Redlands (CA) Fire Department is an agency established in 1888 that now services a 36-square mile city with a population of 73,168 from four fire stations by 56 paid full-time firefighters, 52 of whom are paramedics.
The department has always run straight stick aerials, says Nathan Bristol, Redlands battalion chief, but with the city having a lot of older brick buildings flanked by narrow alleyways, sometimes it’s difficult for the department to access buildings and rooftops with a straight stick ladder. Redlands put together a truck committee of captains, engineers and firefighters that vetted a number of different manufacturers’ aerials and decided to purchase a 100-foot tractor drawn aerial (TDA) quint built by Ladder Tower.
Randy Hummer, aerial account manager for Spartan ER, says the Redlands TDA, also called a tiller, is built on a Spartan Gladiator chassis and MFD cab with a 10-inch raised roof and seating for four firefighters in H.O. Bostrom seats. The tiller is powered by a 605-horsepower (hp) Cummins X15 diesel engine with and auxiliary engine brake, and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission with retarder. “The vehicle has an Advanced Occupant Protection system, a cabin air filtration system with a HEPA filter, and a rear view and side view camera system,” Hummer observes.
The tractor has a 24,000-pound rating Hendrickson STEERTEK NXT front axle, and a 31,000-pound rating Meritor with Hendrickson FireMaax air ride drive axle, while the tiller steer axle is a 23,000-pound rated Meritor with Ridewell air ride axle. Hummer notes that Redlands wanted as compact a vehicle as possible with a tight turning radius, so the rig comes in at a 171-inch tractor wheelbase, a 306-inch trailer wheelbase, an overall length of 58 feet 8 inches, an overall height of 11 feet 3 inches, and a 26 degree tiller axle cramp angle.
Scott Beck, sales manager for Fire Apparatus Solutions, who sold the TDA to Redlands, points out that the tractor wheelbase “is a big deal because the tiller carries a Waterous 1,250-gallon per minute (gpm) CXS pump and a 300-gallon water tank, but we were able to get the wheelbase under the typical 190 inches down to 171 inches. That makes the vehicle as maneuverable as a short wheelbase Type 1 pumper.” Beck adds that Redlands had an overall height restriction as well as length “so in the ladder tunnel, we flipped the ladders flat which lowered the tiller’s overall height.”
Bristol says the new tiller uses a clean cab concept where self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) and firefighter turnout gear are located in outside compartments behind the cab. “We also switched to carrying AMKUS® Rescue Systems battery powered hydraulic rescue tools, as well as battery powered chainsaws and vent fans, all powered by the DeWalt battery platform,” he says. “We had Ladder Tower build in a battery bank charging station in the curbside rear compartment on the tiller.”
Hummer says the TDA’s body features a full height rescue style design of formed aluminum with hinged painted doors and 473 cubic feet of enclosed storage. The rig also has 167 cubic feet in the ladder storage area holding 227 feet of ground ladders, including Duo-Safety 35-foot two-section extension and 28-foot two-section extension ladders, 20- and 16-foot roof ladders, 12- and 10-foot folding ladders, a 14-foot Fresno-style pumper ladder, and a Little Giant Defender-LH pumper style ladder. A Duo-Safety 12-foot roof ladder is affixed to the base of the aerial.
The Ladder Tower four-section steel QX aerial ladder has a vertical reach of 100 feet and a horizontal reach of 94 feet, Hummer points out, with an elevation range of minus-2 to plus-75 degrees, a wind rating of 50-miles per hour (mph), and a tip load rating of 500 pounds dry and 250 pounds wet. He says, “The narrow 14-foot H-style outrigger design allows the rig to be set up in a tight fireground environment with no restrictions, and the minimal ladder flex provides a rigid walking area for a safer climb and working environment from the tip.”
The Redlands TDA quint has a high visibility tiller cab with 45 degree angled front and side windshields, Hummer notes, adding that the QX ladder design optimizes tiller driver visibility and minimizes obstructions. An Akron model 1495 ladder pipe is at the tip of the aerial, which has a Loadminder aerial load sensing system.
The tiller carries a 10-kilowatt Harrison hydraulic generator, while lighting on the rig includes a Whelen LED warning light package, and HiViz FireTech scene lighting on the tiller’s body and aerial.
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.
