Cooper County, Missouri Fire Protection District is the largest of six fire departments in the county in central Missouri, and is located about 12 miles west of Columbia. The district covers 250 square miles from six stations, except the city of Boonville which has its own fire department, with an all volunteer staff that handles fires, rescues and EMS (emergency medical services) calls. Its fleet includes 25 pieces of apparatus, comprised of pumpers, tankers, pumper-tankers, brush trucks, utility vehicles, EMS rigs, and two fire/rescue boats.
David Gehm, Cooper County Fire Protection District’s chief, says that the department was replacing a 1991 tanker with the objective of making the new rig a pumper-tanker. “We try to replace a vehicle after 25 years or so, and this tanker certainly needed replacing,” Gehm notes. “We wanted a tanker that carried as much water as possible, but one that also could serve as a pumper if it was needed. So we went to Danko to have them build us a pumper-tanker.”
Steve Borts, Danko’s salesman on the Cooper County contract, says that the district had an old 1,800 gallon tanker with a small pump that needed replacement. “They wanted the maximum amount of water on the truck as well as to be able to pump a substantial amount of water at a fire scene,” Borts points out. “So we gave them a Hale Sidekick pump, which allowed us to move the water tank all the way to the back of the cab, keeping the truck shorter, and giving it more maneuverability and a tighter turning radius.”
David Knobbe, apparatus sales manager for Danko, says the final product is built on Freightliner M2 106 chassis and two-door cab, powered by a 360-horsepower (hp) Cummins diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. The pumper-tanker carries a Hale Sidekick MBP 1,000-gallon per minute (gpm) pump, an UPF Poly® 3,000-gallon water tank, and two half lays of 200 feet of 1-3/4-inch hose in removable trays above the pump panel.
Knobbe points out that the pumper-tanker has a 3,000-gallon Fold-A-Tank portable water tank in a Zico hydraulic over electric rack on the right side of the truck, which also holds a sleeve for a 10-foot section of hard suction, as well as a pike pole and a 10-foot folding ladder behind the rack. The driver’s side of the pumper-tanker holds a 24-foot, two-section extension ladder, and a 14-foot roof ladder in an open rack, with a 10-foot hard suction above.
The pumper-tanker also has a Newton 10-inch dump valve with a Danko-designed 180-degree manual swivel, an electric hose reel with one-inch booster line in the R1 compartment, and SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) brackets in the R3 compartment. Gehm says the hose bed carries 1,000 feet of 5-inch LDH (large diameter hose).
Lighting on the pumper-tanker is all LED, including Whelen J series M6 and M9 emergency lighting with blue/red split and clear lenses, a Whelen Cenator Solo light bar, a Whelen brow light, and Whelen Pioneer scene lights.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Ariz.-based journalist, the author of three novels and five non-fiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial advisory board. He served 22 years with Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including the position of chief.
