The Gansevoort (NY) Volunteer Fire Department was established in 1948 as a bucket brigade fire company in upstate New York, but it’s come a long way from those roots, now running six pieces of apparatus out of one station to cover 3,000 residents in more than 18 square miles in the northern half of the town of Northumberland, Saratoga County. Gansevoort has 35 volunteer firefighters who respond to 375 fire calls a year and 120 medical assist calls.
Kurt Haas, Gansevoort’s chief, says the department needs to carry as much water as possible to its fire calls because the district lacks hydrants. “We have two dry hydrants and two drafting sites in our district but have to bring as much water to a fire scene as possible,” Haas observes. “We were running a custom rescue-pumper with a 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm) pump and a 1,250-gallon water tank, a pumper-tanker with a 1,250-gpm pump and 1,500-gallon water tank, a tanker, a brush truck, a utility truck, and a medical response truck.”
Haas notes that the department had been saving money in a capital fund for a new truck and got to the point where it decided to replace the pumper-tanker and the tanker with a pumper that had a large water tank and talked with a number of manufacturers about a new rig. “But after talking with Marion and seeing their apparatus, we decided to buy two Marion rigs—a pumper and a tanker,” he points out. “We were fortunate to buy them at the right time and, even with the COVID pandemic, found that there were very few problems during the process, even with us not being able to travel to a preconstruction meeting. Marion kept us well informed on the projects and had great lines of communication with us.”
1 The Gansevoort (NY) Volunteer Fire Department went to Marion Body Works for this pumper built on a Spartan Metro Star LFD four-door cab and chassis powered by a Cummins L9 engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Marion Body Works.)
2 Gansevoort also had Marion build a 3,000-gallon tanker on a Freightliner M2 112 cab and chassis that seats four firefighters.
specs
Marion Body Works Pumper
- Spartan Metro Star LFD cab and chassis with 10-inch raised roof
- Seating for six firefighters, five in SCBA seats
- Wheelbase: 232 inches
- Overall length: 37 feet
- Overall height: 8 feet 6¼ inches
- Cummins 450-hp L9 engine
- Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission
- Hale 1,500-gpm Qmax XS top-mount pump
- 1,500-gallon UPF Poly® water tank
- Task Force Tips Monsoon monitor with stacked tips
Jason Harris, owner of Uncle Sam Fire Apparatus, who sold the two vehicles to Gansevoort, says the pumper is built on a Spartan Metro Star LFD four-door cab and chassis with a 10-inch raised roof. The cab has seating for six firefighters, five of them in Seats Inc. 911 self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats, according to Harris.
The pumper is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission and has a Hale 1,500-gpm Qmax XS top-mount pump and a UPF Poly™ 1,500-gallon water tank. Wheelbase on the pumper is 232 inches, overall length is 37 feet, and overall height is 8 feet 6¼ inches.
3 The pumper has a 1,500-gpm Hale Qmax XS top-mount pump and a 1,500-gallon UPF Poly water tank. (Photos 3-5 courtesy of Uncle Sam Fire Apparatus.)
4 Ladders, pike poles, and hard suction sleeves are stored in a through-the-tank compartment on the pumper.
5 The tanker has a Newton 10-inch dump valve at the rear with an extension that can swivel 180°.
specs
Marion Body Works Tanker
- Freightliner M2 112 cab and chassis with tandem rear axle
- Seating for four firefighters, three in SCBA seats
- Cummins 450-hp L9 engine
- Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission
- Hale 1,250-gpm Qflo pump
- UPF Poly® III 3,000-gallon water tank
- Newton 10-inch manual rear dump valve with 180° swivel extension
- 2,500-gallon portable folding water tank
Haas points out that the pumper has an aluminum body instead of steel because of the salt brine the town uses on winter roadways. “We like the top-mount pump because it gives the operator a good view of a fire scene,” he says. “We had Marion install a fold-down seat at the pump panel, and the operator also can reach the Task Force Tips Monsoon deck gun mounted just behind the panel.”
The pumper has two 250-foot 1¾-inch hose crosslays, 400 feet of 1¾-inch hose preconnected off the rear, and 150 feet and 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose preconnected in the extended front bumper. The hosebed holds 900 feet of 5-inch large-diameter hose (LDH), 500 feet of 2½-inch hose, and two hose packs of 100 feet of 1¾-inch hose, Haas notes. The rig also carries a battery-powered positive pressure ventilation fan; a battery-powered chain saw and rescue saw; and AMKUS extrication tools including a hydraulic spreader, a cutter, and a ram.
Harris says Gansevoort’s tanker is built on a Freightliner M2 112 four-door tandem-rear-axle cab and chassis with seating for four firefighters, three of them in SCBA Freightliner seats; is powered by a 450-hp Cummins L9 engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission; and has a 1,250-gpm Hale side-mount Qflo pump and a 3,000-gallon UPF Poly III water tank.
Haas says the tanker has a 150-foot 1¾-inch hoseline preconnected in a polypropylene box inside a compartment, a 400-foot 1¾-inch hoseline preconnected at the rear, a 100-foot hose pack, and a reel of 300 feet of 1-inch booster hose in the dunnage area on the officer’s side. “The tanker has a Newton 10-inch dump valve with an extension that swings through 180°,” he says, “a hosebed that carries 900 feet of 5-inch LDH, 500 feet of 2½-inch hose, and a 2,200-gallon portable water tank under cover on the side.”
Both vehicles have LED undercarriage lighting, LED white compartment strip lighting, and HiViz FireTech Guardian Elite Scene lights. The pumper also has a 6-kW Harrison Hydraulic generator and a Whelen LED Traffic Advisor at the rear.
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.
