The Hutchinson Fire Department experienced the Cottonwood Complex fire in 2023, a wildland/urban interface fire event that burned 36 homes, 92 outbuildings, 110 vehicles and 12,000 acres of grassland and northern red cedar. The department had two Weis F-550 quick attack/wildland pumpers, two F350 wildland rigs, and three 6×6 1,000-gallon tankers to deal with the situation from its end. After the conflagration, Hutchinson decided it needed more Weis quick attack/wildland rigs for future wildland/urban interface situations.
Nick White, Hutchinson’s battalion chief, says that after the fire Hutchinson received a grant which allowed it to purchase three Weis quick attack/wildland rigs. “We put together a committee, determined what we liked and didn’t like, what was missing from our current trucks, and developed a spec that we sent to Weis,” White says.
Mike Weis, owner of Weis Fire and Safety, says the three quick attack/wildland pumpers for Hutchinson are built on Ford F-550 4×4 chassis and Super Cabs with seating for four fighters, powered by 475-horsepower (hp) 6.7-liter diesel engines, and with Super Singles wheels and tires. The quick attack units have a 100 gallon-per-minute (gpm) Hale HPX 200-K24 pump powered by a 24-hp Kubota diesel engine, and a 450-gallon water tank.
White points out that the quick attack rigs have a HyperSight thermal imaging camera at the top of the front brush guard, two ground sweep nozzles at the front corners of the truck, a stainless steel Stang front bumper monitor with a half-inch smoothbore tip to give stream quality and reach compared to a combination nozzle, six feet of one-inch whip line in the crosswalk, and 150 feet of one-inch booster line hose on an electric reel.
“One unusual feature on the rigs is a split compartment on the driver’s side with D handles that drop down and become a workbench for firefighters to work on their chainsaw equipment during a fire,” White says. “Above that is a wildland progressive hose pack that has one-inch attack line connected to an 1-1/2-inch trunk line with a gated wye,” he notes. “The wildland progressive hose pack can also be connected to the booster reel for extended reach.”
Weis adds that the quick attack/wildland rigs have a backup camera, a 360-degree HiViz FireTech LED scene light, long tool storage in a rear slide-out tray, and a drip torch storage compartment.
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.
