lightbars I got, one went to another mechanic who wanted one, one to a cousin's son who put it in his room just for kicks, one was a parts bar which was scrapped, and I have the last (and best) which will go in my shop when completed. I'm gonna wire it as a "meal alarm" when food's served!
 
I doubt many of us look at our roofs and go: "Someday that will be worth a lot of money."


I'm confident that the number of EV light collectors are handily outnumbered by the people who collect PEZ dispensers, 19th century porn, and bricks.


http://www.coudal.com/moom/


Don't ever agree to help a brick collector move.
 
I guess all I can say is I'm glad there are some places that will at least auction off things that aren't being used anymore.


VS. scrapping...it's gone to someone else either way. Personally I'd like to see someone else get use out of something good/still working.


I actually just bought a pallet of lightbars from the State of Utah last week. If you ask me, THEY appear to have a great system. I bought their used lights, the state has what they would've gotten in scrap PLUS probably a couple hundred dollars more. AND I'm happy to be getting more lights for a reasonable price. Win/win :)
 
Utah has a reputation for taking decent care of their stuff, especially emergency lighting, and their surplus dispersal unit is well organized and responds to inquiries with knowledge. They sell on eBay and I've bought several things from them and also seen some good, clean looking stuff go through their auctions over the years.
 
03crownvic said:
Utah has a reputation for taking decent care of their stuff, especially emergency lighting, and their surplus dispersal unit is well organized and responds to inquiries with knowledge. They sell on eBay and I've bought several things from them and also seen some good, clean looking stuff go through their auctions over the years.
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What is their seller name on ebay?
 
Shelley must not be working there any longer, as the feedback isn't looking as good as it was. I always had excellent communication from her and she always knew the particulars about any of the items I asked about before I bid.


UPDATE: Just rechecked and the 3 recent negatives are from the same disgruntled bidder, so all is well as she must still be there.
 
I spoke to someone at LA County a few months ago and said it has to do with the upper "bosses" and the whole 9/11 scare.


They also rip up hardly used turnout gear with scissors and toss them, the bosses don't want terrorist dressing up as firefighters.


They let, like new hardly used, bullet proof vest issued to firefighter sit and rot to the elements.


and at the time they had just gotten rid of 20 pallets of lightbars, they smash the lens with a hammer and put them in the "dumpster".
 
What a waste! Government waste is just incredible and this is our tax money being destroyed. I just think that if something is still usable, it should be used, not destroyed. Wonder how many small police, fire, or volunteer EMS departments could make use of these discarded items?
 
No Goverment entity wants to take the time and money to solicit needy agencies for their wants. It's up to the smaller agency to solicit the larger for donations. We hand stuff down all the time, from lighting equipment to command posts to armored personnel carriers. If a suitable (legal) end user can't be found, then destruction of the assets is the only solution. The appearance of imposter vehicles is on the rise, although primarily for drug movement. It's only a matter of time before a terroristic act occurs.
 
dustymedic said:
A guy was at the fire muster here in June and he had bought an FDNY pumper. The shop was in such a hurry to strip the old Seagraves, that they just took out the panels that had the front & back halogen lights on them. Of course this meant the rig had no tail, turn, or brake lights; so the buyer was driving around Brooklyn to find an auto parts store so he could get so truck tail lights to clamp on before he drove it from NYC to NE Ohio..
Click to expand...


The last year must have been around 99-01 where they stopped the aution on kent avenue. They even had the nypd SS sirens and you can get 10 for 200 with the controlpanel and box. They had a semi truck cargo container in that lot in the back stacked up to the roof of thousand ss sirens. I bought a lot of 10 lightbars a long time ago and sold them on ebay to make some extra cash. They even had the transit police advantaged bars and all light jetsonics, they had the cushman scooter turet lights on the top too that were clear dome with red clear bulbs, and mini jetsonics , school safety ones also andmore and i even got a rare bar that was a TRAFFIC one. The old commerical enforcment brown vans from the 80s the traffic cops would drive with . It was a aerodynic all red sealed beams rotating bar with those large mirrors.Too bad i got rid of it. I spoke with a guy who works there and told me that they just destroy the lightbars.


i'll take you back even to the late 80s to early 90s like 91 or so . Before they moved to kent avenue the auction was a shea stadium area under the elevated trains by main street where all the wrecking yards are now. The place was called FEDERAL MUNICIPLITES or something??? I dont remember i was like 12 yrs old orsomething...In 90 or so i bought a lot of 6 bars (3 were housing pd streethawks and 3 were nypd aerod) 60$ total. I believe that was the lot that they auctioned off the housing grand fury cars and some other junk. It was funny i remember looking in the grills of the grand furys and they were taking out the flashing lights in the aerodynics and using them in their grill with the sealed beam and the holders for them...soo cheesey Alot of those cars had the lollipop deck lights hooked up to their turn signals ..it was a 80s PD thing.


years after that i vacationed to LA and on craigslist i found a lightbar for sale 30 ...guy didnt know what it was.


I get there and its a smith and wesson bar california style red with steadyburn and blue with a clear takedown cuttout and rear amber flashers and alleys....the idiot i am , i sold it for 100 $
 
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