Over the years, fire departments long have recognized the importance of carrying portable ground ladders on their apparatus. Engine company units typically have been equipped with a minimum of three ...

What is a good way to tell whether a department and/or company is operating efficiently? The answer: ladder placement. What is ladder placement? It’s the positioning of a ladder where it can be used ...

One of the most challenging situations that any fire company can face is arriving on the scene of a working fire and finding one or more victims trapped in imminent peril. It doesn’t happen often; for ...

Developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), this mobile app is designed to increase safety when using extension ladders. The interactive app features a multimodal ...

One topic that I haven’t touched on in a while is design consideration of where to mount ladders on a pumper and aerial. First of all, according to NFPA 1901: Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus, ...

Falls from portable ladders (step, straight, combination and extension) are one of the leading causes of workplace injuries and fatalities. Appropriate precautions can reduce the risk significantly.