Two years ago, the Carthage Fire Department added a second station to its fire protection district, necessitating an additional engine that the department wanted to set up as a rescue-pumper. The department had purchased a pumper from Ferrara Fire Apparatus in 2012, and it decided to go back to Ferrara for a new pumper for its fleet.
Ryan Huntley, Carthage Fire Department’s chief, says the department has 26 paid full-time firefighters that cover the city of Carthage and a rural area totaling 165 square miles, running about 2,100 calls a year. “Station 1 was built in 1980 on the north end of the city, and the new rig is now first out at that station,” Huntley says. “Our second station is on the south end of the city, where we run the 2012 Ferrara pumper. Our coverage area includes a dynamite plant, a crushed limestone mining company, and a lot of commercial and residential structures surrounded by highways, where we see a lot of motor vehicle accidents (MVAs).”
The rescue-pumper that Ferrara built for Carthage is on a Ferrara Cinder chassis and cab with a rescue-style body and high side compartments on both sides, says Jim Stover, regional sales manager for Ferrara. Wheelbase on the rescue-pumper is 188 inches, overall length is 32 feet 7-1/4 inches, and overall height is 9 feet 5-1/4 inches.
Scott Shelton, owner of Fire Master Fire Equipment, who sold the rescue-pumper to Carthage, notes that the rig is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, and carries a 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) Waterous CSU pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 20-gallon foam tank, and an Akron Brass Company 95-gpm foam eductor system. “It has the Ferrara rescue-style body with high side compartments on both sides of the body,” Shelton points out, “and covered ladder storage from a rear compartment that holds a two-section 24-foot extension ladder, a 14-foot roof ladder, a 10-foot attic ladder, two 10-foot-by-6-inch lengths of hard suction hose, and two pike pole tubes.”
Huntley adds that the rescue-pumper has air bags in a compartment on the left side of the rig, and Hurst Jaws of Life eDraulic battery-powered hydraulic tools in the L3 compartment, along with a battery-powered positive pressure ventilation (PPV) fan. “We have three cross lays above the pump house,” he says, “two of 150 feet of 1-3/4-inch hose, and one 200-foot 1-3/4-inch cross lay, two 2-1/2-inch discharges on the left side of the pump panel, and one 2-1/2-inch discharge on the right.”
Huntley continues, “In our extended front bumper, we have a 1-3/4-inch jump line, and preconnected off the hose bed we have 200 feet of 2-1/2-inch hose with a Task Force Tips Blitzfire nozzle. The hose bed holds 1,000 feet of 4-inch large diameter hose (LDH), and 400 feet of 2-1/2-inch dead lay.”
Lighting on the rescue-pumper, Stover says, includes Whelen LED warning lights, brow light, 72-inch Freedom IV bar light, four M6 scene lights, and two telescoping lights at the back of the cab. Above each side of the rear wheel wells are compartments for double air bottles for a total storage of eight bottles.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Ariz.-based journalist, the author of three novels and five non-fiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial advisory board. He served 22 years with Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including the position of chief.
