Tempe (AZ) Fire Department is a growing metropolitan area of 40 square miles that its deputy chief says is “growing up, not out” because it’s landlocked by other metropolitan areas. The department is working on its five year capital improvement plan and recently took delivery of four E-ONE pumpers that are markedly different from traditional side-mount pumpers in that their pump panels are on the curb side of the rigs.
Mike Atkinson, Tempe’s deputy chief, says the department has 200 paid full-time firefighters and 30 administrative staff working out of seven fire stations, and that a recent survey showed the city has more than 250 mid- and high-rise buildings in the city, with more expected to be constructed. “We’re running just under 30,000 calls a year, with our busiest apparatus running 275 calls a month,” Atkinson points out. “By 2040, we expect to have 10 to 12 stations and run 40,000 calls annually.”
Mark Julien, vice president of sales for Fire Truck Solutions, who sold the pumpers to Tempe, says the four E-ONE pumpers are built on Typhoon chassis with long Vista cabs and seating for six firefighters, five of them in H.O. Bostrom self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats. Julien says the pumpers have an additional air conditioning unit at the rear of the crew cab, a Meritor 21,000-pound front axle, a 24,000-pound rear axle with Reyco spring suspension, front and rear disc brakes, aluminum wheels, a Cummins L9 engine, an Allison EVS 3000 transmission, and a 420-amp Leece Neville alternator.
Julien notes the pumpers each have a side-mount Waterous CSU 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm) single stage pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 40-gallon foam cell, and a FoamPro 2001 foam system. He adds that with the curb side pump panel, the operator is safely out of the way of traffic when the vehicle is set up on a street or roadway.
The rigs have 28-inch bumper extensions that hold two 200-foot 1-3/4-inch hose crosslays, a one inch hose electric booster reel in the dunnage area, and an Elkhart Brass Stinger monitor. Wheelbase on the pumpers is 198 inches, overall length is 33 feet, 9 inches, and overall height is 9 feet, 8 inches.
The E-ONE pumpers have an extended aluminum flat back body with four upper coffin compartments accessed by a Zico ladder, SCBA storage, and tunnels for a Stokes basket, backboard, pike poles, and ladders. The hosebed is set up to carry 1,000 feet of 4-inch large diameter hose (LDH) and has an aluminum hosebed cover.
The rigs carry a Federal Signal e-Q2B® siren, a three-camera Safety Vision® system, Whelen LED warning lights, a Whelen LED traffic advisor, HiViz FireTech LED brow lights, and HiViz FireTech LED scene lighting on all sides.
Atkinson points out that Tempe Fire has four more E-ONE pumpers on order, as well as a 95-foot rear mount aerial ladder platform. “The next four pumpers will be built on Cyclone chassis and cabs which have larger front windshields,” he says, “and will have 2,000-gpm pumps, Cummins X12 engines, and Allison 4000 EVS transmissions. We also plan on ordering a high rise truck on a Chevy 5500 chassis to carry ventilation fans, SCBA bottles, and other resources, as well as two more aerial ladders, a heavy rescue, and a hazardous materials unit in the next couple of fiscal years.”
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.
