When trying to purchase a new piece of fire apparatus, budget constraints have always been a major concern for smaller volunteer fire departments around the country. Such was the case with the Lower Alloways Creek (NJ) Fire Department.
Chief Steve Fisher says, “We try to replace our engines on a 10-year basis. However, because of the budget, we had tried to get our township to replace our 27-year-old Grumman for several years. Unfortunately, we couldn’t convince them for the replacement in that time frame.”
Fisher says when his department got the OK to move forward with the purchase, work started on designing the best apparatus the budget would allow.
Lower Alloways Creek is mainly a rural area with single-family dwellings, an elementary school, a senior citizen complex, strip shopping centers, and a nuclear power plant, Fisher says. There are 14 draft sites located within the response area for tanker shuttles when needed, he adds.
An eight-member apparatus replacement committee, consisting of the chief, three officers, and four firefighters with CDLs and knowledge of heavy trucks, got to work replacing the 27-year-old vehicle, Fisher says.
1 The Sutphen Monarch for Lower Alloways Creek. (Photos courtesy of Sutphen Corp.)
2 The front end with extended bumper and trash line.
3 The rear hosebed and compartments for ladders and suction hose.
4 The officer’s side showing rescue body-style compartments.
“We wanted everyone to have some input on the design of the new pumper but didn’t want to overload the amount of people giving their opinions since we felt that that would be more of a distraction than it was worth,” Fisher explains.
The concept was to design an apparatus to be first out for structure fires as well as serve as a technical rescue engine because the department is certified as a rapid intervention team (RIT) unit for the area, he says, adding that another goal was to design an apparatus to last at least 30 years if possible.
“Our committee looked at new deliveries in the local area and came up with our specs,” Fisher says. “Our department did a prebid conference with several manufacturers, but only two made the final cut, and Sutphen was the eventual winner of the bid.”
Fisher says Sutphen gave the best warranty and was the only company that would build what the committee wanted, meeting all the specs.
“The local dealer, Blaze Emergency Equipment, helped us out through the whole process and was a pleasure to deal with as well as the engineers with Sutphen,” Fisher says.
Sutphen Rescue-Pumper Specs
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Lower Alloways Creek Fire Department
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Some of the features of the new rescue engine include an eight-occupant cab, an improvement over the six-occupant cab the department had previously, with self-contained breathing apparatus for all eight occupants. It has a 2,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, an improvement over the 1,500-gpm pump the previous engine had; a 1,000-gallon polypropylene tank; and a small, built-in generator with receptacles on all four sides of the engine.
The tool boards on the new Sutphen carry five times the amount of equipment of the previous engine, and accommodations have been made for a Genesis combi tool for auto extrications in the future.
For hoses, the new apparatus has 2,000 feet of 5-inch large-diameter hose and three speedlays—250 feet of 1¾-inch, 600 feet of 2½-inch, and another 100 feet of 1¾-inch. It also has a front bumper-mounted trash line and several 100-foot 1¾-inch hose packs.
Fisher explains that the chassis was built at the Ohio plant and the body was built at Sutphen East in Lake Ariel, PA. “That made it easy for our committee to see the progress throughout the build,” he says. “Only very minor changes had to be made at the factory.”
Like most fire departments around the country, the Lower Alloways Creek Fire Department wanted its new engine to accomplish more tasks and carry more equipment for its response district. The new engine has a bigger cab, a bigger pump, and more compartment space for future use.
The committee members were proactive in their thinking when designing this new apparatus. Planning for more compartment space for future needs is a good idea. Using it for various types of responses will provide greater use of resources not only for their immediate response area but for mutual-aid companies as well.
BOB VACCARO has more than 40 years of fire service experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (NY) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol, and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life member of the IAFC.
