Evaluating Firefighting Equipment in Economic View

Abstract

The high efficiency of professional firefighting work and cost management is real important nowadays, because the maintenance of a fire department needs significant state budget expenditure. Author reviewed the little professional literature available of this topic, used theoretical approaches, logic conclusions and practical experiences of firefighting. Efficiency is the relationship between achieved results during a certain activity, as well as the resources used to achieve them. But firefighter actions have some specialities. For technical (firefighting) efficiency clear values can be calculated (e.g. by duration of firefighting, used power and devices). The analysis of the economic efficiency is a more difficult task. On the resources side is required more precise definition of the total cost of used powers and tools; however the achieved results (saved values), are often difficult to be calculated (e.g. vegetation fires) and in some cases the result of the action – human life, monuments, natural habitat – cannot be expressed by monetary terms. The determination of measuring economic efficiency and ranking firefighting techniques may help to make procurement and cost-effective operation decisions.