The Middletown (VA) Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company has a strategic plan in place to rotate the replacement of the apparatus in its fleet, so when the company’s 2002 Pierce rescue-pumper became the rig to replace, the fire company again went to Pierce Manufacturing for a new heavy-duty rescue-pumper.
Mark Dalton, Middletown’s chief, says all the fire company’s fire suppression units are built by Pierce. “We are the longest, continuous Pierce purchaser in Virginia,” Dalton says. “They’ve always met our expectations and we are pleased with their apparatus, so we had them build our new rescue-pumper.”
Dalton points out that the fire company’s coverage area includes sections of Interstate 81 and Interstate 66. “We are the rescue-pumper on the southern end of Frederick County and chose to go with the large rescue body to give us more space for tools and equipment and allow us to expand our capabilities,” he says. “We were able to double the number of Paratech struts we carry and also add a HydraFusion strut, which allows us to be more capable when dealing with large trucks that have crashed.”
John Schultz, general manager of pumpers for Pierce Manufacturing, says the heavy-duty rescue-pumper is an updated body platform for Pierce, with clean compartment interiors, a low hosebed, lots of storage features and options for compartmentation, recessed shelf tracks, and wraparound taillights. “Middletown took full advantage of those options and went with a variety of tool boards and shelving types,” he says.
Jim Darr, regional account manager for Atlantic Emergency Solutions, who sold the rig to Middletown, points out it replaces a 2002 Pierce Dash rescue-pumper. “They went with a larger vehicle with more equipment-carrying capacity that was more functionally laid out with a lower hosebed,” Darr says. The new rescue-pumper is built on a Pierce Velocity chassis and a raised roof four-door cab, with side roll and front impact air bag protection and seating for six firefighters in USSC Valor Tech XD Cordura seats, five of which are self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats.
1 Pierce Manufacturing Inc. built this heavy-duty rescue-pumper for the Middletown (VA) Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company on a Pierce Velocity chassis and four-door, raised-roof cab powered by a 525-hp Detroit Diesel DD13 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission. (Photos courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing Inc.)
2 The rescue-pumper has a Waterous CMU 2,000-gpm pump, a 750-gallon polypropylene water tank, and two 200-foot 2-inch hose crosslays above the pump panel.
3 The hosebed on the Middletown rescue-pumper is divided to carry 350 feet of 2-inch hose, 250 feet of 2-inch hose, 500 feet of 3-inch hose, and 1,000 feet of 4-inch LDH.
4 The wheelbase on the rescue-pumper is 217 inches, the overall length is 35 feet 7½ inches, and the overall height is 8 feet 5 inches.
DEPARTMENT
Middletown (VA) Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company
Strength: Three paid full-time firefighters; 20 volunteer firefighters; one station.
Service area: Provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, and rescue services to the approximately 1,400 residents of the town of Middletown in Frederick County, VA, as well as on mutual aid to neighboring Shenandoah and Warren counties.
Other apparatus: 2013 Pierce PUC pumper-tanker, 1,500-gpm Darley pump, 2,500-gallon water tank; 2006 Pierce Ford F-550 brush truck, 250-gpm pump, 300-gallon water tank; 2010 and 2006 Ford Explorer EMS response units; 2006 Horton International 4300 advanced life support ambulance; 2019 Ford F-350 command vehicle.
Middletown’s rescue-pumper has a wheelbase of 217 inches, an overall length of 35 feet 7½ inches, and an overall height of 8 feet 5 inches, powered by a Detroit Diesel 525-horsepower (hp) DD13 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission. It has a Waterous CMU 2,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) two-stage, side-mount pump and a 750-gallon polypropylene water tank.
Schultz says the rescue-pumper has three crosslays above the pump house, each holding 200 feet of 2-inch double jacket hose, and a Task Force Tips 1,250-gpm Crossfire monitor with a TFT Extend-A-Gun. He notes the hosebed is divided to carry 350 feet of 2-inch hose, 250 feet of 2-inch hose, 500 feet of 3-inch hose, and 1,000 feet of 4-inch large-diameter hose (LDH). The 2-inch hosebeds are preconnected to two discharges at the back of the rig.
Lighting on the pumper includes a Will-Burt Night Scan Chief light tower, Whelen LED warning lighting, two Whelen LED Summit 72-inch-long scene lights, and an 81-inch Whelen Freedom IV LED light bar. Two electric cord reels are located in coffin compartments on top of the rig and lead down into the front compartments on the driver’s and officer’s side.
5 The front bumper tray compartment holds a 10,000-pound Warn winch that can be removed and used at any of the six winch receivers around the rig.
6 The rig has a Will-Burt Night Scan Chief light tower.
SPECS
Middleton’s Pierce Manufacturing Heavy-Duty Rescue-Pumper
- Pierce Velocity chassis and four-door raised roof cab
- Heavy-duty aluminum rescue- pumper style body
- Seating for six firefighters
- Side roll and front impact air bag protection
- Wheelbase: 217 inches
- Overall length: 35 feet 7½ inches
- Overall height: 8 feet 5 inches
- Detroit Diesel 525-hp DD13 engine
- Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission
- Waterous CMU 2,000-gpm two-stage side-mount pump
- 750-gallon polypropylene water tank
- Will-Burt Night Scan Chief light tower
- Whelen LED warning lights
- Whelen LED Pioneer Summit 72-inch scene lights, one on each side of body
- Whelen Freedom IV LED 81-inch lightbar
- Federal Q2B siren
Dalton says his truck committee worked closely with Pierce on the design and layout of all the compartments and tool boards and had a local fabrication company, Fibertek, make cradles for all the fire company’s Hurst Jaws of Life eDraulic hydraulic tools that are secured in the driver’s side rear compartment. “Jim Darr also worked with us on the compartment layouts and wouldn’t settle for anything until we said it was okay,” Dalton says.
A portable winch that could be used all around the truck was also a requirement, so the firefighters put a 10,000-pound Warn winch in a compartment in the front bumper and put six winch receivers around the truck. “There’s a receiver in the front, one in the rear, and two on each side of the rescue-pumper, one low and one high, that will allow us to go over a guard rail or a Jersey barrier if necessary,” Dalton says.
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.
