You may still have a few questions -- if you didn't, you must be a seasoned pro with working with us and planning events! For the rest of us, we've compiled a list of questions and answers we often hear... but if you have others, please Contact Us -- we'll answer them, and add them to the list to share with others.

Event Planning

• Why choose Fire Trucks 4 Hire? We're simply an awesomely fun group to have at your event. Honest. (Even check out our customer feedback!) But you probably would like a bit more to go on -- and we have a all sorts of good reasons:
  • Availability. If we're booked, you'll know it up front: we put our calendar out there for you to see. If we're not booked, odds are strong we're available -- you don't have to ask "pretty please with sugar on top" and hope we're not on-call or otherwise only sort of available. And yes, we do the WHOLE weekend, even Sundays... and weekdays are possible, too.
  • Budget-friendly. We're affordable. Prove us wrong: call the other guys and get a quote for your event. Then compare it to our price. Heck, we're not even afraid to put the total cost (event and any fuel charge) out there for everyone to see -- even the other guys. And our price won't change just because we don't like your area code, the part of town you live in, or if we feel like answering your call. Speaking of which...
  • Courteous. We answer the phone. And if we can't, we'll return your call or email -- often same day, but worst case, definitely on the next business day.
  • Dependable. We show up on time, look the part, can talk the talk, help everyone have a safe, enjoyable visit with the truck, and when our part is done, we clean up and get out of your way.
  • Efficient. We've participated in over 200 events since opening shop, and know what works well for your planned event, and what may not. We're ready to help keep things going during our visit with you, and have the ideas to back it up.
  • Flexible. Do we come to your home, a local park, or a public place? Sure. Can we deal with a last-minute change? Sure. Are you locked into a specific window of time? No -- not unless we're back-to-back booked that day (a very rare occurrence).
  • Not Party-crashers. We're not here to eat cake and shoot the breeze around the barbeque and drink your sodas -- arrive, help your guests have a fun, safe time, and get out of your way to continue and complete your event.
  • Plan B-friendly. With several locations state-wide, and some locations with several trucks in-station, there is a good chance we can come up with a "Plan B" to ensure your plans stay on track.
  • Safe. The last thing you or we want is an accident putting a damper on the day. The truck will arrive and be made play-safe, and we help supervisor your guests as we answer questions. (But we're always outnumbered, so we do ask our hosts and other adults to help watch out for the little ones as they explore.)
  • Yes! We have the "can do" attitude. Do you have a request, an idea, or something you'd like to do during your fire truck event? If your idea is safe -- and legal, of course -- odds are good we can help make it happen. (Ideally, we suggest discussing it with the Dispatcher when booking or the truck crew in advance so we can plan accordingly.)

• What do you do at events? Every event varies in the flavor and pace of attention spans, but generally, we first get your guests in uniform with badge stickers, and provide them a chance to look around the outside of the truck, ask questions about the truck, equipment or tools on board. From there, we open the doors for a crawl-around the inside and outside of the truck, and for those trucks with wearable gear, opening up the cabinets to have gear (jackets, helmets, etc.) to try on and play with.

You may have specific requests or ideas of things you'd like to see us do, and we are always open to discuss how we can work your ideas into the event. (As a rule, we'll entertain all reasonable requests, providing they can be accomplished in a manner that is safe for everyone involved.) Individual trucks may also carry additional equipment, such as water-filled fire extinguishers, to offer some amusement for your guests.

• How long should we have you here? This one is really a two part question:
  • The first part is your preference -- do you want us to arrive before, during, or after your guests have arrived? If you're going all out with a fire themed birthday, for example, you may want your guests to all arrive, have them with fire hats on, and then be surprised when the truck arrives. (We've done birthdays where we are the first to arrive, mixed in with the guests arrival, and arrived after, and all were equally successful, so it all depends on the mood you're trying to set.)

  • The second part is a matter of age of your guests. With younger guests, the attention span tends to fade faster than older guests. For events for a guest of honor in the age 3-5 range, our experience has shown their involvement fades in the 60-90 minute range. Events for older guests of honor may last longer, but by the two hour mark, even the most fascinated of children begin to check out in pursuit of other activities. (You know your child and audience better, of course, so guidelines may not reflect their interest in fire-related things, and it's possible no time limit will ever be sufficient to satisfy their curiosities.)

• When does the time start and stop? The time you pay for is the time we are at your event -- travel time is on us. (If you are outside of the truck's home county, then we do pass along the fuel charges to travel to your event and back to the station, but there is no additional charge for our time behind the wheel traveling to your event.)

• Where will you park? The reality is few homes have a driveway that is long enough to accommodate a 28-55 foot long truck -- and that's okay. We generally park in the street outside of your home, marking the area with orange cones to both have an outer limit for guests walking around the vehicle, as well as a warning to passing vehicle traffic. (We also will help supervise guests on the traffic side as needed, based on the street and where we've parked.)

If the event is off-street or otherwise away from traffic, the trucks will fit most any place a vehicle is permitted. The trucks are larger than the typical family car, but are not nearly as troublesome to park and situate as you may think. (Keep in mind that residential areas and public places are all designed with access in mind for emergency vehicles, and our trucks are within those design considerations.)

• Holding your event in a public place? This is not a problem for us (as long as we have space to park), but may require a bit of leg-work as you plan your event. Depending on the property owner or park district, they may have additional requirements for your event being held on their facility, or may not allow large vehicles to be present at all. We will do our best to help you meet any requirements the property owner(s) may present.

• How do I reserve the trucks? Easy -- Contact Us! You will first speak with Dispatch, and they will gather the details of your requirements, and can set up the event right then and there (date, times, location, truck(s)), or if you prefer, Dispatch can put you in contact with the Station Manager that will be responding to your event.

  In rare occasions, a station Manager may also decline an event due to travel time and distance. (When this does occur, it's often due to the travel time being far greater than the event time, such as needing to travel 4+ hours roundtrip for a 60 minute event.)

  The individual Station Manager makes the final decision on accepting a reservation, which includes having unavailability "black out" days that may not appear on the calendar. (Family or work obligations may prevent a location from being available, though unknown to Dispatch in advance.) If another date or Station can support your event, Dispatch will review with you those options as well, as they may apply.

• What are your event rates? The base cost of most events can be found on our Events & Pricing page. Mileage, add-ons or special requests may incur an additional charge, though we will tell you about any additional charges based on the type of event and your requested services.

• What is this fuel surcharge thing? The fuel surcharges are an unfortunate result of diesel fuel pricing -- and the disappointing reality that the trucks only get five miles to the gallon. For any event outside of our home town, we found it's both necessary to pass along the fuel cost, and more fair to charge it on a city-by-city basis (rather than a county-level as we did in the past, or to do an across-the-board price increase for every event near and far). traveling only five miles to the gallon, the transportation cost (each way) can be costly to some destinations. For events that are held outside the home county of one of our stations, we have the unfortunate necessity to pass along the fuel cost associated with arriving at your event. The current travel costs to your county can be found on the page of the station's page supporting your county, found here.

• Do you require a deposit? Some locations do require a deposit, and those note it on their Station location's information found on the Events and Pricing page.

• What happens if I need to cancel? Please Contact Us and let us know as soon as possible if your dates change, or if you are canceling your event altogether.

• What forms of payment do you accept? Some locations accept some or all of the following (so take a peek at the corresponding logos on the Events & Pricing shown next to each location's name):
  • Cash (paid on the day of the event)
  • Check (in advance or on the day of the event, for deposits and payment)

  • Payal (in advance only, through which we can accept a variety of major credit cards, for event deposits and payment)
    
    We presently do not accept credit cards (except PayPal at some locations) to help keep our event prices affordable. (Merchants accepting credit cards are charged an about 2.5% of the transaction, plus monthly service fees and equipment rental -- or more if your card pays you bonus rewards, miles or points... those are typically charged back to the merchant accepting your credit card.)

• What areas do you provide services to? On our Events & Pricing page, choose the state from the drop-down menu for a state-wide map of counties we support. The state-wide pages also list the individual counties or communities we visit -- though if you're not listed, you can still Contact Us to see if we can arrange for a truck to visit you all the same.

• Do different Stations offer different services? To an extent, yes, as each Station's equipment and vehicles do vary somewhat. You can find a summary of what types of events each Station offers by visiting our Events & Pricing page -- under each Station's name are the types of services offered.

On the Big (Event) Day

• Ugh -- it's raining (or snowing, foggy, etc...)! Bad weather is the nature of the business when doing anything outdoors, so if the weather isn't favorable, we'll be happy to work with you to reschedule your event, as needed. If your plans are for a rain-or-shine event, we are still able to join you -- fire trucks still respond to calls and fires even in bad weather, so the trucks aren't afraid of a little rain.

• Parking and staging space needed. In order for us to join your event, we'll need a place to park, of course. Each truck is about 30 feet in length (or a bit shorter), with the exception of Copperopolis Truck 75 measuring about 46 feet long, and Livermore Truck 61 measuring about 55 feet long. Parallel parking a fire engine is a bit trickier than a Honda, so we appreciate having free access to the curb or sidewalk area whenever possible. (This also gives you and us plenty of space for your event guests to walk up to the fire truck without being exposed to traffic hazards.) If getting into a space may be tricky , we recommend a minimum of 50 feet is needed for each truck, or 100+ feet for the larger trucks.

• Any clothing issues for our guests? While we take every effort to keep the trucks clean, they are still trucks, sometimes traveling a good distance to your event, so a few suggestions to minimize the muck:
  • Guests-of-Honor and event guests should probably keep their Sunday best at home, and wear comfortable, easy-to-wash clothing.
  • Some of the trucks also have areas to climb up, over and along, so shoes that will protect feet and not get caught in ladder rungs or steps are strongly recommended.
  • If you know your daughter is a climber, she may be best suited in shorts or long pants; skirts and summer dresses have more fabric areas to get caught between the various tidbits of the truck.

  • Never a bad suggestion, but even a better idea after playing with the trucks and gear, before cake: handi-wipes or a proper hand-washing. It also keeps your little adventurers from wiping their hands on their clothes, which may be less forgiving about getting dirty and grime out later.

• Who supervises the kids on the trucks? We request and encourage moms and dads to hang outside with the kids and the truck, both (a) we've found our younger guests tend to interact more with the truck knowing the comfort of mom 'n dad are nearby, and (b) to help keep an eye on the little ones as they play. (Our driver will do what he or she can to supervise the activities with our trucks, but as a single person, the driver can only see so much at once.)

• Who's got the camera? Most of our trucks and crew carry a digital camera to help take photos of your event. We will share these photos on our web site as part of the event's entry on our Photo Gallery, and post them to Flickr.com as well. (If you do not want photos shared or posted, please let us know.) We show photos both to capture your event to share with friends and family, and so visitors can get a sense of our services. Photos and videos are shared consistent with our Privacy Policy and Statement.

  Of course, you are welcome -- even encouraged -- to take photos or video of your event. We're not camera shy, and while we appreciate the thought of being asked, yes, you can photograph our trucks, our crew, and whatever else you like.

• Can we trade photos? Absolutely!
  • You can send photos to us via email to photos@firetrucks4hire.com, or by mail to the address on the Contact Us page.
  • If you would like a full set of your event, just drop us a note requesting a photo CD using any of the methods shown on the Contact Us page.
  • Did you "YouTube" video? If so, and you'd like to share it with us for our Videos section, just email us a link and we'd be happy to share it. (You can send links to photos@firetrucks4hire.com.)

• Do you offer rides in the truck? We are not licensed to offer rides. Under California Public Utilities Commission's (PUC) Passenger Carrier regulations, a service provider must be licensed similar to that of a limo or taxi (not a small effort by any means). We may expand into this area in the future. (For what it's worth, no other fire truck company in California -- except the folks in San Francisco doing the tours across the Golden Gate -- are licensed to do this, either, so anyone advertising limo or ride services are not doing so in a legitimate way -- a licensed carrier must list their PUC license on their web site and all advertising.)

• Do you demo equipment? We love to talk about everything the specific truck can do, and even about what functions other types of fire apparatus can offer. Insurance considerations limit what we can do with ladders and elevating other booms. We are also not permitted to hook up to fire hydrants and "flow" water (each city has different rules, but hydrants typically are reserved for fire departments and contractors paying for water by the gallon). If you have specific questions or event needs, please Contact Us to discuss what options may be available to you for your event and at your selected location.

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Web Site Questions

• Why aren't your photos showing up? We use Flickr.com as our photo hosting service. Rarely, there are times when Flickr's web site may be down -- either for planned work or unexpected outages -- and photos will not appear. When this happens, each activity or event page's photo navigation to the right (the rectangular pictures) and the center slideshow will both stop working. When this happens, please try back later, and as soon as Flickr's web site becomes available, the photos will again show up on our site. (If you have a firewall or proxy server in place, be sure that the web site http://www.flickr.com is not blocked, too.)

• Can we link to your site? Absolutely! And if you also running a similar business and would like to be listed on our Other Fire Truck Sites list -- or better yet, join us -- just email us with your link information (our information is in the Contact Us page).

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Random Other Bits

• Why "4 Hire"? Why not "4 Rent"? Okay, yes, the "for hire" is something of an uncommon term in the United States when you compare it to something that's available for rent. In our case, you aren't renting a fire vehicle, you're hiring the vehicle AND crew member(s). (We actually do not rent our vehicles without a driver for a number of reasons, the least of which is we're not Hertz or Avis.)

• What happened to the Sacramento / Modesto Station? The Station managers relocated from Sacramento to Modesto, and now work as Copperopolis Station. So, the name has changed, but it's the same truck and crew!

• What happened to the Bakersfield Station? The Station manager elected to end services in June 2010, in large part due to the challenges of doing business in today's tough economic landscape. We appreciate the support of our customers in the Bakersfield and Kern County areas over the past two years, and thank you for your patronage. The vehicles and equipment were liquidated both within the other existing locations and to outside buyers.

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Page last reviewed/updated on July 8, 2010