The Hogansburg Akwesasne Fire Department in Quebec, Canada had a need for a water hauler and pumper, so it had Fort Garry Fire Trucks build it a pumper-tanker for its Station 3 in Franklin County, New York.
Kevin Lazore, captain at Hogansburg Akwesasne’s Station 3, says the department needed to replace a 2002 pumper-tanker that it had worn out. He notes that Hogansburg Akwesasne Fire Department has 40 volunteer firefighters operating out of three fire stations, one in Quebec, another in Ontario, Canada, and the third in Franklin County, New York, his station.
“Station 3 has an engine, the new pumper-tanker, a command vehicle, and a 27-foot-long fire/rescue boat,” Lazore points out. “Station 1 has an engine, two tankers, a tower ladder, miscellaneous vehicle, reserve engine, brush truck, rehab/decon trailer, and an airboat. Station 2 on Cornwall Island has an engine, tanker, miscellaneous vehicle, and an airboat.”
Peter Somerton, apparatus salesman for Fort Garry, says the new pumper-tanker for the department is built on a Freightliner M2 104 4×2 chassis and two-door cab powered by a 360-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. He says that behind the cab is a transverse compartment accessible from each side with roll out tool boards, each holding three self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) air pack brackets. Somerton notes the rig has a 238-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 31 feet, 3 inches, and an overall height of 10 feet, 4 inches.
Somerton says the pumper-tanker has a Hale DSD 1,250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 20-gallon integral foam tank, and a FoamPro 2001 Class A foam proportioning system. The rig has a 6-inch manual intake valve inlet and a 2-1/2-inch gated valve inlet on the curb and road sides of the vehicle, as well as a 2-inch Akron Brass tank fill valve.
Discharges on the pumper-tanker, he notes, include two 1-1/2-inch foam-capable cross lays, two 2-1/2-inch cross lays, a one-inch booster line reel hose line, and a Task Force Tips Crossfire deck gun with an 18-inch Extend-A-Gun extension.
Lazore points out that the pumper-tanker is identical to a pumper that the department purchased from Fort Garry a couple of years ago, except for the water tank. “We wanted a bigger water tank with the pumper-tanker,” he says, “but wanted to keep the commonality between the two vehicles so that equipment was in the same place, no matter which rig the firefighter was working from.”
Lazore says the first call that the Fort Garry pumper-tanker responded to was about a mile away from the fire station. “It was a structure fire that had a low pressure water problem with our municipal water system, but the river was right on the other side of the road from the burning structure,” he says. “Our pumper-tanker drafted from the river and supplied an engine on the scene of the fire through 5-inch LDH (large diameter hose) about 1,000 feet away.”
Somerton notes that the pumper-tanker has an 8-kilowatt Harrison hydraulic generator, a 10-inch square A.H. Stock dump valve at the rear of the rig with a 36-inch telescoping manual chute, as well as two red LED rear beacons, two rear LED flood lights, and a Whelen LED rear traffic advisor. Other lighting includes a Whelen 56-inch Justice LED light bar, FRC SoBrite LED 12-volt flood lights, Whelen LED warning lights, and Luma Bar LED ground lights.
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.
