September 21, 200718 yr RICK CUNDIFF Courtesy of Ocala Star-Banner Bruce Ackerman/Star-Banner OCALA - What's the difference between the ducks in Lake Tuscawilla and the firetrucks in Ocala Fire Rescue Station One across the street? The ducks can swim. One of Station One's trucks proved it couldn't Monday afternoon, rolling out of the station, down a ramp and across Northeast Third Street, jumping the curb to plunge cab-first into the lake and join the ducks. No one was injured in the 5:45 p.m. accident. Firefighter Dan Pinkston was running by the lake when he saw the unoccupied truck start to roll out. "I [saw] the engine starting to creep out," he said. "I went to run up and try to jump in it, then I saw it got up too much speed." With a car approaching the station, Pinkston could do nothing more than direct traffic. "I just held the car up and watched it happen. There was nothing I could do," he said. "There was so much speed in there . . . it was a lost cause." The truck, an E-One Typhoon model 1,000-gallon pumper, rolled into the lake until water nearly covered the driver's compartment. It sat on the bank diagonally, with water almost to the pump control panel on the side. Shortly after it went into the water, the electrical circuit for the warning lights shorted out, turning the lights on, making it appear the truck was on a rescue call. Battalion Chief Wendell Rora said the truck was three or four years old, and cost about $250,000 without equipment. Fully equipped as this one was, the truck would cost between $400,000 and $500,000, he said. Recovery workers had to drain the truck's water tank before two heavy-duty wreckers were able to pull it out of the lake. "When you've got more than 1,000 gallons of water in there, there's over 10,000 pounds right there," Pinkston said. By 7 p.m., the wayward truck was back on dry land. A puff of smoke came from the left front wheel well as the tires came out of the water. Soon afterward, the warning lights turned off. Ducks waddled onto the bank for a closer look. Beyond a shattered windshield, a badly bent bumper and water pouring out of the opened doors, it was difficult to tell the extent of the damage to the truck. The engine sits behind the cab, so it might not have suffered water damage, Rora said. But the truck did have lots of potentially vulnerable electronic circuitry, he added. What caused the truck to roll in the first place remains under investigation, Rora said. "If there was any kind of mechanical failure, more than likely it's going to end up at E-One," he said. LOL... Further investigation determined that "operator error" is the reason for the roll away, and that 2 individuals have been reprimanded... Glad it wasn't my truck, or department... TFD /monthly_06_2011/post-646-130810201398_thumb.jpg /monthly_06_2011/post-646-130810201403_thumb.jpg /monthly_06_2011/post-646-130810222239_thumb.jpg /monthly_06_2011/post-646-130810222243_thumb.jpg
September 21, 200718 yr HAHA! Wow... I hope the truck isn't in too bad shape. They're pretty expensive.
September 21, 200718 yr Oh thats good stuff. I've seen several vehicles in the drink before but not a Fire truck.
September 21, 200718 yr Author A little more from the local paper.. BY RICK CUNDIFF STAR-BANNER OCALA - Ocala Fire-Rescue officials are still investigating what caused a firetruck to roll into Lake Tuscawilla in downtown Ocala. Fire officials were evaluating Tuesday the damage to the truck after it rolled out of Station One on Northeast Third Street on Monday afternoon, went down a ramp and across the street, jumped the curb, rolled down a slight embankment and plunged cab-first into the lake. The truck, a 2003 or 2004 E-One Typhoon model pumper, which recently had been returned to the fire station, was unoccupied as it crashed into the lake around 5:45 p.m. No one was injured in the incident. It's unclear whether a driver failed to set the truck's parking brakes or if those brakes failed, Battalion Chief Wendell Rora said. The department should have a better idea by late Thursday, he added. While the truck has an automatic transmission, unlike a standard passenger vehicle it doesn't have a "park" position, Rora said. Standard procedure is to leave the transmission in neutral and set the air brakes when the vehicle is parked in the firehouse, he said. Firefighter Dan Pinkston estimated Monday that the incident took about five seconds from the time the truck started to roll. Pinkston stopped a car from driving past the station as the truck started rolling out. Had a car driven into the truck's path, the result could have been catastrophic. "Yeah, we would have ended up with damage and injuries," Rora said. "We were glad that we didn't have that." Cummins, the manufacturer of the truck's diesel engine, will evaluate whether the engine suffered any water damage, Rora said. "That was the biggest concern, the engine," he said. Because the engine sits in the middle of the chassis, it might not have been damaged, Rora said Monday. The engine wasn't running when the truck rolled out, meaning no water was sucked into it through the air intake. The truck's weight would depend on how it was equipped. Sue Colvin of Hall-Mark Fire Apparatus, the local E-One dealer, said a Typhoon model without any added equipment would weigh at least 24,500 to 25,000 pounds. The Ocala truck had a 1,000-gallon water tank, believed to be full at the time of the accident. That would add more than 8,000 pounds to the truck's weight. Firefighters had to drain the tank into the lake Monday before the truck could be towed back onto the street. E-One spokeswoman Amanda Davis said the company wouldn't be able to answer any questions about the truck until the city finishes its damage assessment. TFD
September 21, 200718 yr Author and the last story from the local paper... BY RICK CUNDIFF STAR-BANNER OCALA - Two firefighters have been disciplined after Ocala Fire Rescue determined human error was the most likely cause of a firetruck rolling out of Fire Rescue headquarters into a downtown lake Monday. Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician Michael Calhoun received a written reprimand and must take a remedial driving class, according to a memo from Fire Chief Dan Gentry to City Manager Paul Nugent released by the department Thursday. Officials determined that Calhoun failed to set the truck's parking brakes as he got out of the vehicle after a run. The truck had been back in the station about 10 minutes when the combination of a sloped floor in Fire Station One and the movement of water in the truck's 1,000-gallon water tank was enough to start it rolling. The truck rolled out of the station, down a ramp, across Northeast Third Street and into Lake Tuscawilla around 5:45 p.m. Monday. No one was injured, but city fleet mechanics estimate the truck sustained $60,000 in damage. Gentry's memo indicated Calhoun won't be allowed to drive again until his battalion chief and the department's training battalion agree that he has successfully completed the remedial driving class. The department also announced immediate policy changes, to include requiring wheel chocks on all trucks when they are in a station house. Station bay doors also are to be kept closed unless an employee is working in the area. Calhoun's immediate supervisor at the time of the incident, Fire Equipment Operator Clint Wellborn, received an oral counseling session for failure to properly supervise personnel, the department statement said. Calhoun doesn't currently drive a truck on a daily basis, but is qualified to fill in when a regular driver is out, said Battalion Chief Wendell Rora. Wellborn, who was acting as a captain at the time, has passed the promotion test for captain and is waiting for a position to open, he added. Calhoun has been a firefighter for three-and-a-half years, and Wellborn has been with the department for nine years, Rora said. Both Calhoun and Wellborn declined to speak about the incident, Rora said. Monday's incident isn't the first time a truck has accidentally rolled out of Station One. The same thing happened about seven years ago, Rora said. He couldn't recall whether that incident was caused by operator error or mechanical failure. TFD
September 21, 200718 yr Mr. Calhoun is going to be getting a chunk of his paycheck taken away!~ Haha! Nah, I'm kidding. I think he's getting off lucky with just a "remedial driving class".
September 21, 200718 yr Mr. Calhoun is going to be getting a chunk of his paycheck taken away!~ Haha! Nah, I'm kidding. I think he's getting off lucky with just a "remedial driving class". How about remedial Swimming class as well?
September 21, 200718 yr Author Our newest one (mine), which is a '99 cost $250,000 unequiped.. We have a new heavy rescue on order, due in November, that will be roughly $300,000, with only equipped with the rescue tools, no pump, no tank... TFD
September 21, 200718 yr Our newest one (mine), which is a '99 cost $250,000 unequiped.. We have a new heavy rescue on order, due in November, that will be roughly $300,000, with only equipped with the rescue tools, no pump, no tank... TFD so, about the cost of a nice combine...
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