The Terryville Fire Department, located in Suffolk County, Long Island, 60 miles east of New York City, provides fire protection and emergency services to the hamlets of Terryville and Port Jefferson Station.
There are three stations; a staff of more than 100 volunteer members; and a fleet of apparatus that consists of four engines, one tower ladder, one heavy rescue, four advanced life support-equipped ambulances, two brush trucks, a medical first responder, and several support vehicles.
Last year, the Terryville Fire Department responded to more than 3,400 incidents. The area of protection is approximately 8 square miles with 25,000 residences; several commercial areas with numerous strip shopping centers; auto dealerships; schools; and heavily traveled roads such as Route 347, Route 112, and Route 25A.
When the need to replace an aging 1980 Mack/Saulsbury rescue truck came about, the members of the truck committee pitched an idea to the fire commissioners to look into a PUC rescue pumper.
“The commissioners originally looked into purchasing a quint for the department and having rescue tools placed on that apparatus,” says Captain Mike Russo. “We had definitely outgrown our older heavy rescue and needed additional space for new tools and also wanted to make sure we had added space for future growth.”
Russo says the department started working on the specifications for the new truck more than a year and a half ago with its chiefs and commissioners looking at al the local, new deliveries on Long Island.
Eventually, the department settled on a modified design of a rig that had been delivered to Burlington, CT, Russo says, noting the department turned it into a “Mega PUC.”
“We designed it with a longer cab and added extra-large compartments to hold more equipment for our future use,” Russo says. “We also put a 750-gallon tank on the vehicle, which is large for a rescue-style pumper.”
The new engine was designed to be the first-due apparatus for all motor vehicle crashes and second due for all structure fires, Russo says, noting the pumper is “equipped to handle just about any type of response.”
It carries two crosslays, one with 250 feet of 1¾-inch hose and one with 300 feet of 2½-inch hose. The rear hosebed carries 300 feet of 1¾-inch hose, 500 feet of 3-inch hose, and 1,000 feet of 5-inch hose.
The department decided not to buy a built-in generator, as the new engine has a 12-volt system that handles power needs, including a Will-Burt light mast, Russo says, adding that the truck carries Hurst eDraulic rescue tools, battery-powered fans, battery-powered DeWalt hand tools, impact drills, and saws.
The new rig also has an electric winch with four receiver points covering all four sides of the apparatus and carries forcible entry tools, pike poles, and a rapid intervention team setup.
“We made the pump panel compartment a chauffeur’s compartment to carry the pump operator’s gear,” Russo says. “All of the fittings and hand tools are carried in the drawers.”
Russo adds the department ordered a Darley 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) single-stage pump.
1 2021 Pierce PUC Enforcer rescue pumper. (Photos by author.)
2 Saw compartments with slide-out shelves.
3 RIT compartment, pump panel with chauffeur’s compartment with drawers, battery-powered fans, and forcible entry tools.
Terryville 2021 Pierce PUC Enforcer Rescue Pumper
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“The Darley pump has been getting a great deal of attention lately around the United States, and we thought it was a good idea to have one installed on the new rescue pumper,” he said.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Terryville truck committee couldn’t travel to the Pierce factory in Appleton, WI, to see the construction progress on the new apparatus, Russo says. However, the local dealer, Firematic, with the assistance of Pierce, provided weekly updates on the build with photos and Zoom meetings, he says.
“The vehicle came out exactly as expected, and we are happy with the build and dealing with our salesman and the local dealer Firematic,” Russo says. “Service throughout the whole process went well. It came out exactly as we expected.”
4 Powered tools, extinguishers, battery-powered hand tools, and saws.
The Terryville Fire Department planned well for this unique purchase. Like most departments around the country with diminished staffing issues, purchasing a dual-purpose vehicle to cover several facets of firefighting and rescue tasks with one vehicle seems to be the way to go.
The committee members ordered a larger cab for firefighter safety, larger compartments for present and future tool use, and a Darley single-stage pump for operations. They also didn’t have to install a generator, since all their scene lighting and battery-powered tools work off a 12-volt system that was installed. In addition, all of their emergency response lighting installed on the rig is LED, which draws little power off the batteries.
Think about your response district and what it encompasses. What are your needs now and for the future? Are your compartments large enough to carry the tools you presently have? Have you designed the compartments to carry additional tools you may want to carry for the future?
Have the local dealer, if possible, mount your tools in specific ways to maximize space and give you additional room.
It seems Terryville firefighters checked off all those boxes and have a rescue pumper that they can use now and for the foreseeable future in their fire district.
BOB VACCARO has more than 40 years of fire service experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (NY) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol, and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life member of the IAFC.
