The Town of Mohawk (NY) Fire District was looking to purchase a multipurpose fire vehicle, combining fire suppression and rescue capabilities with the largest water tank it could get on a single axle. The district found what they were seeking from Sutphen in the form of a custom chassis rescue-pumper.
“We sold our old rescue truck and an old tanker and consolidated their functions into a new rescue-pumper built on a custom chassis, our first ever,” says Bill Van Gorder, chairman of the district’s board of fire commissioners. “We had several requirements besides the custom chassis and cab, and that was to be able to carry an air cascade system and bottle fill station, a refrigerator in the cab for rehab, a generator, and a light tower. We wanted this vehicle to be our multipurpose fire truck.”
Van Gorder notes the district’s 40 volunteer firefighters respond from a two-year-old station that houses the new Sutphen rescue-pumper along with a 2018 Fort Garry Fire Trucks pumper-tanker with a 1,750-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump and 3,000-gallon water tank, a 2006 Rosenbauer pumper-tanker with a 1,500-gpm pump, 1,800-gallon water tank and a Class A and B compressed air foam system (CAFS), a Central States pumper tanker with a 1,500-gpm pump, 1,800-gallon water tank, a Ford F-550 brush/quick attack truck with a 250-gpm skid unit and foam capability, and a John Deere Gator for brush fires and emergency medical services (EMS) calls in hard-to-reach places.
Zach Rudy, Sutphen’s director of sales, says the Town of Mohawk’s new rescue-pumper is built on a Sutphen Monarch heavy duty custom chassis with a 73-inch long four-door cab and 15-inch raised roof that seats six firefighters, five of them in H.O. Bostrom self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats, and has two EMS cabinets and a refrigerator alongside the engine doghouse. Wheelbase on the rig is 226 inches, overall length is 35 feet, 3 inches, and overall height is 10 feet, 1 inch.
Rudy says the rescue-pumper has 10-inch double Domex frame rails rated to 110,000-pound per square inch (psi), a 25,000-pound front axle and suspension, and a 31,000-pound rear axle and suspension, powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 engine, an Allison 3000 EVS Gen5 automatic transmission, and a 420-amp Leece Neville alternator.
Phil Vander Molen, owner of Vander Molen Fire Apparatus Sales and Service, who sold the Sutphen rescue-pumper to the Town of Mohawk, says the rescue-pumper has a Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm single stage top mount pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, a Hale Smartfoam 2.1A foam system, and a Trident air primer. He says the rig has two 1-3/4-inch hose speed lays, a 2-1/2-inch discharge and a 5-inch intake in the 24-inch extended front bumper, two 2-1/2-inch discharges on the left side, one 3-inch and one 2-1/2-inch discharges on the right side, and a 2-1/2-inch discharge and a Fireman’s Friend 2-1/2-inch direct tank fill at the rear.
Vander Molen adds that the rig has a Harrison 8-kW generator, a Command Light tower with six Whelen LED light heads, a hosebed that carries 1,500 feet of 4-inch large diameter hose (LDH), 400 feet of 2-1/2-inch hose, and 200-feet of 1-3/4-inch hose, a grille-mounted Federal Signal Q2B siren, a Brigade single camera system, and a Hannay electric cord reel.
Rudy points out, “The most unique thing about this rescue-pumper is that it carries an air cascade system and fill station, which is something we don’t often see on rescue-pumpers of this size. They usually are on medium to heavy rescue trucks or large rescue-pumpers.” The rig has four 6,000-psi air storage bottles located in two upper hatch compartments, a Breathing Air Solutions dual bottle fill station in a side compartment, Amdor roll-up compartment doors, more than 280 cubic feet of compartment space, OnScene Solutions slide-out drawers and trays, and storage of ground ladders and hard suction hose through the water tank.
Lighting on the Sutphen rescue-pumper includes a Whelen 72-inch Freedom IV LED light bar, a HiViz FireTech 3PC LED brow light, Whelen PFH2 LED telescoping lights, Whelen M9V2 LED warning and scene lighting, and HiViz FireTech LED headlights.
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.
