Suburban (NE) Fire Protection District No. 1 has no established water supply in much of its coverage district, so it must rely on tankers (tenders) to get water to the scene of a fire. And while the district has one 3,500-gallon tanker, it has three others that carry 2,000 gallons of water with 1,000 gallon per minute (gpm) pumps.
“We have some areas of our fire protection district where there are narrow driveways leading to houses,” says Dave Krueger, battalion chief for Suburban (NE) Fire Protection District No. 1 and the adjacent city of Kearney Fire Department. “We cover 272 square miles of a lot of rural land, farms, and rolling ground,” Krueger says, “with some urban interface and a lot of residences. We run from four stations with 12 paid full-time engineers, with three of those stations staffed 24/7 with at least one engineer, and 65 volunteer firefighters.”
Besides its four tankers, Suburban also has a Rosenbauer pumper with a 1,500 gpm pump, 1,000-gallon water tank, and 1,200 feet of 5-inch large diameter hose (LDH); a four-wheel drive Toyne pumper, with a 1,000 gpm pump, 600-gallon water tank, and 500 feet of 5-inch LDH; and four brush trucks on three-quarter ton pickups with slide-in pump and tank modules. The city of Kearney has three pumpers in front line service and one in reserve, a Sutphen 95-foot aerial ladder, a Sutphen 100-foot aerial platform, and a heavy rescue serving the city that has hydrants throughout. Both the district and department give and receive mutual aid to each other.
Krueger notes that Suburban had previously bought a pumper-tanker from Midwest Fire and was so pleased with the rig that when the time came to get another pumper-tanker, it again went to Midwest Fire. “We like the three quick dumps on the pumper-tankers that Midwest built for us because we establish a water supply in portable water tanks at the end of a driveway and relay pump to the engine at the structure,” he points out. “We want to dump into the portable tank as quickly as possible, and then go back and fill up fast through a 5-inch diameter intake valve direct fill into the water tank.”
He adds that the pumper-tanker also carries a 50-foot section of 5-inch LDH, and well as two 50-foot sections of 3-inch supply line with Storz fittings so the pumper-tanker can be set up on a hydrant in a mutual aid call with Kearney, or to tie in with either Suburban or Kearney pumpers.
Jeff Bowen, account representative for Midwest Fire, says the Suburban pumper-tanker is built on a Freightliner M2 106 chassis and two-door cab, powered by a 350-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, with a Hale MBP 1,000 gpm PTO (power takeoff) pump, and an APR polypropylene 2,000 gallon water tank. Wheelbase on the rig is 202 inches, overall length is 25 feet 10 inches, and overall height is 9 feet 5 inches.
“This is our All-Poly® series 2,000-gallon notched pumper-tanker where the pump is notched into the water tank, and there are no cross lays on top of the pump house because it is more compact, and sits under the tank instead of in front of it,” Bowen points out. “We are able to take 20 inches out of the wheelbase of the truck by notching, which gives the pumper-tanker a tighter turning radius and more maneuverability, which is what the fire district was looking for.”
Bowen says the pumper-tanker has three Newton 10-inch stainless steel manual dump valves with 36-inch telescoping chutes on the sides and a 12-inch chute at the rear. “The rig has a Trident air primer, an In Control auto governor, a 4-inch discharge on the curb side, a catwalk on the driver’s side with a preconnected 1-3/4-inch hose line, and a 5-inch direct tank fill at the rear,” he notes. “It also has a manual tip-down portable tank carrier and 2,100-gallon portable water tank, a pump house heater, and removable heat pan.”
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.
