APPARATUS DELIVERIES
Because of the hills in Waterbury, Connecticut, it may take from five to eight minutes for a truck company to respond to the Town Plot area of the city, according to fire department master mechanic Donald Charette. With the vast amount of construction going on in this area, the WFD found it necessary to purchase a Water Chief, built by American La France.
The unit is mounted on a Century 2,000 chassis with 4-door cab seating seven personnel. It has a two-stage Twin-Flow 1,500-gpm pump and carries 500 gallons of water in a fiberglass tank. There are two 6-inch intakes recessed into the pump panel. In conjunction with the 75-foot, prepiped, 3-section aerial ladder there are four 3″x 2½” intakes at the rear of the apparatus. A 4-inch pipe feeds the 1,000-gpm Elkhart nozzle through two 3½” waterpipes reduced to 2 ½ as they ascend the aerial. The outrigger spread for this system is 16 feet. The aerial ladder is operated from above the pump panel.
Photo courtesy of Waterbury Fire Department
Other features include two 1 ¾-inch and one 2‘/2-inch crosslays, two Churchville 500-watt telescoping lights, a booster reel, and a Federal Street Hawk light bar on the cab roof.
This unit is powered by a Detroit 8V92-TA diesel engine and an Allison HT-740 automatic transmission. It has a 196-inch wheelbase and seven tool compartments in its body.
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■ When the Deer Park Fire Company of Cherry Hill, New Jersey designed its new elevating platform, it specified one with a low profile and short wheelbase to maneuver narrow streets with low trees, according to Captain Kevin E. Kenniff. Its new vehicle, built by Grumman Emergency Products, is a 95-foot Aerial Cat model.
The apparatus has a Detroit 8V 92TA diesel engine and an Allison HT 740D automatic transmission, with a Panther model four-door .cab seating six. It has a wheelbase of 240 inches and 12 tool and equipment compartments in the body.
One feature is a remote control box connected by cable to the apparatus that allows the firefighter to observe full placement of the outriggers, which have a spread of 18 feet. (The remote would not, of course, be used when the platform is raised.) Another feature is the David Clark intercom system, which via headsets keeps the crew in touch with each other while riding to an alarm or between the platform and the ground.
The 95-foot platform has a 1,000-lb. payload capacity and is fed by a 5-inch waterpipe at the ground that gradually reduces to 3 ½ inches at the platform. In the platform are three 2’A-inch discharges and an Akron Apollo gun with 2,000-gpm nozzle.
As an added safety measure, an amber beacon is mounted on the vehicle. When rotating, it warns members that the platform is in use and that to avoid an electrical accident they are not to touch the vehicle.
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■ Paramedic Engine 14 is one of many pumpers built by KME purchased by the Eos Angeles County Fire Department.
According to Division Chief Fred Boehm, this particular engine responds to life-threatening calls in the district when a squad is not close by because of irregular boundaries. The engine provides either basic or advanced life support pending the arrival of an ambulance.
The pumper has a seat capacity of five and a 167-inch wheelbase. It has a Cummins 855/350-hp diesel engine and a Spicer Model SST-6 standard transmission.
Photo by Chuck Madderom
The unit has a Hale single-stage 1,500-gpm pump and a Hale CBP-4 250-gpm booster pump. The stainless-steel water tank holds 500 gallons. The unit also has pump and roll capability.
The pumper carries 1,000 feet of 4-inch hose and has two booster reels, a 1,000-gpm prepiped Stang monitor, and two transverse attack lines of 400 feet each. Eight compartments hold both medical and pumper equipment.
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■ The New Haven, Connecticut Fire Department recently received two tractor-drawn aerial ladder trucks from Seagrave Fire Apparatus. Captain Michael Grant of the training school says tillers are a necessity in neighborhoods that have narrow and congested streets.
The units feature the Seagrave Model JT tractor with four-door cab. Two 500-watt telescopic floodlights are mounted behind the cab. The units have a 155-inch tractor and a 294-inch trailer. The trailer has a closed tiller position and mounts a four-section steel 100-foot aerial ladder with hydraulic jack system.
Photo by Mike bakunis
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■ The Chesterton, Indiana Fire Department protects a rapidly expanding community of about 8,600 residents and covers about 25 square miles. It belongs to a 20-department mutual aid pact in Porter County. Ray Lawson, public information officer, says that Engine 58, the new Pierce Lance pumper, was purchased with a four-door, sixfirefighter cab to assure more safety and a hydraulic ladder rack to gain much needed compartment space.
The pumper features a Detroit 6V 92TA diesel engine and Allison HT 740 automatic transmission. It has a Waterous two-stage 1,250gpm pump and carries 750 gallons of water and a 50-gallon foam tank with a Feecon A.P.H. 1.5 “around the pump” proportional foam system.
since the pumper has been placed in service, a VHS video camera has been installed in the cab and has become a useful tool for reviewing fireground operations and rescue calls.
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■ Frenchtown Charter Township borders on the city of Monroe, Michigan and has highways 1-75 and M-24 passing through it. The town is about 44 square miles with a population of 20,000 and has both agricultural and urban areas plus a mall, a large retail store warehouse, and a nuclear power plant. Firefighter/EMT Richie Crawford explains the new pumper is equipped with a large water tank to service the rural area and is compartmented to carry rescue tools, which adds to the versatility of the unit.
The Darley pumper is mounted on a Spartan Gladiator with a Cummins L-10, 300-hp diesel engine and Allison MT 647 automatic transmission. It has a Darley LDM 1,250-gpm, single-stage pump and a side panel with a stainless-steel flip-down gauge panel for easy access. The polypropylene water tank holds 1,000 gallons.
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■ The Van Buren, Arkansas Fire Department serves a population of 14,000, with 23 paid firefighters working out of two stations. Fire Chief Jerry DeGraw explains that he normally sends two apparatus to an alarm with a small combined crew of five to seven personnel. The department was in need of a new pumper both to protect the city and to work with a neighboring county when needed.
The new pumper, by Wilson Fire Apparatus, Inc., is built on a Spartan Monarch chassis with a 176-inch wheelbase and a cab that seats five. The top-mount pump control gives the operator optimum visibility and a 750-gallon tank carries an extra margin of water, even though there are hydrants throughout the city, DeGraw says.
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