APPARATUS DELIVERIES
The Pittsburgh (PA) Bureau of Fire protects an area of 55 square miles with a population of about 400,000 residents. The Bureau, whose active fleet consists of 33 engines, 11 trucks, and one haz-mat unit, has placed four quintuple combination units in service for use in suburban neighborhoods. These units are designated as engine companies and have ladder capabilities.
The quints are built by American LaFrance on Century 2000 chassis. They have wheelbases of 194 inches and four-door cabs with seating for seven. They are powered by Detroit 8V92TA, diesel engines with Allison HT-740 automatic transmissions. The quints each feature 10 tool and equipment compartments.
The vehicles each have a 1,500-gpm, two-stage, Hale pump supplying two five-inch, right-side discharges and two 2’/2-inch leftside discharges. Three 1 ¾-inch preconnected attack lines are in crosstravs behind the cab. A five-inch rear intake feeds two 2’/2-inch waterpipes in the 75-foot aerial ladder, terminating at a 1,000-gpm TFT nozzle at the top fly section. The outrigger spread for the steel aerial is 18 feet.
The units each carry 500 gallons of water and have 30-gallon tanks of aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF). Their hose load includes 1,000 feet of five-inch hose.
Lighting is enhanced by three 500-watt telescoping quartz floodlights and a diesel-driven, five-kw, Onan generator. (Photo by James Doran.)
Circle No. 1 on Reader Service Card
■ The Wentzville (MO) Fire Protection District of western Saint Charles County operates two pumpers like the one shown. It is the second largest district in the county and covers 88 square miles ranging from rural to city to industrial areas. About half the district has hydrants.
Firefighter/EMT Michael Scott says that when designing the pumpers, the district took into account the changing needs of the community during the past five to 10 years and future needs. The hydrant system is gradually growing to protect more of the rural areas, which house a large percentage of the population. Building and population growth are also taking place in the industrial/commercial and new residential areas. The main industrial area surrounds the General Motors assembly plant.
APPARATUS DELIVERIES
The stainless-steel pumpers, built by Seagrave, have 194-inch wheelbases and carry 1,000 gallons of water, suitable for covering rural and city areas. A 40-gallon foam tank and positive-pressure exhaust fans also are carried.
The pumps are Waterous Model CSU single-stage, 1,500-gpm with a 4 ½-inch front intake. Six 2’/2-inch and one three-inch discharges are around the vehicle; two 1¾-jnch crosslays are behind the cab;
and a ¼-inch “jiffy line.” for use in car fires, is on the rear. The unit has 1,500 feet of three-inch hose. A three-inch prepiped Akron 1,000gpm, heavy-stream appliance with portable base is carried above the pump.
The pumpers have 10 tool and equipment compartments and mount six-kw Onan diesel generators and two 500-watt quartz Telelites. They have the “J” model four-door cab, which seats six. (Photo by Dennis J. Maag.)
Circle No. 2 on Reader Service Card
■ The Burlingame (KS) Fire Department serves the town and two adjoining townships, protecting a total population of 3,200 within 110 square miles. The area protected consists of light business, a municipal power plant, schools, a nursing home, a retirement complex, a large grain elevator, eight miles of railroad, and 14 miles of the Kansas Turnpike. The rest of the area is rural, with farms and gravel roads.
Chief Jim Strohm explains that the deparment provides firstresponder and light rescue services in addition to fire protection, and | wanted to replace its 1962 vintage pumper with one with abundant ! compartment space, a large water tank, ease of operation, and ! maneuverability.
The new pumper is built by Pierce on a Ford F-800 chassis. It has a 190-inch wheelbase and features a Waterous, single-stage, 1,000-gpm pump and carries 1,000 gallons of water. A front intake is preconnected to 30 feet of soft suction hose in an extended bumper, to keep narrow roads open for tanker traffic. Two 2 ‘/2-inch discharges are at the rear, relieving some congestion from the pump panel area. A 10inch rear dump valve allows the pumper to be used as a tanker, if necessary.
The vehicle carries two lH-inch attack lines in crosstrays and a 1 ½-inch line off the back for car fires. The booster reel has an airline plumbed from the air-brake system, allowing the booster line to be purged at the scene in freezing weather. A chuck in the rear of the vehicle powers air tools and a 110-volt, three-kw, direct-drive generator powers two 500-watt telescoping floodlights on top of the vehicle plus two outlets at the rear (Photo by retired Chief Tom Oliver.)
Circle No. 3 on Reader Service Card
■ In Missouri, the Cedar Hill Fire Protection District operates this 3.000-gallon tanker built by S & S Fire Apparatus.
According to Chief Terry C. Soer, the tanker was designed to handle some 82 square miles of mostly rural area. The tanker can be handled by one person; it can be driven alongside a portable tank(s), dump its water from the side dump valves, and be driven away. It also has doubled the department’s initial tanker response to 3,000 gallons.
The stainless steel unit is mounted on a Ford model I.-9000 chassis. It has a Caterpillar, model 3406 diesel engine and a nine-speed, Eaton Fuller standard transmission.
The tanker has a Hale model FD-40, single-stage, 450-gpm pump featuring two rear 2’/2-inch intakes and two side intakes. A crosstray carries one preconnected 1 ¾-inch attack line. At the rear is a gravity, 10-inch butterfly dump valve, and an eight-inch air-assisted dump valve is operated from each side of the cab.
The vehicle has a 253-inch wheelbase, features four equipment compartments in the body, and carries 500 feet of three-inch hose next to the attack line and a 3,000-gallon Porta-Tank on a fold-down rack. (Photos by Dennis J. Maag.)
Circle No. 4 on Reader Service Cord
■ In California, the City of American Canyon Fire Department protects about 30 square miles of contracted area, including 7.5 miles of the city (population 9,000) and Napa County Airport.
According to Chief Keith Caldwell, “Rescue 11” is technically an air-light-support and heavy rescue unit and was sorely needed to provide personnel at structural fires and multiple-casualty scenes without depleting rolling stock from the station. It also provides mobile storage for critical equipment previously dry-stored at the station. It presently is part of the county’s interagency haz-mat incident team and responds as a primary unit.
The truck, built by Paoletti on an International 4900 chassis, has a four-door cab and seating for six. It has a 225-inch wheelbase, eight equipment compartments in the body, and rollup doors and pullout trays. It is powered by an International DT-466 diesel engine with an Allison MT-641 automatic transmission.
Features of Rescue 11 include a nine-kw Kohler diesel generator and 500-watt, Kwik-Raze. telescoping floodlights (the rear two have tripods). (Photo by Ray Van Eck.)
Circle No. 5 on Reader Service Card
■ Bridgehampton is a resort community on Long Island, New York. According to Fire Chief Peter S. Hopping, the fire department specified four-wheel drive when planning this custom rescue truck, to negotiate soft ground in new construction areas and to handle incidents in existing structures located in backwooded and beach areas, where sand can be an obstacle. Many of these structures can be reached only via narrow’, soft-ground roads.
The rescue truck is built by Marion Body Works and is mounted on an FWD-Seagravc “J” model chassis with four-wheel drive. It has a 1 “2-inch wheelbase and is powered by a Detroit, 6V 92TA, diesel engine with an Allison. HT-740D, automatic transmission.
The unit’s versatility is expanded by a Hale model 40FD. 400-gpm, single-stage pump and 400-gallon water tank. An Akron foam system with a 20-gallon foam tank is featured. Attack lines consist of 150 feet of lVi-inch hose and a reel for high-pressure booster operation.
The rescue body has 10 compartments: the lower rear one has a rollout tray. In the front bumper is a six-ton Warn electric winch.
Circle No. 6 on Reader Service Card
