Study of the Condition of Forest Fire Fighting Vehicles
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Dear Authors,
In accordance with the proofreading criteria of the publisher, I prepared a report, which would be as follows:
The content of the proposed paper meets the objectives set out in the special issue information letter.
Using the scientific methods (Failure Modes, FMECA, Fuzzy logic) applied in accordance with the author’s scientific objectives resulted useful scientific achievements.
The main strength of the article is that the authors could identify a set of elements of the maintenance of Forest Fire Fighting Vehicle used in Portugal, as a result of which we can witness many useful scientific results.
We can state also that one of the vital strengths of this article is the appropriate explanations of methods applied, which draws attention to the importance of the maintenance operations. The second vital strength is the clear presentation of the research results.
In addition to the importance of national elements and results, it is also recommended to prepare an international professional and scientific “Literature review”. The scientific problem should also be examined in a wider international and EU context. That is why I recommend that after the introduction chapter or in the introduction chapter, the related international normative literature, as well as the international legal regulations and technical standards, guidance affecting the scientific problem (if any) are generally presented and analysed.
The “Discussion” part is missing from the article, where the authors examine their results in a broader scientific context. The same applies to the concluding part, where it is recommended to specify the possibilities of international theoretical and practical applicability of the research, as well as the possible directions of future research.
The references used in the main chapters are relevant and assist the reader to understand the authors proposals, however currently, the article contains only 17 references, most of which are of a national nature. It is recommended to present the international aspects already given above.
The illustrations used are regular and clear.
A minor structural error is that chapter 1.4 has only one subsection 1.4.1. The chapter title 2.1 is missing from the text.
Based on the above, I suggest publishing the reviewed article.
Author Response
Author's Reply to the Review Report (Reviewer 1)
Dear Authors,
In accordance with the proofreading criteria of the publisher, I prepared a report, which would be as follows:
The content of the proposed paper meets the objectives set out in the special issue information letter.
Using the scientific methods (Failure Modes, FMECA, Fuzzy logic) applied in accordance with the author’s scientific objectives resulted useful scientific achievements.
The main strength of the article is that the authors could identify a set of elements of the maintenance of Forest Fire Fighting Vehicle used in Portugal, as a result of which we can witness many useful scientific results.
We can state also that one of the vital strengths of this article is the appropriate explanations of methods applied, which draws attention to the importance of the maintenance operations. The second vital strength is the clear presentation of the research results.
In addition to the importance of national elements and results, it is also recommended to prepare an international professional and scientific “Literature review”. The scientific problem should also be examined in a wider international and EU context. That is why I recommend that after the introduction chapter or in the introduction chapter, the related international normative literature, as well as the international legal regulations and technical standards, guidance affecting the scientific problem (if any) are generally presented and analysed.
Reply1-Thank you for your comment. In line with your suggestion we added a new section with the following tex:
1.4.1 international normative literature, a international legal regulations and technical standards, guidance for emergency vehicles
There are several different programs that may be used based on the maintenance and certification of emergency equipment, specially for fire activities they are based on the type of activity and geographic location.
In USA is in use of the Standard NFPA 1911 which is a standard for the Inspection, Maintenance, Testing, and Retirement of In-Service Fire Apparatus. This standard is applicable to any public or private organisation that uses fire apparatus and helps ensure in-service fire apparatus are serviced and maintained to keep them in safe operating condition and ready for response at all times[6].
In Australia the AS 5062-2016 specifies the minimum requirements for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of vehicle fire suppression systems. It is intended to be applied to new equipment, and can also be applied to existing equipment for maintenance activities[7].
In European countries there is in use the EN-1846 which isa standard that deals with the technical requirements to minimise the hazards which can arise during operational use, and that define routine checking and maintenance of firefighting and rescue service vehicles, carried out in accordance with the specifications given by the manufacturer or his authorised representative[8].
The “Discussion” part is missing from the article, where the authors examine their results in a broader scientific context.
Reply 2- We agree with you comment and a new section called Discussion, that is a fusion with the critical analysis, is now in the document wich discuss the implications of scarce data, how the inclusion of more data might impact the results and what practices may be used to acquire more data from who is responsible for the vehicles.
The same applies to the concluding part, where it is recommended to specify the possibilities of international theoretical and practical applicability of the research, as well as the possible directions of future research.
Reply 3- Aiming to address your question in the conclusions the following text is now present:
The applicability of this type of research on emergency vehicles can be significant in developing international standards for emergency vehicle maintenance, ensuring consistent practices across different countries and organisations. This can facilitate interoperability and exchange of knowledge and best practices. Technologically in future work can explore the use of predictive maintenance systems and remote diagnostics for emergency vehicles. These advancements can enhance maintenance practices by enabling real-time monitoring, early detection of issues, and proactive maintenance interventions.
The references used in the main chapters are relevant and assist the reader to understand the authors proposals, however currently, the article contains only 17 references, most of which are of a national nature. It is recommended to present the international aspects already given above.
Reply 4- The reference number is incremented and an international SOA was incorporated.
The illustrations used are regular and clear.
A minor structural error is that chapter 1.4 has only one subsection 1.4.1. The chapter title 2.1 is missing from the text.
Reply 5:We agree with the reviewer's comment and we change chapter 1.4.1 to 1.5, since we present in chapter 1.4 the general overview of the vehicles and then in the 1.5. The Maintenance plan. In the title of the chapter 2.1 write Methodology used in the vehicles
Author Response File: 
Author Response.docx
Reviewer 2 Report
The abstract is well structured.
The introduction is well formulated. The objectives presented. However, it seems like the data concerns Portugal - and for this reason, if this is the case, it should be stated in the objectives that a) the study will focus on the Portuguese case (type of vehicles existing in Portugal and conditions to which it is exposed) or b) despite using Portuguese data, it is intended to generate generalized also results for a range of locations/vehicle types. How may the Portuguese data differ from data from other locations?
The methodology chapter is good and I agree with the method used.
I suggest a few points to review in the Results section:
1) Figure 9 - It is impossible to read the content of the figure. It should be restructured in Table format. (Line 508: "As can be observed in Figure 9 [...]", absolutely nothing can be observed from Figure 9..)
2) For accessing the database, access is required. Please mention in the text that access should be requested in case it needs to be consulted.
3) Figure 10: impossible to read as well. I suggest putting it in Table format.
4) Critical analysis: I suggest a discussion shortly what may be the implications of scarce data concerning the vehicles. How the inclusion of more data might impact the results? What practices may be suggested to acquire more data from who is responsible for the vehicles? Is there any suggestion from the authors to improve the data acquisition process - e.g. maybe other variables may be observed? The authors can use as a reference for this suggestion a proxy with vehicles used for other purposes.
The conclusions are good.
References: are only 17 references available about it? Using only these references is unacceptable. It should incorporate more references to increase reliability. I suggest improving section 1.4.1. A maintenance plan to state of the art of maintenance plans and reviewing similar studies, as well as references to how scientifically it is being approached. I also suggest comparing the obtained results with more references, even if it is from results of vehicles used for other applications (not the same vehicles of course because firefighting vehicles are very specific, but at least discuss how the methodology compares to other applications for example).
Author Response
Author's Reply to the Review Report (Reviewer 2)
The abstract is well structured.
The introduction is well formulated. The objectives presented. However, it seems like the data concerns Portugal - and for this reason, if this is the case, it should be stated in the objectives that a) the study will focus on the Portuguese case (type of vehicles existing in Portugal and conditions to which it is exposed) or b) despite using Portuguese data, it is intended to generate generalized also results for a range of locations/vehicle types. How may the Portuguese data differ from data from other locations?
Reply 1-We agree with the commnet and a new subsection was inserted to about other locations and realities. The following text was inserted in the document:
1.4.1 International normative literature, a international legal regulations and technical standards, guidance for emergency vehicles
The ISO 55000:2014, ISO55001:2014 and ISO55002:2018, are good sources as guidelines for the management of assets and can be applied in any sector [7]. There are several different programs that may be used based on the maintenance and certification of emergency equipment, specially for fire activities they are based on the type of activity and geographic location. In USA is in use the Standard NFPA 1911 which is a standard for the Inspection, Maintenance, Testing, and Retirement of In-Service Fire Apparatus. This standard is applicable to any public or private organisation that uses fire apparatus and helps ensure in-service fire apparatus are serviced and maintained to keep them in safe operating condition and ready for response at all times[8].
In Australia the AS 5062-2016 specifies the minimum requirements for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of vehicle fire suppression systems. It is intended to be applied to new equipment, and can also be applied to existing equipment for maintenance activities[9].
European countries use the EN-1846-2:2009+A1:2013 which is a standard that deals with the technical requirements to minimise the hazards which can arise during operational use, and that define routine checking and maintenance of firefighting and rescue service vehicles, carried out in accordance with the specifications given by the manufacturer or his authorised representative[10].
Despite the presented normatives or standards the level of maintenance and assessment of the tools specified are of very low development and application in the general fire fighting brigades.
The methodology chapter is good and I agree with the method used.
I suggest a few points to review in the Results section:
1) Figure 9 - It is impossible to read the content of the figure. It should be restructured in Table format. (Line 508: "As can be observed in Figure 9 [...]", absolutely nothing can be observed from Figure 9..)
Reply 2-:Thank you for your comment. Indeed the figure 9 is missing which cause the difficulty to understand it and the following figures. Now together with the tables 8 to 11 is presented the explanation of if figure. Also the the following text was added:For example, in a failure with Insignificant Severity (S = VL), Unlikely Occurrence (O = L) and Certain Detectability (D = H), its Criticity will be Very Low (RPN = VL), Figure 9.
2) For accessing the database, access is required. Please mention in the text that access should be requested in case it needs to be consulted.
Reply 3- The text “The access should be requested in case
t needs to be consulted.”, it is now in the document.
3) Figure 10: impossible to read as well. I suggest putting it in Table format.
Reply4- Please see reply nº2.
4) Critical analysis: I suggest a discussion shortly what may be the implications of scarce data concerning the vehicles. How the inclusion of more data might impact the results? What practices may be suggested to acquire more data from who is responsible for the vehicles? Is there any suggestion from the authors to improve the data acquisition process - e.g. maybe other variables may be observed? The authors can use as a reference for this suggestion a proxy with vehicles used for other purposes.
Reply 5- Thank you for your commnet. The following text was added on the critical analysis section:
The authors are aware that the scarcity of data is always a limitation that implies the use of more powerful and complex tools like the one presented in this work. The adoption of maintenance policies that value the operator that reports and cooperates in the entity's maintenance strategy can be a facilitator of obtaining data. Together, the evolution of data acquisition with non-intrusive physical systems could greatly increase the amount of information available. Nowadays, variables such as temperature, vibrations, pressure, fuel consumption, among others, can be easily monitored with modular systems. Facilitating the early detection and prevention of failures, even using machine learning algorithms that can generate alerts. Thus, it will be possible to improve security based on predictive maintenance systems.
That said, still it is advisable to have a mandatory and rigorous inspection plan and maintenance programme, accompanied by fault records in order to optimise preventive maintenance.
The conclusions are good.
References: are only 17 references available about it? Using only these references is unacceptable. It should incorporate more references to increase reliability. I suggest improving section 1.4.1. A maintenance plan to state of the art of maintenance plans and reviewing similar studies, as well as references to how scientifically it is being approached. I also suggest comparing the obtained results with more references, even if it is from results of vehicles used for other applications (not the same vehicles of course because firefighting vehicles are very specific, but at least discuss how the methodology compares to other applications for example).
Reply 6- We agree with your comment and the section 1.41 was modified and a survey of International normative literature, an international legal regulations and technical standards, was introduced, the references were corrected and the number was increased to 21.
Author Response File: Author Response.docx
