I wonder how it's done in European cities with their trams (the ones which don't use APS).
edit: http://tkolb.net/safety/LadderSafety/LadderSafety.html ... can't vouch for site but interesting.
Huge downside to fiberglass is they are UV sensitive - i've seen ladders just crumbling because they were left in the sun
This is actually a great case where asbestos shines. It's nonconductive and can stand very high temperatures. If not for the whole cancer thing.
The problem is the matrix, which softens under heat unless you use exotic things like ceramic matrix composites which are brittle.
Asbestos is heavy as rock.
"[wood ladders] don't conduct electricity like aluminum or wet fiberglass ladders do."
"'Aluminum or fiberglass, when it gets too hot, it gets soft; it will actually fold over without any warning,' he said. 'Wood takes hours to fail completely -- enough time for a firefighter to see it burning and get off it.'"
"Once an aluminum or fiberglass ladder cracks, it usually has to be replaced. Wooden ones can always be repaired, he said."
Here lies a pretty cool article about a pretty cool practice demonstrating how the SFFD maintains their own equipment, to their own specifications (rather than an approximation thereof), and for less money than simply farming it out to a vendor. There might even be an applicable (to HN) lesson here on the value of employing an in-house toolmaker, whatever your profession may be.
And then there's this lot here in the comments that is completely in arms against it because le Hackernews is obviously an expert Fire Brigade, or just has an allergic reaction to civilian government agencies maintaining their own equipment versus joining the throwaway consumerist cult the rest of world has acquiesced to.
In other words, it's a social disorder.