Manufacturers are turning out beefed-up industrial pumpers and aerial ladders and platforms that can take on the potentially huge fires that threaten refineries, petroleum storage farms, chemical plants, and other high-risk locations.
Aaron Zak, fire suppression product specialist lead for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says that industrial apparatus sales at Pierce have been growing. “We have seen a big uptick in industrial sales, both in pumpers and aerials,” Zak observes. “Quite a few of the industrial pumpers we’ve recently built have either a Darley 2ZSM 5,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) or Darley ZSM 3,000-gpm pump on them or a Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump. When outfitted with the Darley 2ZSM pump, the pumpers are typically set up with either three or four 8-inch inlets.”
Zak points out that Pierce recently delivered an industrial pumper-tanker to Exxon Mobil Baytown Refinery in Houston, Texas, built on a Velocity® chassis with a four-door cab, a raised roof, and an enclosed top-mount pump panel and is powered by a Cummins 605-horsepower (hp) X15 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission. It also has TAK-4® independent front suspension and a spring rear suspension. The rig has a wheelbase of 183½ inches, an overall length of 41 feet 6½ inches, an overall height of 11 feet 8 inches, and a Command Zone™ electrical system and carries a Darley 2ZSM 5,500-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, a Husky ™ 450 industrial foam system, and a Task Force Tips Tsunami monitor with stacked straight tips.
He notes that Pierce also built a 100-foot heavy duty steel aerial platform for the Valero Houston (TX) Refinery on a Velocity chassis with a four-door cab powered by a 525-hp Detroit DD13 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission, with a spring rear suspension and TAK-4 independent front suspension. Wheelbase on the aerial platform is 267 inches, overall length is 47 feet 4¼ inches, and overall height is 12 feet 6 inches; the rig has a Command Zone electrical system, a Darley ZSM 3,000-gpm pump, a 500-gallon foam tank, and a Husky 300 industrial foam system.
Chris Kleinhuizen, chief engineer for Rosenbauer, says that over the past three years, Rosenbauer America has built 85 industrial trucks, many of which were exported. Rosenbauer can build with pumps from Waterous, Hale, and Darley and with Williams HotShot II and FoamPro AccuMax foam systems, Kleinhuizen says. However, he adds, most industrial trucks built by Rosenbauer use Rosenbauer pumps and Rosenbauer HYDROMATIC foam systems.
“Our most popular industrial water pump has been the Rosenbauer N130, which is rated at 3,500 gpm and available in aluminum alloy or bronze,” Kleinhuizen says. “Rosenbauer also offers the new N200 pump, which is built from carbon fiber by KASE Pumping Systems exclusively for Rosenbauer and can support flows greater than 5,500 gpm.”
Kleinhuizen points out that the Rosenbauer HYDROMATIC is a hydraulically-driven balanced pressure foam system that allows for infinitely adjustable proportioning of the needed amount of foam concentrate per discharge and can support foam concentrations up to 9%. “The HYDROMATIC system works with the Rosenbauer Logic Control System (LCS) to provide easy visibility of control functions and keeps all the truck’s systems speaking the same language,” he says. “Similarly, Rosenbauer typically uses large-capacity monitors from Task Force Tips, Elkhart Brass, Akron Brass, and Williams Fire and Hazard Control as well as the Rosenbauer RM130 monitor, which can supply 4,000 gpm, has a throw range of more than 425 feet, and can be equipped with ChemCore dry chemical injection.”
1 Pierce Manufacturing Inc. built this 100-foot heavy duty steel aerial platform on a Velocity chassis for the Valero Houston (TX) Refinery. (Photo 1 courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.)
2 Rosenbauer built this industrial pumper for a Canadian customer with a Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, a Williams Hot Shot 2 foam system, a Williams Ranger 3+ 4,000-gpm monitor above the pump, and two Task Force Tips Monsoon 2,000-gpm monitors at the rear. (Photo 2 courtesy of Rosenbauer America.)
3 Ferrara Fire Apparatus built this industrial pumper on an Inferno cab and chassis with a top-mount Hale 8FG 3,000-gpmp pump, a 500-gallon water tank, an 800-gallon foam tank, and a Williams Hot Shot 2 foam system for the ExxonMobil Fire Department at its Beaumont, Texas, complex. (Photo 3 courtesy of Ferrara Fire Apparatus.)
4 Sutphen Corp. built this SPI 112 industrial aerial platform, shown flowing water through its three monitors, for Chevron Phillips Company’s Cedar Bayou Plant in Baytown, Texas. (Photo 4 courtesy of Sutphen Corp.)
He says that Rosenbauer builds industrial pumpers in single- and tandem-axle configurations, usually with tank capacities from 1,000 to 3,750 gallons. “The Rosenbauer three- and four-section Viper straight stick and Cobra platform aerials, the 115-foot T-Rex articulating platform, and the Roadrunner and high reach extendable turret (HRET) elevated water towers all can be used in industrial applications,” Kleinhuizen says.
Eric Adams, apparatus sales specialist for Ferrara Fire Apparatus, says recently Ferrara has been building mostly industrial pumpers and fewer aerials. “We recently delivered an industrial pumper to Exxon Beaumont Polyethylene in Beaumont, Texas, built on an Inferno® chassis and four-door cab with an extruded aluminum body, a side-mount Hale 8FG 3,000-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, and a Williams Hot Shot 2 foam system,” Adams points out.
Adams says that Ferrara also recently delivered an industrial pumper to the Corteva Agriscience (CA) Fire Department on an Inferno cab and chassis powered by a Cummins X12 500-hp engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission and carrying a Hale 8FG 2,000-gpm single-stage pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 250-gallon foam tank, and a 90-gpm FoamPro AccuMax™ Fusion foam system.
Justin Howell, southeast region sales manager for Sutphen Corp., says that for the industrial market, Sutphen works closely with CustomFIRE Apparatus in building industrial pumpers and aerials. “We offer the Sutphen SPI 112, an industrial aerial that can flow 4,000 gpm with the aerial device 100 feet in the air,” Howell points out. “We use both the Hale 8FG and the Waterous CRU 4000, both of which can do 4,000 gpm from draft. We also built a demo pumper with a Hale DFG twin-impeller pump that delivers 6,000 gpm from draft.”
5 CustomFIRE Apparatus built this industrial foam pumper-tanker with a rear-mount Waterous CRU-2 4,000-gpm pump with an inducer impeller, a Waterous TC-21 chain-style midship top-mount fire pump split-shaft transmission, a 400-gallon water tank, a 2,000-gallon foam tank, and a Williams Ambassador 6,000-gpm Hydra-Foam/Hydra-Chem hydraulic remote controlled midship monitor for the Refinery Terminal (TX) Fire Company. (Photo 5 courtesy of CustomFIRE Apparatus Inc.)
Jim Kirvida, industrial salesman at CustomFIRE Apparatus, believes the collaboration between his company and Sutphen “means we have become a major factor in the industrial apparatus world. CustomFIRE does all the pump and pump module work for the aerials and industrial pumpers, while Sutphen builds the chassis, cab, body, and aerial devices.”
Kirvida notes CustomFIRE recently delivered an industrial foam pumper-tanker to the Refinery Terminal (TX) Fire Company on a Sutphen Monarch cab and chassis powered by a 600-hp Cummins ISX-15 engine with a Jacobs engine brake and an Allison 4000 EVS GEN5 automatic transmission with a touch pad shifter. He says the rig has a rear-mount Waterous 4,000-gpm pump, a midship pump control panel, a 400-gallon water tank, and a 2,000-gallon foam tank.
CustomFIRE also built an industrial pumper for Koch Methanol (LA) Refinery on a Sutphen Monarch cab and chassis with seating for four firefighters powered by a 600-hp Cummins ISX-15 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS GEN5 automatic transmission with a touch pad shifter. It has a Hale 8FX 6,000-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon foam tank, a FoamPro 300-gpm AccuMax-II Fury foam system, and three Akron Brass AeroMaster electric remote controlled monitors.
Jonny Carroll, salesman for US Fire Pump/US Fire Apparatus, says his company only builds industrial pumpers, but not aerials. “We are becoming the ‘go-to’ group with industrial fire customers because of the US Fire Pump that can produce 6,000 gpm from draft,” Carroll observes. “We build our pumper bodies of 3/16-inch marine grade aluminum that’s built to last for 30 years and offer water tanks of 1,000 to 2,000 gallons that can be split tanks for water and foam.”
Carroll notes that US Fire Apparatus will install any manufacturer’s monitors, with Task Force Tips, Akron Brass, Elkhart Brass, and Williams Fire & Hazard Control being the popular ones. “Usually, we see one big gun of 6,000 gpm to 9,000 gpm in the center of the truck and often two monitors at the rear of 2,000 gpm each,” he says. “Those rear monitors might be used for foam or water application on smaller tanks or for cooling exposure tanks. The foam systems that we install the most are the FoamPro AccuMax and the Waterous Aquis, both of which are direct injection systems, and the Williams balanced pressure system.”
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
