August 2007
Special Delivery
By Tony Lolli
Macomb Township Sticks With Proven Sutphen Pumpers
When you find something that works well, buy more than one. That’s what the Macomb (Mich.) Township Fire Department did.
The department had a pair of 2005 Sutphen engines, and fire officials liked them so much they bought two more this year, 2007 models. The engines were delivered in late March and went into service on May 21. The Sutphens, at a cost of $369,000 each, replaced two 1990 engines.
New Fire Stations
MTFD needed the apparatus for two new fire stations it added as part of the township’s master plan. Station 3 opened in December 2005, and Station 4 opened in April 2006. Station 5 is in the planning stage now.
“Macomb Township, 20 miles north of Detroit, has been the fastest growing area in Michigan for the past 10 years,” said Fire Chief Robert Phillips. “It’s close to automotive factories and supplier companies. Macomb has grown as people move out of the urban Detroit areas and into the country.”
The majority of the town’s growth has been in residential development, increasing the population in 10 years from 15,000 to 80,000, according to Phillips. New home building permits are averaging about 2,000 each year, he said, and it is anticipated the population of 36-square-mile Macomb Township could grow to 140,000.
As for the fire department, according to Township Supervisor John Brennan, Station 1 will be rebuilt and serve as headquarters and each of the other stations will be located within 1.5 miles of headquarters.
In addition, he said, bids are being sought for a new training tower to be built near Station 3 this fall. The estimated cost of the tower is about $600,000, not including site work.
“The township knows the importance of fire protection,” Brennan said, “and I don’t recall, in the past 20 years that I’ve been here, that the township has refused a request from the fire department.”
Previous service weighed heavily on what to buy for additional apparatus and where to buy it.
Terrific Service
“When it came time to equip stations 3 and 4, we went with Sutphens because we had such great performance from the two we bought in 2005,” said Chief Phillips. “In addition, Apollo Fire Equipment is in nearby Romeo, and owner Bob Konupek is a resident of Macomb. Whether or not that explains the terrific service we’ve received from Apollo, we went back to them for our most recent purchases. Serviceability was the biggest factor in our decision of where to make these purchases.”
The efficiency of the Sutphens was reinforced a few months ago at a trailer park fire, according to Captain Richard Koss. “The winds were up to 45 miles per hour,” he said. “Two structures were lost, but another five sustained only exterior damage. The master streams from two deck guns knocked the fire down quickly and prevented further loss of property. In the time it takes to get from the driver’s seat to the pump panel, you can be moving water.”
With residential growth comes the need for other services. Within the township, a new medical center opened in April of this year, and a second $23 million medical facility was scheduled to open this summer. To keep pace with the rapid growth of the town, fire officials make sure they are familiar with such facilities as they are built.
“Patient safety is on the front burner for the medical profession,” said Gail Toner, medical building manager of the Beaumont Medical Center in Macomb, a 108,000-square-foot facility. “We’re happy to say the Macomb Fire Department is being proactive. For example, they attended our open house to learn where everything is located in the medical center and how to access it. They dedicated an entire evening and a morning to learning how to get to everything in the building.”
Regarding the need for new equipment in the fire department, Chief Phillips said, “The Township Board has always been receptive to our requests. There’s not much we need that they have not provided. For example, we have Panasonic Toughbook laptop computers, with wireless capability, in all of our engines, heavy rescue and inspector vehicles.”
He said the two 2005 Sutphens worked so well for the department that the only big change made for the 2007 apparatus order was to add a flush brow mount scene light. “Sutphen installed the compartment plywood and that made mounting tools easier for us,” he said. “We also wired the rear rollup compartment with power so we can store our extrication equipment back there and added some plugs on the exterior of the unit.”
The effect of fire protection on insurance rates is something that concerns Phillips. Insurance Services Office, a company known as ISO, collects information on municipal fire departments to help establish fire insurance premiums for residential and commercial properties. ISO uses a Public Protection Classification rating system from 1 to 10. Class 1 represents exemplary public protection, and Class 10 indicates the area’s fire-suppression program does not meet ISO’s minimum criteria.
“Our ISO rating is now a 5 and we have asked for a review because Stations 4 and 5 have gone in service since out last review,” Phillips said. “This is important for the growth in commercial areas such as the large number of new car dealers that have come to Macomb.”
Bob Konupek, owner of Apollo Fire Equipment Company, in Romeo, Mich., was the sales representative.
For information call 800-848-5860 or go to www.sutphen.com.
Macomb (Mich.) Township Fire Department recently purchased two Sutphen pumpers to replace two 1990 engines. They were both sold by Apollo Fire Equipment, Romeo, Mich.
(Fire Apparatus Photo by Richard Story)
Dimensions
• 200-inch wheelbase
• 10 feet 1 inch travel height
• 33 feet 4 inch travel length
Chassis
• 18,000-pound front axle
• 24,000-pound rear axle
• 450 hp Cummins ISM diesel engine
• Allison 4000EVS transmission
Pumping Features
• Hale Qmax 1,500 gpm single-stage pump
• Top-mount pump panel by Hale
• 300-gallon UPF tank
• Akron Brass 3433 Apollo Hi-Riser Dual Inlet Monitor
• Akron Brass 1755 nozzle
• 750 gallon poly tank by United
Plastic Fabricating
• Williams ATP 500 Foam System
• 20-gallon Class A foam cell
• 30-gallon Class B foam cell
• Front trash line for 1.5-inch line with 2-inch piping
Other Features
• 6 seats, 5 are H.O.Bostrom Tanker 450 SCBA seats
• SmartPower 10,000-watt hydraulic generator
• 4 150-watt scene lights
• Code 3 MX 7000 upper warning light bar
• Code 3 MX 7 18 A1 side lights, 2 on each side
• Fire Research FCA850 flush brow mount light