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Firetrucks Getting “Naming Rights”?

6 comments

IT WAS 18 MONTHS AGO THAT WE reported on Stockton, California, Fire Chief  Ron Hittle’s plan to sell advertising space on the sides of the city’s firetrucks.  (see the Firegeezer report from June, 2007 HERE.)  It sounded dopey then, and it sounds dopey now.  But they’ve gone ahead and done it.

stockton b record

creation of Stockton Record

The city has sold space on their new US&R truck that just went in service to a local grocery store chain.  They justify it by saying that they sell naming rights to sports arenas and ball parks, so why not the city’s rolling stock?

KCRA-TV has the video report on this demeaning bit of financial desperation:

Chief Hittle demonstrated his leadership skills back in 2007 when he publicly announced that his firefighters wear “funky helmets that don’t really perform all that well in a fire.”

Also on FireGeezer…

Posted by on December 19, 2009 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, apparatus • Tagged: , , , , ,
  • http://twitter.com/firehat firehat

    When you have customers and not patients or victims you develop a mindset that says this sort of thing is okay.

  • wskrayen

    This what you get when, when you were the center of the foreclosure crisis (last month second in the nation for forclosures), have an unemployment rate over 20%, falling property and sales taxes, unfunded state and federal mandates, and a bankrupt state stealing, um I mean borrowing, local tax funds as Stockton has to deal with. I live in Stockton, and the budget picture isn't great. We have furloughs for all city employees, including Police and Fire. We just had 17 PD Officers retire, to help prevent layoffs, this with an ongoing and growing crime problem, including gangs. We have had department mergers and layoffs (including department heads) in other city departments. The fire department is overbudget, and may be looking at layoffs and closing companies. So where do you get money for needed equipment?

    It comes down to 3 possibilities.
    1.) find alternate funding, such as donations
    2.) take the money from other parts of the department budget, which may mean someone gets laidoff or other equipment is not purchased.
    3.) Do without, and continue to use a much smaller, secondhand PG&E line truck.

    The department is not selling ads on the side of their rigs. Food4Less DONATED a third of the cost of the new rescue. The Food4Less decal on the sides of the rig is there because of that donation. The Pierce 105' Reamount that used to be at Truck 7, has it's funding source, a local tax measure, on it. This is no different in concept. Other departments, when rigs are donated, aknowledge the fact in similar ways. I will say that the big decal on the officers side is overdone and tacky. The smaller decal on the drivers side, as shown on the Pierce website, would have been better. It's in a gap in the stripe and no taller then the strip. Nice and understated and much more proper. I don't mind them aknowledging the donation, but going out and selling ads on the sides of rigs would be a different story. As a citizen in the city, I would definately fight that. I doubt it will happen, since there wasn't much support for it when Chief Hittle talked about it.

    All in all, I'm glad we got it, and can replace the much smaller secondhand truck with a new purpose built truck. I just wish the department had a budget big enough to provide the staffing, training, equipment and additional stations the city needs. But that won't be happening in years if ever.

  • nick

    I dont see how it's any different than when some vollie department puts “this engine donated by……” when someone gives them a truck they cant afford. Incidently, this jogs my memory of a conversation we had around the firehouse a few years ago. Goofing around, someone brought up the idea of selling advertising space on the trucks like on NASCAR cars. Something along the lines of “This fire brought to you by…….”. At the time it was just for laughs, but with the economy the way it is, it's a good idea now.

  • nick

    I dont see how it's any different than when some vollie department puts “this engine donated by……” when someone gives them a truck they cant afford. Incidently, this jogs my memory of a conversation we had around the firehouse a few years ago. Goofing around, someone brought up the idea of selling advertising space on the trucks like on NASCAR cars. Something along the lines of “This fire brought to you by…….”. At the time it was just for laughs, but with the economy the way it is, it's a good idea now.

  • nick

    I dont see how it's any different than when some vollie department puts “this engine donated by……” when someone gives them a truck they cant afford. Incidently, this jogs my memory of a conversation we had around the firehouse a few years ago. Goofing around, someone brought up the idea of selling advertising space on the trucks like on NASCAR cars. Something along the lines of “This fire brought to you by…….”. At the time it was just for laughs, but with the economy the way it is, it's a good idea now.

  • nick

    I dont see how it's any different than when some vollie department puts “this engine donated by……” when someone gives them a truck they cant afford. Incidently, this jogs my memory of a conversation we had around the firehouse a few years ago. Goofing around, someone brought up the idea of selling advertising space on the trucks like on NASCAR cars. Something along the lines of “This fire brought to you by…….”. At the time it was just for laughs, but with the economy the way it is, it's a good idea now.