Cedarburg Fire Departments Engineers

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Engineers are the people who drive and operate the apparatus. The qualifications to become an engineer are Wisconsin State Certified Firefighter I and Driver Operator-Pumper. In order for someone to drive and operate the aerial ladder truck, one must also be Wisconsin State Certified Driver Operator-Aerial.

The engineers have an important responsibility on all fire calls of safely getting to the scene in a timely manner. Once on scene of a working fire, the engineer must get water to the firefighters on the hose line at the right pressure. If it is night, the engineer must also light up the fire scene. Engineers also monitor the amount of water that is left on the engine in order to alert crews to back out of a building in case a supply has not been established. Once a water supply has been established, the engineer monitors the pressures and water flow for all the hose lines operating off the engine to make sure the water supply is adequate for the amount of fire.

Engineers who operate the aerial ladder must position the truck in a location that the stabilizers can be extended and where the ground will support the weight of the truck. In that position the aerial ladder must also be able to reach the desired target without obstruction from trees and wires. The engineer must also know the load that is carried in the basket of the ladder for safe operation.

In the thirty square miles that the Cedarburg Fire Department covers, only about 10% of that area has a municipal water system with hydrants. With the hydrants, water supply can be set up quickly. Typically the first in engine will attack the fire, while the second engine connects to a hydrant and supplies the first engine water with 5” hose.

In the other 90% of the area, a water shuttle is used. On a rural working fire, the first in engine drops a 5” supply hose on the driveway and then attacks the fire. The second engine connects to the end of the supply hose and begins to feed the first in engine with water from its tank. Once a folding tank arrives and is set up, water is drafted from the tank by the second engine. Drafting is the process of lowering the pressure inside the pump and intake pipes to allow outside atmospheric pressure to push the water from the folding tank into the pump. In order to supply the folding tank with water, tenders are called in from the surrounding departments to dump water into the tank. The tenders are filled at a fill site, which is either at a hydrant, dry hydrant (pipe connected to a pond or stream), or cistern. It is unlikely that a water source such as a pool or a small pond on a property would be used because of difficult access, unknown soil conditions, and small volume.