The Irving (TX) Fire Department was in the market for a new aerial device and needed a truck that could negotiate the old part of town with its narrow streets and an urban living area of three- to five-story garden-style apartment buildings.
So, the department chose a mid-mount aerial platform built by Pierce Manufacturing for its maneuverability because of a rear-steer option.
“The new Pierce Ascendant 100-foot mid-mount aerial platform replaces a 100-foot rear-mount straight stick aerial and is our first mid-mount aerial since the 1970s,” says Tony Harvey, Irving’s administrative assistant fire chief. “This rounds out our truck fleet that also includes two 100-foot tillers and a 105-foot straight stick ladder.”
Harvey notes the Irving Fire Department has a long history of running true trucks (no pump or water tank), but from 2006 through 2013, a former chief ordered two trucks with pumps and tanks, which reduced the amount of compartment space on the rigs.
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1 Pierce Manufacturing built this 100-foot Ascendant mid-mount aerial ladder platform for the Irving (TX) Fire Department. (Photos 1-4 courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.)
department
Irving (TX) Fire Department
Strength: 324 full-time paid firefighters, 12 stations.
Service area: Provides fire, rescue, and EMS to a 68-square-mile area with a population of 240,000 in Dallas County.
Other apparatus: 12 Type 1 engines, five aerial ladders and platforms, one heavy rescue truck, one air/light truck, one Type 6 brush/parking garage pumper, one hazardous materials truck, one rehab vehicle, one fire investigation unit, 10 Frazer ambulances, one all-terrain vehicle ambulance, one Harbor Guard fireboat, one Zodiac rescue boat, various support vehicles, reserve apparatus, and blockers.
“In 2013, we wanted to get back to true trucks and have space for rescue tools,” he says, “and, with this new mid-mount platform, also carry only a single monitor with a 2½-inch straight bore tip, which can do everything we need. The new truck also has a Pierce Lyfe® bracket that has a Stokes basket clamp, parapet ladder fixture, and rappelling eyes for rescue work.”
Tim Smits, Pierce’s senior sales manager for aerial products, says the rig is built on an Arrow XT chassis and flat roof cab with seating for four firefighters, three of them in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) PSV seats built by Seats Inc. for Pierce. Smits notes the truck has a wheelbase of 262 inches, an overall length of 43 feet 3 inches, and an overall height of 11 feet.
2 The Ascendant mid-mount has a TAK-4 front suspension and a TAK-4 T3 rear steer two-axle suspension that makes the truck very maneuverable.
3 Irving chose to have a single monitor on the platform—an Akron Brass Co. Apollo 3436 monitor with a tiller handle and straight tips.
4 One compartment on the truck holds HURST Jaws of Life eDraulic battery-powered hydraulic tools on a slide-out tray.
5 The Ascendant mid-mount aerial platform has two center style H jacks with an 18-foot full jack spread, two down jacks at the front, and two down jacks at the rear. (Photos 5-7 courtesy of Irving Fire Department.)
“The Ascendant mid-mount platform has a TAK-4 front suspension and a TAK-4 T3 rear steer two-axle suspension, which makes the vehicle very maneuverable,” Smits says. “The rear steer also gives three to four times more tire life in the rear because of the steering ability. Rear steer takes 10 feet off the turning radius of this truck, and the TAK-4 T-3 configuration is the same suspension used on the Pierce and Oshkosh ARFF trucks and the Oshkosh military vehicles.”
Smits adds, “The 100-foot aerial ladder is made of five sections constructed of 100,000-psi steel and has a manual Stang-style monitor at the platform. The aerial has a 100-foot vertical reach, 93-foot horizontal reach, 1,000-pound payload, 2,000-gpm flow in the side-mounted waterway, and side reach capability of minus 20 degrees below grade.”
Travis Ownby, regional sales manager for Siddons-Martin Emergency Group, who sold the Ascendant mid-mount platform to Irving, says the footprint of the mid-mount is smaller than on a typical rig and that the added capability of the TAK-4 T3 rear steer makes the truck very maneuverable in tight quarters. “They are able to get this mid-mount platform into residential areas where they couldn’t fit the previous rear-mount platform,” Ownby observes. “Irving wanted to go with a single monitor on the platform and chose an Akron Brass Company manual Apollo 3436 monitor with a tiller handle and straight tips.”
Smits points out that in addition to the truck’s chassis air-conditioning and heating system, the rig has a secondary Coleman air-conditioning unit on the crew cab roof.
“Because there is no pump on the truck, that frees up the first compartment behind the cab,” Smits notes. “We put in a transverse compartment that has pull-out trays from each side, with the L1 side holding a Little Giant ladder in the upper part and an SCBA on a bottom tray. The R1 compartment has pull-out trays holding EMS equipment, RIT bags, and traffic cones.”
Smits says the flat roof on the truck allows the department to nose into a scene and extend the aerial over the front of the truck to hit a second or third story. “The Ascendant mid-mount platform has two center style H jacks that are 18 feet wide when fully extended and 13 feet wide when short jacked,” Smits says. “The truck also has two down jacks at the front and two down jacks at the rear.”
6 Irving’s new Ascendant mid-mount aerial platform operating at a nighttime structure fire.
7 Another view of the Irving truck at the nighttime structure fire.
specs
Pierce Ascendant 100-Foot Mid-Mount Aerial Platform
- Arrow XT chassis and flat-roof cab with seating for four firefighters
- TAK-4 front suspension
- TAK-4 T3 rear steer two-axle rear suspension
- Wheelbase: 262 inches
- Overall length: 43 feet 3 inches
- Overall height: 11 feet
- 100-foot five-section 100,000-psi steel aerial ladder
- Manual Akron Brass Co. Apollo 3436 monitor at platform
Smits adds that the Ascendant mid-mount platform has ground pads integrated with its jacks that allow a setup speed of only 26 seconds. “There are cameras in the stabilizers that show on a multiplex screen where the jacks will be deployed,” he says, “allowing the operator to avoid setting up on an obstacle. The entire truck is set up for collision avoidance so there can be no cab or body hits with the aerial, and the vehicle auto levels and auto stows the aerial. It’s a very user-friendly truck.”
Harvey says his firefighters are very pleased with the new Ascendant mid-mount platform. “Our truck companies are set up for heavy rescue and firefighting,” he says. “All the compartments are set up the same across all our trucks. The driver’s sides have firefighting tools, while the officer’s sides have rescue tools, including hosed hydraulic tools and power units and HURST Jaws of Life eDraulic® battery-powered hydraulic tools.”
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.
