Fire Service Today
by C. Peter Jørgensen
A major milestone in fire apparatus manufacturing occurs this month when American LaFrance (ALF) holds the grand opening of its new 450,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and office complex in Summerville, S.C.
The dedication and ceremonies coincide with a celebration of the 175th anniversary of production by a company that traces its origins back to the manufacture of small hand-operated fire engines on the banks of King’s Canal in Waterford, N.Y.
Located about 20 miles from the South’s most historic city, Charleston, S.C., the new plant is right off Interstate 26 and within a couple of miles of the company’s former location in Ladson, S.C.
The state-of-the-art manufacturing plant results from the purchase of ALF in December 2005 by Lynn Tilton, an entrepreneur and veteran Wall Street investment banker who owns or controls more than 60 companies with $6 billion in assets.
After 10 years as a subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, and then Daimler Chrysler, ALF had little focus and a foggy future when Tilton stepped in.
She has not only built the most modern fire apparatus manufacturing plant in America, but she’s now poised to help ALF regain both market share and the industry leadership position it held for nearly 100 years.
The company has a long and storied history. In 1832, John F. Rogers started making hand-operated fire engines in New York. Truckson LaFrance set up a manufacturing plant in 1873 at Elmira, N.Y., acquiring Rogers’ successor companies.
By 1900, many storied names in fire apparatus history had come under one roof, including LaFrance, Silsby, Ahrens, Clapp & Jones, American, Manning, Rumsey, Gleason & Bailey, Holloway, Babcock and Macomber.
Two rear-mount 65-foot quints, built on Spartan cabs and chassis by Darley, were part of the order for Dalian, China. The company expanded its business in China substantially over the past several years and is completing a large order of apparatus in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics to be held in Beijing. (Darley Photo) |
These two custom W.S Darley pumpers on Spartan chassis that were recently shipped to Shanghai, China are similar to those ordered by the City of Beijing, host of the 2008 Summer Olympics. They have Darley 1500 gpm pumps with 25 cfm CAFS systems as well as 750 gallon tanks and stainless steel roll up doors. Darley has already delivered 15 pumpers, including quints with 65-ft sticks, to China and has another 18 CAFS equipped apparatus on order. International sales are being handled by Peter Darley who said the company has also delivered a quint with RK rear mount arial platformto China. (Darley Photo) |
Such a conglomerate just wasn’t working. In 1904, that consortium was reorganized, the unprofitable divisions were closed and the American LaFrance Fire Engine Company emerged, with stock issued to the public. The headquarters was in Elmira, N.Y., where it remained until the 1990s.
So, 175 years after the first engines were built not far from Elmira, the rejuvenated American LaFrance this month will dedicate the largest fire apparatus manufacturing plant under one roof in the world. (See you in Summerville, S.C., Oct. 19-20, and thanks to Walt McCall for historical insights on the company.)
W.S. Darley has an order to supply five compressed air foam system (CAFS) custom pumpers to the City of Beijing, China, which is beefing up its fire protection for the upcoming 2008 Summer Olympics.
Although the bid opening was early this summer, the contract calls for delivery in China by January, according to Peter Darley, who is in charge of international sales for the Chicago-based company.
“They want to have plenty of time to train on the CAFS units,” he said. The pumpers will have 1,500-gpm Darley pumps and be built on Spartan custom chassis.
Powered by Cummins ISL 330-hp diesels and carrying 750-gallon water tanks, the aluminum-body pumpers feature Darley’s 250-cfm compressor for the foam system.
Darley is not new to China or the Chinese market. Chairman Bill Darley made his first business trip there more than 20 years ago. The company has an office in Dalian, China and in the past few years has delivered 15 CAFS pumpers, as well as quints with 65-foot RK rear-mount sticks, plus three aerial platforms also equipped as quints.
Two quints have been put in service in Dalian. The City of Shanghai has received CAFS pumpers from Darley, as well as a special multi-agent attack unit built on an International chassis.
Darley isn’t the only company having success with sales to China, although it may be the largest with 15 CAFS engines and quints already delivered and another 18 on order for various cities.
Ferrara Fire Apparatus of Holden, La., recently sold two StrongArm aerial apparatus to Dalian City. The StrongArm is based a Ferrara cab and chassis with a Gradall Industries boom, and it can be used for everything from a wrecking arm to a crane.
According to Joel Domangue, aerial product manager for Ferrara, more than 25 members of the fire brigade in Dalian underwent a 5-day training period on the StrongArm this summer. The end of the arm features a 1,500-gpm rotating nozzle that discharges Class A foam through 52 multi-directional jets.
Another StrongArm is on order for Beijing, and one for the City of Shenzhen. They are built on Ferrara’s Inferno chassis.
Not to be left out of the Chinese market, Oshkosh Truck Corporation, parent company of Pierce Manufacturing, is building six Stryker aircraft rescue firefighting (ARFF) vehicles and two large snow-removal vehicles for the Beijing International Airport.
The combined bids are worth $6 million and came after a visit by Chinese officials to the Oshkosh facilities in Wisconsin. The Strykers can carry as much as 4,500 gallons of water.
Oshkosh is a major supplier to the U.S. military and is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, while Darley and Ferrara are both family-owned companies.
A welcome to Louis-Charles Devaleix, head of U.S. operations for Gimaex, the largest French maker of fire apparatus. The new headquarters is in Jupiter, Fla., and the company plans to be importing aerials, rescues, CAFS foam trucks and ARFF vehicles. Gimaex has offices and plants in more than 25 countries.