Rural Chief Pleased With American LaFrance Wildland FasTak

By Tony Lolli

The American LaFrance Wildland FasTak is described by the company as, “an ideal responder for challenging terrain as well as suburban and urban needs, bringing ‘big pumper’ capabilities to the scene in a compact vehicle.”

The Sterling Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD) in rural eastern Connecticut acquired one of those units early this year with funding from a federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) to replace a 30-year-old Dodge Power Wagon.

It was the department’s first AFG application, and while Sterling didn’t get everything it wanted on the apparatus, First Assistant Chief Brian Glaude said he’s very pleased with the purchase of what he describes as a fast attack vehicle that can do so much more than the Dodge.

The FasTak was designed to meet a variety of needs. As a brush truck, it will respond, with foam capability, to brush fires in SVFD’s coverage area. The front bumper-mounted turret will enable a single firefighter, when necessary, to begin to knock down brush fires until additional people arrive.

It will also be used as an attack vehicle for calls such as house fires, according to Glaude, and can be driven by firefighters who don’t have a commercial driver’s license. The FasTak weighs in at less than 26,000 pounds, so a CDL is not required. One compartment was designed for medical rescue equipment because it will be among the first vehicles to respond to a call, again, because the driver does not require a CDL license.

Glaude said the Dodge was primarily a forestry vehicle. It carried only one booster hose, had a 250-gallon-per-minute pump, no foam capability, no turret and no medical capability. Being two-wheel drive, he said its effectiveness was diminished in winter conditions, and it had no towing ability.

The new four-wheel-drive unit cost $163,850 and is intended to be a first responder light rescue vehicle in addition to a brush truck and attack apparatus. At SVFD the FasTak complements a 2003 Marion heavy rescue vehicle, 1993 KME pumper and a 1991 Sutphen 65-foot mid-mount aerial.

One advantage of the FasTak is its size, according to Glaude, because it can be more easily maneuvered over small residential driveways than the Marion. And, he said, the FasTak’s four-wheel drive extends its usefulness in rugged terrain and winter conditions.

The Sterling (Conn.) Volunteer Fire Department has put in service an American LaFrance FasTak 4x4 brush truck and attack vehicle built on a General Motors C5500 cab and chassis.          (American LaFrance Photo)

SVFD has a service area of approximately 37 square miles. Located less than a mile from the state border with Rhode Island, the town has approximately 3,500 residents. Much of the surrounding area is rural state property, and some of it is state forest. There are approximately 20 members in the department and, interestingly for a small town, there is a sister department, the Oneco Volunteer Fire Department, also with about 20 members.

Sterling has a small downtown, a new school and a small industrial park. One occupant of the industrial park is a tire burning electric-generating plant that has been the site of three fires in the recent past. Two were fires inside the hopper that feeds shredded tires to the burner, and one fire started in an outside pile of shredded tires.

“It would have been nice to have foam back then, but having it now makes us more effective for this kind of call as well as for brush fires,” said Glaude.

Sharon L. Chviek, the director of Sterling’s Economic Development Office, said, “Fire service is an important consideration for companies thinking about moving into our industrial park.” 

A Shot In The Dark

The primary funding source for the FasTak was the AFG program administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

SVFD had no previous experience with grant writing. Glaude said he and Chief Bruce Linderg were successful because they answered the grant application questions directly and did not include extraneous information.

“We thought that since the reviewers had to read hundreds of these grants, we’d help them, and ourselves, by giving them only the information they asked for,” he said. The successful grant required an additional five percent funding to be provided by the department. Sterling’s Fire District Board approved the expenditure in support of the grant.

 Board President Peter Capobianco said, “We all thought the grant was a shot in the dark, but we really needed a new truck…Without this grant we would not have been able to afford a truck as nice as this one.”

After receiving grant approval, Glaude said SVFD officials talked with several manufacturers. “American LaFrance did the best job of meeting our needs considering our budget,” he said.

The FasTak is built on a General Motors chassis and has a gross vehicle weight rating of 19,500 pounds. The vehicle was received on Jan. 5 and became operational on March 5.

Of particular interest is the front bumper-mounted Akron Brass Company’s model 3463 FireFox turret. It is piped to 1.5-inch discharge and has a 125 to 350-gpm rating. “We often respond to brush fires so this turret means even if the first firefighter is alone, he can be effective,” said Glaude.

The turret is controlled by the driver from his seat in the truck. Turret manipulations are accomplished with a joystick located on the center console next to the driver’s seat. The driver also can control pump and foam options from his seat.

The FasTak is powered by a GM Duramax 300 hp diesel engine. It is matched with an Allison 1000 Series automatic transmission. A Fire Research ThrottleXcel engine monitor shows engine rpm, pump pressure, oil pressure, voltage and coolant temperature. The front axle rating is 7,000 pounds while the rear rating is 13,500. Overall dimensions are: 8 feet, 3-1/4 inches high; 22 feet, 8-3/4 inches long; and 8 feet wide. The wheelbase is 152-7/8 inches. A Winco portable generator is permanently mounted and produces 6,000 watts.

A Hale 500 gpm pump draws from a 270-gallon polypropylene tank. It is partnered with a Hale Foam Logix 2.1, Class A proportioning unit with a Class 1 flow sensor. A 30-gallon foam tank is integrated with the water tank. Four of the FasTak’s six discharges are foam compatible. A 4-inch Akron tank-to-pump valve is electronically operated. The apparatus has a Hale Class 1 Es-Key electrical management system and an electronic relief valve system that can be reset.

Lightweight Booster Hose

The vehicle carries: 250 feet of 1.75-inch hose; 300 feet of 1.5-inch forestry line; 150 feet of 2.5-inch line, and a pair of reels each carrying 220 feet of Niedner REELTEX 1-inch lightweight booster hose.

“After recently carrying standard weight booster hose up a steep hillside,” Glaude said, “we decided the lightweight booster hose was the way to go.”

Lighting includes two 750-watt, 120volt, telescoping scene lights by Fire Research and six 7E Series Opti-Scene lights by Whelen, as well as a Whelen 10 LED Edge light bar was installed.

The enclosed body has 270 cubic feet of storage with the compartments dedicated by function. The rear of the truck body has a tailgated open storage section of about 2 by 3 feet where backpacks and hydrant hose are stored.

A few features are especially appreciated by SVFD, Glaude said. The ground clearance is nearly 26 inches, about twice what it was with the former unit. And the FasTak is diesel powered, preferred over the gas vehicle it replaced. In addition, he said, “The heavier gross vehicle weight rating means we can carry more equipment.”

Glaude said he had one wish that wasn’t fulfilled. “If there was one thing we would like to have been able to afford,” he said, “it would have been a compressed air foam system because it uses much less water and reduces potential water damage at house fires.”

When a search and rescue call comes in, the FasTak tows a trailer with a recently acquired 6-wheel all terrain/amphibious vehicle which has a 1,000-pound payload and an open dump body. The body holds a slide-in Medlite rescue unit made by Kimtek Corp. from Westmore, Vt. The Medlite has IV poles, a safety-belted rescuer’s seat, 9 cubic feet of enclosed storage and a flat area with Velcro ties for securing a long board or a stokes basket.

A couple of years ago, a hunter fell from a  tree and had to  be carried nearly a half mile to the nearest road. He would have been out much sooner if the department had the FasTak and ATV, Glaude said.

Jim Lyons was the sales representative for American LaFrance of Southern New England in East Hartford, Conn., who worked with SVFD.

For information call 860-289-0201 or go to www.americanlafrance.com.