There's something that the San Francisco Fire Department has that no other fire departments in the United States has: wooden ladders. Why use wood? Well, San Francisco has a lot of overhead powerlines, and wood doesn't conduct electricity.
In this Vimeo clip, Adam Kaplan of ASK Media Productions tours the SFFD Wood Shop and reveals nifty nuggets of information, like how the first ladder built for the fire department was made in 1918 (still in use today) and that the Douglas Fir used has to be "aged" for 15 years in the shop.
Hit play or go to Link [Vimeo] - Thanks Marilyn!
There are in fact other fire departments that use wooden ladders. Los Angeles City and County both do, and I'm sure there are others.
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They never heard of fiberglass ladders?
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Um, that's a Vimeo link, not YouTube.
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Oops! You're right BikerRay. Fixed.
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Wood ladders are a step up from aluminum.
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