APPARATUS DELIVERIES
The Lake Ariel (PA) Fire Company uses this vehicle as its supply pumper in this nonhydrated, mixed-terrain area, located in southern Wayne County. The company protects an area of 180 square miles and a population of 5,000.
Administrative Officer Ken Conner explains that the pumper draws water from static supplies. It is built on a Ford F Model chassis powered by a Ford six-cylinder, diesel engine with a Spicer fivespeed standard transmission and Marmon-Herrington all-wheel-drive conversion.
Built by Honesdale Fire Equipment Company, the vehiele has a 170-inch wheelbase and mounts a 1,250-gpm, single-stage, American Godiva front-mounted pump; LDH discharges are angled downward, and the pump gear box is horizontally positioned. The special design reduces the height of the pump and connections for ease of operation and reduces the number of “turns” the water has to make, according to Conner. A special four-inch discharge manifold is featured with two four-inch side discharges, one behind each side of the front bumper. The pumper carries one-half mile of five-inch hose, six-inch PVC suction hose, and other rural water supply equipment.
Circle No. 20 on Reader Service Card
Litchfield, New Hampshire, a town with a population of 5,500, is in the south-central part of the state. The rural/suburban agricultural town borders Manchester, the state’s largest city. The Merrimack River runs through the length of the 14-square-mile town. Rescue boats can be launched from only two areas along the river, but geology prevents any access for drafting water. About 40 percent of the town has a water system, which is slowly expanding as construction progresses, according to Chief Brent Lemire. A mobile water supply is needed to protect the remainder of the town.
Engine 3, featured here, is part of a structured apparatus replacement program. It was constructed from a 1970 tractor and a 5.500gallon 1956 tank trailer, which used to earnoil, and had a 1945 irrigation unit for a pump. The older tanker was breaking down, was difficult to maneuver in tight situations, and could be driven only by the five firefighters qualified to drive it. The tanker/pumper is built by KME on a Mack R Model chassis and is powered by a Mack Model 300-hp, diesel engine with an Allison. HT-740 automatic transmission. It has a 236-inch wheelbase and carries 2,500 gallons of water. Seven compartments are featured. The first of the four high side compartments is for SCBA storage; the other three each house a 1.250-gailon portable folding tank, which is unloaded from the rear.
The pump is a Hale single-stage, 1,250-gpm feeding, among other things, crosstrays for one 2 1/2-inch and two 1 ¾-inch attack lines. Two three-inch pipes feed a four-inch discharge on each side, and another feeds a 1,000-gpm, Akron Apollo deck gun. AFFF is supplied from a 60-gallon tank, utilizing a Feecon, 1.5, around-the-pump foam proportioner.
Other features include a 2 1/2-inch rear intake; a 10-inch Newton dump valve; 800 feet of four-inch hose; a 2.2-kw gasoline-driven, portable Honda generator; two rear-mounted scene lights; and two top-mounted Federal Night-Fighter spot/floodlights. Dead space fore and aft of the rear axles has four sleeves for spare SCBA cylinders.
Circle No. 21 on Reader Service Card
Fire District No. 6 of Crawford County, Van Buren, Arkansas, operates this pumper to help cover the rural area between the city limits of Alma and Van Buren south of Interstate Highway 40 to the Arkansas River. Hie district, according to Chief Jim Sullivent, has 19 hydrants in its sixsquare-mile area of mostly flat land at elevations of between 450 and 500 feet. Each hydrant has two 2 ½-inch discharges and is fed by sixinch mains. Sullivent says the pumper, with its 1,000-gallon water tank, a larger 4,000-gallon tractor-drawn tanker, and another 1,000-gallon tanker, provides the best possible protection for the small amount of grassland and number of residents of the district.
The unit, built by Wilson Fire Apparatus, Inc., is mounted on a GMC Topkick chassis with seating for three. The pump is a Hale Model QSG single-stage, l.OOO-gpm with side intakes only. A crosstray located on the body behind the cab is set up for two 1 Viinch attack lines.
The water tank is made of fiberglass, and the apparatus body has eight tool and equipment compartments (four low side, three high side on left, and one rear above the rear step). The pumper carries an 1,800-watt, gasoline-driven generator.
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The City of Orem, Utah, has a Public Safety Department that serves a population of 70,000. The Fire Division consists of 30 firefighters cross-trained as paramedics and police officers. Fire Chief Gary Wise consulted with personnel on this replacement for a 1973 pumper.
Engineer Brent Chynoweth explains that the Pierce Arrow fourdoor pumper with aluminum cab and body was designed for the salted winter roads of Utah. The 1,500-gpm, single-stage, Waterous pump has stainless steel piping (to combat water corrosion) and aluminum wheels. All running boards are spaced one-half inch from the body, for drainage and cleanup.
Crew safety was a major priority, according to Chynoweth. The five-firefighter cab is padded for sound absorption. Air horns arc recessed in the front bumper to reduce noise in the cab. The 450-hp Detroit diesel engine is electronically controlled and equipped with a Jacobs engine brake and Rockwell disc brakes on all four wheels, to maximize stopping efficiency. For added comfort, Isringhausen seats were installed. To minimize back injuries from awkward lifting, a hydraulic ladder rack is featured in the right side.
The unit carries 700 gallons of water and a full complement of hose, including 1 ¾-inch attack lines. Two (100 and 150 feet in length) are in midship crosstrays, and two more (200 and 250 feet in length) are accessible from the rear.
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The Schuyler Heights (NY) Fire District serves a population of 2,500 and is one of the districts in the town of Colonic (population 75,000). Truck Chairman Charles F. House explains that the quint was purchased to replace a 1970 vintage 85-foot aerial. The truck is designed to meet the fire protection needs of the area’s industrial locations and of the new, large homes planned for construction; they will be set back from the roads.
To meet the challenge, the district has in service a unit built by Simon-Duplex-LTI on a Spartan Gladiator tilt-cab chassis; its wheelbase is 256 inches. The four-door cab has seating for 10.
The 110-foot aerial ladder provides increased horizontal reach for the set-back buildings. The ladder has a prepiped five-inch waterway, which eventually tapers to 3½ inches at the tip. An Akron Gemini electric monitor equipped with a Task Force Tip is featured on the end of the aerial. The outrigger spread for the aerial ladder is 16 feet.
The pump is a Hale, two-stage, 1,500-gpm, which can feed the ladder pipe directly. A four-inch rear intake can feed the ladder pipe independently of the pump. The pump supplies two lVe-inch preconnected attack lines (one, 150 feet and the other, 200 feet) set up in crosstrays. A booster reel with 200 feet of 1 ‘/2-inch rubber hose is also provided and mounted midship. The truck carries 300 gallons of water and 700 feet of five-inch supply line. Other features include a retractable 1 1/2-inch gate valve at the tip of the monitor, allowing the monitor to be lowered to the base-fly section.
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The Fire Department of the City of New York (NY) is operating four of these Model RA-110 aerials from Seagrave Fire Apparatus. Battalion Chief John Morello explains that the aerials were purchased for several reasons, including the need to conform with NFPA recommendations for a heavier ladder and to have a longer reach to better cope with setbacks. Ladder 4, located in mid-Manhattan, for example, has many high-rise buildings in its district. Due to codes that call for more space for light and air movement allowance, such buildings are set back farther from the street, posing a problem with reach due to the obstructions from parked vehicles, etc.
Aside from high~rises, Ladder 165, located in the borough of Queens and one of the busiest ladder companies in FDNY, has setback private homes with which to contend; the 110-foot aerial provides the extra reach needed.
The trucks have a 247-inch wheelbase and a 16-foot outrigger spread. They are mounted on the four-door Model LP chassis, with seating for seven. These low-profile units have the ground ladders mounted flat, a change from a previous order that specified 100-foot units built with a higher cab and with the ladders mounted on the edge. To enhance on-scene lighting, a McDermott FD-3 telescoping spot/floodlight is mounted on each side of the vehicle. Detroit 6V92TA diesel engines with Allison Model HTB-741 automatic transmissions with tailshaft retarders power the trucks. (Photo by John M. Malecky.)
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