Pleasant Square (NY) Volunteer Fire Company is one of five fire departments in the Town of Johnstown, Fulton County, in northern New York at the base of the Adirondack Mountains. Pleasant Square is a hamlet in the town, and the fire company was founded in 1950 to protect the six-square mile residential fire district with a population of about a thousand year-round residents.
Anthony Mendetta, currently president and assistant chief of the volunteer fire company and former fire chief, says the company’s protection area includes State Route 30A running through town, and that the company gives a lot of mutual-aid assistance to four adjacent fire departments. “We have one station and 40 volunteer firefighters, about 25 of whom are on the active rolls,” says Mendetta. “Our other apparatus includes a 2008 Freightliner tanker with a Waterous 1,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump and a 1,500-gallon water tank, a 2002 Ford F-550 mini-pumper with a Darley 250-gpm pump and 500-gallon water tank, and a 2005 Ford F-550 brush truck with a Kimtek skid unit and a 300-gallon water tank.”
Mendetta points out the fire company replaced a 1989 Central States engine with a 1,250-gpm pump and 1,000-gallon water tank that it sold to a fire department in Tennessee that lost its fire station to an arsonist. “We then bought a pumper on International chassis and cab with a fiberglass body, a rear-mount 1,250-gpm pump and a 2,000-gallon water tank, but were not happy with it so we replaced the body and tank with a polypropylene unit, but still were not satisfied, so we stared looking for a brand new unit.”
Pleasant Square’s truck committee investigated units built by Fort Garry Fire Trucks, Rosenbauer, KME and Toyne, and eventually chose a pumper-tanker built by Fort Garry, Mendetta notes.
Philip Vander Molen, the owner and president of Vander Molen Fire Apparatus Sales and Service, who sold the pumper-tanker to Pleasant Square, says the vehicle is built on a Freightliner M2 112 chassis with anti-roll stability, and a four-door cab with seating for four firefighters, three of them in 911 Inc. SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) seats. Vander Molen notes the pumper-tanker has a 283-1/2-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 35 feet 8 inches, an overall height of 10 feet, a 14,700-pound front axle suspension, an 46,000-pound rear axle suspension, and a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating) of 60-700 pounds, powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
Vander Molen adds that full-framed extruded 5083 saltwater marine-grad aluminum body and pump house is undercoated and fully encapsulated with CoraShield to resist corrosion, while the chassis is coated with Waxoyl, a paraffin wax and mineral oil base mixture undercoating that prevents corrosion on the frame rails. “Also the body is spring mounted so it flexes independently of the chassis,” he says, “and the vehicle has all stainless steel plumbing.”
Rob Pike, corporate service manager for Fort Garry Fire Trucks, notes that the Pleasant Square pumper-tanker, “provides everything on a hefty scale on any fire scene. The rig has a Hale 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm) DSD pump, and a 2,500-gallon polypropylene water tank.” He points out the rig has two 1-3/4-inch hose speed lays, one 2-1/2-inch hose cross lay, a 2-1/2-inch pre-connect at the rear of the truck, a 4-inch tank to pump inlet, a 4-inch Fireman’s Friend direct tank fill and a Newton 10-inch stainless steel dump valve at the rear, and a hose bed that holds 1,500 feet of 5-inch LDH (large diameter hose.)
Pike adds the pumper-tanker is outfitted with adjustable shelving, pull-out trays, equipment brackets, and peg boards to secure equipment in a functional layout. “The pumper-tanker has through-tank storage for a 35-foot, 3-section extension ladder, a 14-foot roof ladder, a 10-foot attic ladder, and two 6-inch by 10-foot hard suction hose lengths,” he says.
Lighting on the rig includes Whelen LED emergency lighting and scene lights, FRC Spectra telescopic LED lights, and 48-inch FRC Crest lights at the upper cab sides.
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.
