Poynette-Dekorra (WI) Fire Department covers three municipalities (Poynette, Dekorra and part of Lowville) with a regular population of about 5,000 that grows in summer considerably because the location is in a vacation area near Lake Wisconsin and the Wisconsin River. Poynette-Dekorra is an all volunteer department with 30 firefighters, 18 of whom are emergency medical technicians (EMT), to provide emergency services to residential and rural coverage areas.
“We had a 1998 Freightliner pumper with a 1,750-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, 1,250-gallon water tank and A and B foam tanks that needed to be replaced because of its age,” says Cameron Radewan, Poynette-Dekorra’s chief. “We formed a truck committee and determined what we liked and didn’t like about our old engine, then had meetings and discussions with CustomFIRE and Pierce Manufacturing about the possible design of a new custom pumper. Ultimately, we chose to have CustomFIRE build a rescue-pumper.”
Wayde Kirvida, sales engineer for CustomFIRE, says the new custom pumper is on a Sutphen Monarch chassis and cab with seating for six firefighters, five of them in H.O. Bostrom seats with IMMI SmartDock self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) brackets.
Kirvida notes that the rig is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, and has a 47,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). Wheelbase on the rescue-pumper is 227 inches, overall length is 35 feet 6 inches, and overall height is 9 feet 10 inches.
Kirvida points out that the new rescue-pumper has a Waterous CSU 2,000-gpm pump and Waterous C-20 chain drive transmission, a 1,250-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, a Fire Research PumpBoss pressure governor, a Trident Air Oil-Less auto priming system, and a FoamPro 2001 single agent foam system.
Radewan notes that the new rescue-pumper has 200 feet of 1-3/4-inch hose in a front bumper compartment, two 1-3/4-inch hose crosslays of 200 feet each, two 2-1/2-inch crosslays of 200 feet each, and one rear 2-1/2-inch hose preconnect of 200 feet. The rig also has 150-feet of one-inch booster hose in a reel in the rear compartment, and a recessed Akron Apollo deck gun with an 18-inch Task Force Tips Extent-A-Gun over the pump house.
It also has a 6-inch gated front suction, 6-inch gated driver and officer’s side suctions, a 2-1/2-inch officer’s side suction, 3-inch and 2-1/2-inch discharges on the officer’s side, and two 2-1/2-inch discharges on the driver’ side.
He says the new rescue-pumper carries all battery-powered hydraulic and hand tools on slide-out trays and roll-out boards. “We have our battery tools and airbags in the rear officer’s side compartment,” Radewan says, “in a Lazy-Susan style mounting that holds a TNT Rescue Systems spreader, cutter and ram, along with our other hand battery tools that use interchangeable batteries.”
Kirvida points out that the new rig has SCBA bottle storage in the wheel wells, pump panel running board hose cavities, a FRC TankVision display, slide-in ladder storage, a ProVision rear camera and LCD monitor, a Powercall electronic siren, and a back-up alarm. Lighting on the rescue-pumper includes a Command Light CL series light tower, Whelen LED M6RC warning lights, Whelen LED PFH18 scene lights, Whelen Ion LED traffic lights, and LED step lights and underbody lighting.
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.
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