Mock Dorm Fire

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
I'm college student in the DC burbs and this afternoon I awoke to an announcement from my roommate that there was going to be a mock dorm fire outside, and lo and behold, there was.


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The Red Cross van had a curious light setup. The amber lights in back were pretty normal, but the lights to the side consisted of some red LEDs (FedSig FireRay?) which were steady-burning - quite unusual, although at some points they did a slow double flash. The lights in front were VERY minimal - no apparent lights up top, only the grille LEDs and some LEDs on the side mirrors, and even these were turned off. When it was leaving I did manage to see a substantial red glow from the front, though, so it must have had something else there.


I really liked the light setup on the fire truck - I generally don't like LEDs and this one didn't have any (but it did have a stuck rotator). It had two center rotators inside the clear domes with red filters - these I noticed did have significantly less "pop" than the other rotators. Also, about the strobes on the front bumper... The left-hand one did a quad flash sync'd with the white center strobe on the top of the grille. That alternated with the right-hand one on the bumper that did a somewhat brighter double flash - seeing a quad flash alternate with a double flash was kinda weird, but hey, whatever works, works.


Being familiar with the Virginia warning light laws, I noticed that:


- The fire engine had a HLF that was flashing the high beams when the headlights were already turned on - state law requires that the HLF turn off when the headlights are on.


- The Red Cross van had amber lights in back, but no red lights - state law only allows amber lights visible to the rear of emergency vehicles when there are red lights visible to the rear as well.


- The Red Cross van had steady-burning red lights to the sides - state law only allows POVs to have steady-burning red lights, not emergency vehicles. (POVs can have a max of two red or red/white flashing or steady burning lights)
 

RMBROWN

Member
May 20, 2010
631
Brooklyn.MI
In the second pic is that guy wearing a kilt standing in front of the pumper?or am i seeing things
 

Cam

Member
May 20, 2010
247
MO
RMBROWN beat me to it. Must have got me when I was trying to figure out how to "quote" the picture.
 

NPS Ranger

Member
May 21, 2010
1,988
Penn's Woods
1) How does it feel, living in a mock dorm?


2) I think it's so romantic, having the rescue groupies together to reminisce about their college experience:


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3) WTF does the crashed car have to do with a dorm fire? Did it fall off the roof?


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RMBROWN

Member
May 20, 2010
631
Brooklyn.MI
yea i was wondering the same thing about the smucked up car hey maybe it did fall off the roof
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
unlisted said:
+ 1 wtf with kilt man?
Supposedly some firefighter fraternity or something, idk. Oughta visit the fire station and ask about it.
 

MATT3045

Member
May 23, 2010
269
Akron Ohio area
Could be a member of an Emerald Society, and they have those kilts in several colors with several colors and types of reflective striping. The one I purchased this summer is tan/pbi with flour. green/silver striping.


http://bunkerkilts.com/
 

Stendec

Member
May 21, 2010
816
Put me down for a copkilt, with holsters built in. Anyone ever try a Utilikilt?


I can't imagine ever being so bored that I'd jack up a Red Cross van driver because he had amber lights to the rear, but no red. I didn't think that they put any lighting on them at all, though maybe if they did the coffee wouldn't be cold and the bologna so rubbery by the time it got to the scene.
 

Doug

Member
May 23, 2010
1,151
Maryland
Stendec said:
Put me down for a copkilt, with holsters built in. Anyone ever try a Utilikilt?

I can't imagine ever being so bored that I'd jack up a Red Cross van driver because he had amber lights to the rear, but no red. I didn't think that they put any lighting on them at all, though maybe if they did the coffee wouldn't be cold and the bologna so rubbery by the time it got to the scene.

How does that compare to the coffee and bologna that you'd have if they weren't there?


I agree with what you're saying about the Red Cross, but there's something to be said for being glad they rolled out of bed and brought their cold coffee and rubbery bologna because someone's holed up threatening to kill themselves at oh dark thirty.


We have a similar service in an adjacent county (Anne Arundel Alarmers), which is a dedicated service for canteen and rehab.
 

MATT3045

Member
May 23, 2010
269
Akron Ohio area
Stendec said:
Put me down for a copkilt, with holsters built in. Anyone ever try a Utilikilt?
Never tried one on, see more and more people wearing them at some of the Irish festivals now. Everyone I have talked to has said they are comfortable. To me they are not as traditional as a real kilt, not that the bunker kilts are.
 

tnems7

Member
May 21, 2010
407
USA Nashville Tennessee
Regarding American Red Cross vehicles, their Emergency Response Trucks (or ERTs) are not emergency vehicles in Tennessee, but they may display lights when parked. (Or when in a caravan of escorted vehicles.)


And don't get too caught up in State enforcement of their emergency vehicle lighting laws in many states.


For a long time, clear lights were not allowed on front of Virginia ambulances, and before that, red strobe lights, and the ambulances and rescue squads in southwest Virginia ignored it. But Out-of-State emergency vehicles were required to cover their clear lights to the front if they were not on an official response into Virginia.


As to the Red Cross, They may be able to claim federal preemption since they are a Congressionally chartered disaster assistance organization. I doubt any law enforcement officers would ticket an American Red Cross "vehicle". If a driver were abusing vehicle operation, the driver would then probably be cited.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
Stendec said:
I can't imagine ever being so bored that I'd jack up a Red Cross van driver because he had amber lights to the rear, but no red. I didn't think that they put any lighting on them at all, though maybe if they did the coffee wouldn't be cold and the bologna so rubbery by the time it got to the scene.
I just notice these things. But yeah, I didn't think they had lights at all.

philyumpshus said:
The M-series lights on the Red Cross van can't be very effective pointed up at that angle.
They worked well enough.

chono said:
That looks like a very cheap terrible lightbar
It works well, but DAMN is it ugly. It's mostly blue, with amber on the lower level and blue on the top level in back - the way the amber is used is another one of those mildly illegal things, as amber lights on police cars are only allowed to be uses as a traffic advisor, but on that bar they just flash normally.


They've also got a TOMAR Heliobe strobe bar, all blue, another one or two of those TOMAR LED bars I think, and a couple Whelen Liberties, also blue. TOMAR lights are pretty popular in this area.
 

Stendec

Member
May 21, 2010
816
Doug said:
How does that compare to the coffee and bologna that you'd have if they weren't there?


I agree with what you're saying about the Red Cross, but there's something to be said for being glad they rolled out of bed and brought their cold coffee and rubbery bologna because someone's holed up threatening to kill themselves at oh dark thirty.

Hey, I'm not knocking the service, even though I keep a cooler and powerbars in the car just in case, it's just that none of the Red Cross vehicles locally have anything in the way of lights. They certainly don't have spiffy graphics and cool tower lights. Now that I think about it, if they would put their operators through an EVOC course, I'm not sure I'd have a problem with them running with lights and siren if the situation was dire enough. Hauling cots to a high school gym to set up a shelter wouldn't be sufficient, but there may be situations where it would be good for them to have the option.


It must be nice to have an actual planned run to dorms for once, instead of burnt microwave popcorn setting off a detector.
 

NPS Ranger

Member
May 21, 2010
1,988
Penn's Woods
The official ARC policy is that they forbid emergency lighting or sirens on any chapter vehicles including their ERV's. Where they become aware of red lights etc, they make the chapters remove them. However, for some time National had a white Humvee with a red Edge bar, and here I see ARC of the National Capital Region has emergency lighting. So I guess all chapters are created equal, but some are more equal than others.


[Broken External Image]:http://www.rainier-redcross.org/New_web/PROGRAMS/erv1_in_lot_med.jpg
 

Doug

Member
May 23, 2010
1,151
Maryland
Stendec said:
Hey, I'm not knocking the service, even though I keep a cooler and powerbars in the car just in case, it's just that none of the Red Cross vehicles locally have anything in the way of lights. They certainly don't have spiffy graphics and cool tower lights. Now that I think about it, if they would put their operators through an EVOC course, I'm not sure I'd have a problem with them running with lights and siren if the situation was dire enough. Hauling cots to a high school gym to set up a shelter wouldn't be sufficient, but there may be situations where it would be good for them to have the option.

It must be nice to have an actual planned run to dorms for once, instead of burnt microwave popcorn setting off a detector.

It's nice to see some forward thinking (cooler and PowerBars),but I have a sneaky suspicion you may be the exception, rather than the rule.


As for the Red Cross, I can't say I've seen any spiffy graphics on ARC vehicles around here (I see them every once in a while, but not regularly). And yes, if they (or anyone else) is going to drive emergency, an EVOC course would be a must, in my book.


While my knowledge of ARC's role(s) in disaster is fairly limited, I can't think of a reason for them to run emergency. Nor can I think of a reason for any canteen-type unit to respond emergency.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
tomars first attempt at a led lghtbar before the blade. our vfsi fire cheif has same bar
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
Stendec said:
It must be nice to have an actual planned run to dorms for once, instead of burnt microwave popcorn setting off a detector.
My roommate did that not two weeks ago! This building and the adjoining one were both evacuated by the alarm; word apparently got around quickly because a campus cop turned the alarm off, the fire department was not apparently involved.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
LL&S said:
Ah, the college life. "wake up in the afternoon" :ugeek:
I was taking a nap.


During the weekends I wake up normally around 7pm; I have class pretty much between 9am and 1:30pm so on Monday nights I don't sleep.


I have no sleep schedule.


Anyway, that's funny about the Red Cross not allowing red lights. (I now remember I've seen a few of their vans with amber lights...) The Red Cross (or Crescent or Star...) is the ambulance service in plenty of places worldwide, so you'd expect that they probably would be in the States too, but ... apparently not.
 

chono

Member
Jun 5, 2010
496
Midwest
aberfitchguy2472 said:
Its actually not a cheap bar at all. It is a Tomar 930L I believe, and like all Tomar products, I'm sure it wasn't cheap at the time the purchased it.

Wow I had no clue that was a tomar! I am so glad they have since made their products look 100 times better!
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
chono said:
Wow I had no clue that was a tomar! I am so glad they have since made their products look 100 times better!
Pretty much every single light they make is amazingly ugly, except their Blade lightbar, which is only as boring as every other LED lightbar out there. Even their surface-mount lights are ugly!
 

Doug

Member
May 23, 2010
1,151
Maryland
nerdly_dood said:
Wow I had no clue that was a tomar! I am so glad they have since made their products look 100 times better!
Pretty much every single light they make is amazingly ugly, except their Blade lightbar, which is only as boring as every other LED lightbar out there. Even their surface-mount lights are ugly!
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
Doug said:
Question is, do they clear traffic? It doesn't matter how they look, but how they work.

They work well enough, but their Blade is rather lacking in brightness, particularly in the daytime since they're mostly all-blue in this area.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
VFVFCo.68 said:
I bet the car was there probably for a mock car crash scenario...i could be wrong tho.
Nope, just had some signs posted on it telling us that drunk driving is dumb, but of course it's already been hammered into our heads our entire lives...
 

usdemt

Member
May 21, 2010
195
Vermillion SD
nerdly_dood said:
Nope, just had some signs posted on it telling us that drunk driving is dumb, but of course it's already been hammered into our heads our entire lives...[/quote:6x5yj9vd]


Too bad it still doesnt sink in. . . . :roll:
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
usdemt said:
Too bad it still doesnt sink in. . . . :roll:[/quote:11bnb8wk]


It's gotten to the point where, among people my age in this area, the knowledge that drunk driving is bad has sunk in to a similar level to the knowledge that murder is bad.
 

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