Playing with Fire

By Michael J. Legeros

This month, the subject is weight.  It's been said that everything in the fire service is heavy.  What you wear, what you ride, and what you lift on and off the truck every day.  How much heaviness are we talking about?  With a bathroom scale in tow, Yours Truly visited his friendly neighborhood fire station and took the following measurements:

Item Weight (Pounds) axe 6 couplings, 2 1/2" male-male, female-female 7 extension ladder, 24' 75 extinguisher, CO2 35 extinguisher, dry-chemical 29 extinguisher, water 32 foam concentrate, 5 gallon container 46 gated Y valve, 2 1/2" to 1 1/2" 2 generator 75 hand light 2 helmet 1 high-rise kit, no hose 12 hose, one section 1 1/2" 14 hose, one section 2" 23 hose, one section 3" 39 hose clamp 16 hydrant wrench 5 jump kit, plastic 27 nozzle, 1 1/2" fog 5 nozzle, 2 1/2" fog 20 pike pole, 6' fiberglass 1 rabbit tool 17 saw, K-12 24 SCBA cylinder, filled 11 smoke fan, electric 46 wheel chock 8

And how much does all this weigh when carried by a fully-outfitted firefighter?  My scale doesn't go that high, but just the coat, pants, boots, gloves, helmet, face mask, and air pack averages about 75 pounds. You do the math.

A version of this column originally appeared at Code 3 Collectibles.

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