S.W. Johnson (NY) Fire Co. #1 needed to replace a 35-year-old aerial ladder platform but couldn’t decide whether to go with another platform or an aerial ladder.
The fire company has a number of tight streets and alleys in its district, so it was concerned about maneuverability, overall length, and jack spread.
Anthony Granata, S.W. Johnson’s captain, says the fire company has had trouble in the past getting its aerial platform in some tight places and also was concerned about their platform’s horizontal reach when trying to hit residences set back. “We’re one of two fire companies in the West Haverstraw (NY) Fire Department, with the other one being Volunteer Hose Company #2, which runs a couple of engines and a KME heavy rescue,” Granata points out. “Our company runs a truck and also responds to calls with a foam trailer and for all Rockland County hazardous materials calls with a hazmat/decon trailer.”
Granata notes that the fire company discussed the pros and cons of aerial platforms vs. aerial ladders and got demonstrations of both types of aerials from several manufacturers. He says that S.W. Johnson decided to go with a KME Tuff Truck AerialCat™ 103-foot aerial ladder quint because it fit all the special requirements the fire company was concerned about.
1 KME built this 103-foot Tuff Truck AerialCat quint for the West Haverstraw Fire Department’s S.W. Johnson (NY) Fire Company #1. (Photos courtesy of KME.)
department
S.W. Johnson (NY) Fire Co. #1
Strength: 50 volunteer firefighters, one station.
Service area: S.W. Johnson (NY) Fire Co. #1, one of two fire companies in the West Haverstraw Fire Department, covers the Village of West Haverstraw, the hamlet of Garnerville, and the Town of Haverstraw in New York’s Rockland County.
Other apparatus: Rescue-pumper, utility truck, foam trailer, hazmat/decon trailer.
2 The quint has a Waterous CSU-C20 1,500-gpm single-stage pump and a 300-gallon water tank.
3 The Tuff Truck has two sets of H-style deep penetrating stabilizers with an 11-degree leveling capability and a 12-foot jack stance that can be shortjacked to 10 feet 6 inches.
4 The unit is set up to carry six firefighters, five of them in H.O. Bostrom SCBA seats.
5 With the 12-foot jack spread on the Tuff Truck, S.W. Johnson can easily set the rig up on tight, congested streets.
“We were able to get the Tuff Truck with a wheelbase of 246 inches and an overall length of 40 feet 6 inches, where our old tower ladder was 46 feet long,” he says. “That makes a huge difference in getting in and around the village, plus the Hendrickson STEERTEK™ NXT front axle assembly gives us up to 50 degrees of wheel cut for better maneuverability. We can almost do donuts with this truck.” Granata adds that the 103-foot aerial ladder’s horizontal reach is 94 feet, which means the operator can hit the setback residences the previous truck couldn’t touch.
Tim Besser, sales manager for KME, says the vehicle is built on a Tuff Truck AerialCat chassis with a 96-inch-wide cab with a body of 3/16-inch aluminum. “The cab seats six firefighters,” Besser says, “five of them in H.O. Bostrom self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats. The truck is powered by a 500-horsepower (hp) Cummins X12 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission.”
6 Compartmentation on the Tuff Truck has an assortment of slide-out, drop-down, and swing-out boards and trays.
specs
KME Tuff Truck AerialCat Rear-Mount Aerial Ladder Quint
- Tuff Truck AerialCat with 96-inch-wide cab and body
- Seating for six firefighters, five in H.O. Bostrom SCBA seats
- Wheelbase: 246 inches
- Overall length: 40 feet 6 inches
- Overall height: 11 feet 7 inches
- Hendrickson STEERTEK NXT front axle assembly
- Cummins 500-hp X12 engine
- Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission
- 103-foot four-section AerialCat ladder
- Waterous CSU-C20 1,500-gpm pump
- 300-gallon water tank
Besser notes that the 103-foot four-section aerial ladder has a 2.5:1 structural safety factor, a 50 mile-per-hour (mph) wind load rating, a quarter-inch ice load rating, and a 500-pound tip load rating both dry and wet flowing 1,500 gallons per minute (gpm). “The Tuff Truck has two sets of H-style deep penetrating stabilizers with an 11-degree leveling capability and a 12-foot jack stance that can be shortjacked to 10 feet 6 inches,” he says.
Chris Kuzio, sales director for Bulldog Fire Apparatus, who sold the Tuff Truck to S.W. Johnson, says the truck has a Waterous CSU-C20 1,500-gpm single-stage pump and a 300-gallon water tank. “At the tip of the aerial ladder there’s an Elkhart EXM Cobra 1,500-gpm remote-controlled monitor that has a storefront blitz capability, which can flow 30 degrees above horizontal.”
Lighting on the Tuff Truck, Kuzio says, includes a Whelen LED emergency lighting package, HiViz FireTech LED scene lighting, two Whelen Freedom LED light bars, and AMDOR Pathfinder LED aerial ladder walkway illumination.
Granata notes that S.W. Johnson’s firefighters are pleased with the KME Tuff Truck. “We like the narrow jack spread and the shorter overall length,” he says, “and also the structural integrity of the KME ladder with its high handrail and wide tip section where we are able to slide a Stokes basket down, instead of suspending it from the tip. The ladder sets up very smoothly and fast. We timed it and can have the outriggers out and the ladder up and out of its bed within 30 seconds, so the truck has performed great for us. It’s the best decision we ever made.”
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.
