I was with the Moab Fire Dept. for 18 years and have been with Grand County Search and Rescue for over 25 years. We used to be allowed to run red and amber overheads and I had them on several trucks. We could also run wigwags, which I did. Sirens were never allowed. But in the modern world, we are not even permitted to use our emergency flashers on personal vehicles when responding. Liability issues. Thank the lawyers.

Insurance companies also got into the mix. If your insurance provider gets wind of the fact that your personal vehicle is being used for emergency response, especially with emergency lighting, be prepared for a cancellation or stiff rate hike.

And we were recently even asked to remove large Sheriff's SAR decals from our vehicles. It was considered a safety issue, especially when travelling out of the immediate area. The only clue that my Jeep might be a SAR vehicle is the radio antenna and a small Search and Rescue sticker on the window.

 

LEMMEGIVEYA some GOOD advice as someone who was one of those "first responder" folks in public sector for about 30 years...
AND
some info needed;
is this something you are VOLUNTEERING to do or are you getting PAID and what exactly is it you are doing?
"First responder" is a broad stroke paint brush and there are varying levels of immunity depending on the position.

Whoever you are working for, talk to them first about ANYTHING you want to do. THEY have the deep pockets and THEY are the folks you want paying if something unforseen happens and ALSO they may have written policies in place absolutely forbidding what you plan to do, and if they do and if you do and something bad happens you will be in deep doo doo because they can wash their hands of you entirely. ALSO there may be STATE laws governing what you want to do. THEN if it looks clear talk to your own insurance company and get their view because they may have buried in the legal weasel words statements saying they are not responsible unless you have an separate rider covering such activities.

DO NOT look at this as a Bart Simpson moment where as he says "It is always easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission."
We are talking about taking every dime you earn for pretty much the rest of your life unless you are already independently wealthy, no matter what your good intentions. (How long would it take you to pay out a half a million judgement against you?)

Your heart may be in the right place but you better kick in the brain on this one.
AND
IF the answers keep coming up "NO" and you really still feel the need for speed and all the flashing lights then it might be time to make a life choice change and signup full time and wait for the bell to ring.

 

^^^^^^^^^^^ Above advice is well worth following.

Good Luck, L.M.

 

As a retired LEO, just don't do it. Read above. I'm not going to restate those wise words.

 

THAT SAID...
There was a time when I was expected to respond from my house in my POV when I was working for a small town in Northern Michigan if there was an emergency. Also because of the snow which could overwhelm a car I would patrol in the Jeep. ALL city sanctioned.

This was when I had my YJ. My solution to locating a magnetic mount light on the glass roof was to find an appropriately sized piece of steel plate, and I siliconed it to the roof. Once set, I could throw the mag based flasher on top and at the breakneck speeds attainable in a 4cyl YJ :lmao: it would still hold in place.

and

when not needing the light the plate was not even visible when running along and it stayed in place winter and summer until I finally quit the business and then got rid of the Jeep.

AGAIN..ALL this was done with the total blessing of the folks who would be paying the bills if something went "bad".

 

ALL city sanctioned......those three little words are so important. When I was teaching at the academy, I preached "Follow your agency's SOP". There is a thing called Vicarious Liability, if you follow their rules then they are responsible, if you don't, you are own your own.

OP---whoever you work for, follow their SOPs, in the long run, unless you want to be the only defendant in a civil suit.

 

Times are definitely changing. 27 years ago when I joined our local fire department we were 100% volunteer. We had the backing and financing of local township government and it was very typical to outfit your personal vehicle with front facing blue lights with rear facing reds, side strobes, etc. This was also as per state laws and we did it this way until about the last 10 years.

Now we are no longer volunteers but "paid on call" which makes us regular employees and we do not respond in personal vehicles. As was stated above I am sure the lawyers had alot to do with that decision but that is the way things are now.

Frankly it is nice not to add all of that stuff to your personal vehicle anymore. Some good auxiliary lighting is great but no extra warning lighting is something that is not required in my situation. It's safer responding in a fire department vehicle anyway. I think about how we used to ride tailboards on the way to calls and it was fun but really dangerous. I think in this day and age true "signal 10" emergency response is better left to official vehicles.

 

"VOLUNTEER FIREMEN"....

There was a time.. and where I live it is still alive and well, when that fire whistle goes off and the big siren is wailing, and you heard it go off, it meant you were close enough to the fire barn that approaching vehicles at warp speed would be closing in to your area and ANYONE with half a brain would get OFF THE ROAD because the VFF would come blowing through with lights flashing and sirens blaring and... well it was dangerous to get in their way.
Driving waaaayyyyy toooooooo fast in vehicles not designed for that kind of driving.

Give you guyz all the credit in the world, even though I have to wonder about the sanity of anyone who volunteers to run INTO a burning building.:happyyes: :happyyes:

 

Combat Tracker and MRAP

Combat Tracker and MRAP

 

Combat Tracker and MRAP

Combat Tracker and MRAP

 

Obviously this isn't a POV, but one of the local fire departments here has a nice YJ they use for responding to grass fires and other things where the big trucks can't go. They also have a small boat they can tow with it for water emergencies.

 

I'd like to be around when they put that up for grabs.

I used to go to the police car auctions to bid on the Harley Davidson motorcycles that got replaced once they had too many miles.
Eventually the fire dept. will want to replace that Jeep and firemen usually maintain their vehicles like new. It looks like they keep it indoors.

Good luck, L.M.