Fire truck drives around crossing gates in Tamaqua, PA

MARC Rider · Nov 7, 2022

Saturday, October 29, 2022. The video says it all. The fire chief admits that it was a wrong move, but the truck driver isn't getting a ticket.

I rode the same train and went through the same crossing on November 6, but we had no excitement like this.

By the way, anybody want to hazard a guess on what would have happened if the train actually hit the fire truck? Based on the experience of my ride, I don't think the train was going any faster than 30 mph, maybe more like 20 or 25.

joelkfla · Nov 7, 2022

Looked like the firetruck engineer had his eyes on the train and made a judgement that he could beat it.

danasgoodstuff · Nov 7, 2022

Fire truck getting to an active fire might be the only time that's justified.

WWW · Nov 8, 2022

The Pumper truck with a shorter wheelbase was able to transit the crossing quickly - - -
Now as for a Hook & Ladder - pity the tail end operator hoping that the driver has made the correct decision - - -
Driving these rigs around in city traffic congested or otherwise takes a degree of experience - I would trust that experience

In most cases Emergency Vehicles can disregard the laws lights signals - using of course good judgement !

Noted that the train in question appeared to be a Private Steam excursion using vintage equipment -
Steam locomotive and 18 cars in consist - appeared to be operating at normal operating speed.

Observed at the end of the video clip another fire vehicle and ambulance were waiting for clearance and the crossing gates to lift.

Lots of lots of siren noise ! ! !

cirdan · Nov 8, 2022

I just hope the emergency they were attending to was genuinely worth the risk.

Buildings and their content can be repaired or replaced. Human lives cannot.

MARC Rider · Nov 8, 2022

One thing I was told by the "car host" who told me this story was that there were already some fire trucks at the site of the fire working on it. That might have made it less urgent for this truck to try to run the crossing, especially since this was a relatively shore passenger train, not some 200-car long coal-hauling monster train.

Looking at the video again, I noticed that they have 4-quadrant gates at that crossing. But the gates weren't long enough to prevent the fire truck from slipping through. But that's pretty slick for a curvy little shortline up in the boonies where the trains don't really go all that fast.

user 1215 · Nov 9, 2022

MARC Rider said:
One thing I was told by the "car host" who told me this story was that there were already some fire trucks at the site of the fire working on it. That might have made it less urgent for this truck to try to run the crossing, especially since this was a relatively shore passenger train, not some 200-car long coal-hauling monster train.

Looking at the video again, I noticed that they have 4-quadrant gates at that crossing. But the gates weren't long enough to prevent the fire truck from slipping through. But that's pretty slick for a curvy little shortline up in the boonies where the trains don't really go all that fast.

Those weren't quads. They were directional+pedestrian. The two downstream lanes weren't armed at all in either direction.

I was actually impressed how long the train was, and it was certainly pretty slow. I don't think this was particularly risky. Unnecessary, perhaps.

Just-Thinking-51 · Nov 13, 2022

No justifying this. Just plain dumb. Hope the driver get a new assignment, would never trust him again. Even if the officer in the right front clear him to drive thur the gates, I would not be able to trust this guy, or the officer. Sorry you risk my life for what? To get a better assignment at the fire?

Also the “ambulance” was a rescue vehicle not a patient carrying ambulance.

Just-Thinking-51 · Nov 13, 2022

MARC Rider said:
By the way, anybody want to hazard a guess on what would have happened if the train actually hit the fire truck? Based on the experience of my ride, I don't think the train was going any faster than 30 mph, maybe more like 20 or 25.

A loud crunch with a good chance of live steam burn everyone in the immediate area. Follow by a boiler explosion putting you out of your pain/misery.

WWW · Nov 13, 2022

Monday morning quarterbacking ?
Wasn't even a near miss !
Results no harm - no foul - no crossing gates/arms busted - train engineer did not have to take evasive braking action - no derailment -
at least one fire rig got to the scene to rescue any occupants -
To heck with the fire - lives are precious - time is everything
{train took about a minute to clear the intersection}.
A minute is eternity in some fire cases.
As for emergency equipment on the scene already - what type - pumpers - hook & ladder - ambulance other specialized gear ?
Was the sum of this enough to contain the situation ?
Again a lot of Monday morning quarterbacking !

Just-Thinking-51 · Nov 13, 2022

From someone who worked as a Paramedic within a fire department.

Sorry this was stupid.

Fire truck drives around crossing gates in Tamaqua, PA

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