Let’s talk about an item on the Christmas list of a lot of fire chiefs lately… the tiller truck. ~2 years ago there was a sudden uptick in area fire departments asking for tiller trucks. Maybe everyone went to FDIC (the annual firefighter’s conference) that year & tillers were the most advertised I mean discussed item. Ironically many purchasing these are largely suburban departments, with new industrial buildings being the “reason” they are needed. This despite new tillers having no added reach and functionally operating the same. (Some say the added maneuverability allows navigating more constricted settings, except all those new industrial buildings were built with site plans designed for FDs to easily access with existing ladders). Did I also mention these industrial buildings have some of the most comprehensive suppression systems in existence, that they often even have their own independent water tower? The material difference for the public is that they add another firefighter to the required crew, increasing firefighter positions by at least 3 to staff it. That and the fact they’re even bigger and even more expensive ($2.7M and growing) which means they’re EVEN COOLER. In fact they are so cool that some places are foregoing the ladder entirely, purchasing 60’ two-driver tillers as rescue trucks. That’s right. 60’ rescue trucks. At $2M each. How many smaller rescue trucks could you buy with all the items in that truck, but also use separately for the other 99% of calls it will be responding to? Who cares, this is so much cooler, remember? So when you see this truck pulling up to respond to a trouble breathing call, or acting as a traffic barricade from yet another car accident on those wide streets your FD requires, just know you got to add 3 new positions (plus lifetime pensions) and a ~$2.5m to your property tax bill. But hey you can’t put a price on improved safety. We don’t really have any data supporting the improvement, but fire chiefs say it does so who are you to argue. Just pass the new budget already, it’s getting late.