The 19th annual Firehouse Expo brought its usual crowd of thousands of emergency service professionals to the downtown Baltimore area.

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One of the Seagrove Aerialscopes built for FDNY.	More conveniences for those of us who are vertically challenged.	Tillers are always impressive to me, and this American LaFrance built for the Waldorf Volunteer Fire Department in Charles County, MD is no exception.	No shortage of patriotic designs here!
Extrication tools on Baltimore City's brand new Rescue 1. You'll see a photo of their current 10-year old truck a bit later, and will understand why its time for retirement is drawing near.	Rescue 1's logo really jumps out at you.	Rescue 1 boasts ample storage space up top, however...	... it seems that these steep steps might be difficult to maneuver with full turnout gear and carrying heavy equipment.
Baltimore-Washington International Airport Fire Department's new E-One aerial.	Ruggedized apparatus seemed to be a popular theme this year.	Complete with ruggedized stretcher and an attendant seat! I wish we'd had this the day we had to roll the stretcher and all our EMS equipment nearly a mile into the woods to pick up a coded patient!	The ultimate brush truck!
Charleston County (SC) is proud of this heavy rescue truck, a 2000 Ford F750 6x6 chassis with a 10-ton Fassi crane and 10-ton Ramsey winch. Check out their web site for more details and some great photos of Rescue 8 in action!	Lance Heavy Duty Rescue built for Blades Volunteer Fire Company (Blades, DE). This enormous piece of apparatus seats 16 firefighters with a 23-foot walk-through body, a 22.5-foot wheelbase and an overall length of 39'8".	Union Fire Association (Bala Cynwyd, PA) recently took delivery on Tower 28, a 95 foot KME Aerialcat midmount platform. It has a 300 gallon tank and a compressed air foam system.	Tower 28 has a self leveling system enabling quick deployment.
View from atop Baltimore's Rescue 1...	...as I rested my aching feet!	One whole section set aside for EMS booths.	Accokeek Volunteer Fire Department (MD) took delivery on this Sutphen Model 95 Platform in March 2002.
After several hours at the convention center, I took the obligatory stroll to the Inner Harbor, several blocks away. In the 90+ degree heat this fountain looked rather inviting...	Plenty of touristy things to do here...	Some serious fire power!	I wish we could have this kind of enforcement for our fire lanes!
Some tropical music to go along with the tropical heat.	Baltimore City's Steadman Station. Last year I was told that Baltimore was getting out of the dive rescue business - but this truck seems to indicate otherwise?	A reference to the tiller that was now back in service at this station.	It was most amazing to watch a truck of this size making a right turn at a tight city intersection without even having to swing wide.
Collapse rescue unit.	One of the extrication compartments on Baltimore's Rescue 1. Yes, that is cribbing that is holding the top shelf up. This truck alone ran well over 1000 calls last year. With that kind of volume, it's not surprising to hear that the life expectancy on this truck will not much exceed 10 years.	Baltimore's Steadman Station boasts some pretty impressive call statistics. At this station they currently have 16 firefighters on each shift (4-man crew on each fire apparatus, 2-man crew on each ambulance), and they all have plenty to keep them busy!	At last year's convention, this street was nothing but a gaping hole after the train tunnel disaster. Today, you couldn't tell by looking that anything had ever happened here.
	Those who attended the game at Camden Yards this evening were greeted by an impressive display at the gate.