Allington Fire District is one of three independent fire districts under control of the city of West Haven Fire Department. When the district decided to retire an older Spartan pumper, it formed a truck committee, determined what it wanted in a new rig, drew up specs and competitively bid the project, which was won by Smeal.
Dave Bunnell, apparatus specialist for New England Fire Equipment & Apparatus, who sold the vehicle to Allington, says the district’s specs “called for a rescue pumper that would serve as a do-everything truck, performing fire suppression, rescue and emergency medical services (EMS) functions. The district wanted a low hosebed, as much storage capacity as possible, the ability to carry their hydraulic rescue equipment in a rear compartment, and to carry their struts in a high side compartment, all of which we were able to give them.”
Mike Esposito, deputy chief for the West Haven Fire Department, says that Allingtown’s truck committee custom designed the compartments on the rescue-pumper, got a 750-gallon L-shaped water tank to lower the hosebed to make it more ergonomically useful in pulling and packing hose, and added a hard hosebed cover.
Mike Metschke, Smeal’s inside sales contract administrator, says Allingtown’s rescue-pumper is built on a Spartan Metro Star chassis and MFD cab with a 10-inch raised roof, powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Wheelbase on the rescue-pumper is 188 inches, overall length is 33 feet, and overall height is 9 feet, 8 inches.
Metschke notes the rescue-pumper has a Waterous CSUC20 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm) pump, a 750-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, an Elkhart eductor foam system, and a thermostatically controlled electric heater in the R1 compartment for the district’s EMS equipment. He says the rig has an extended front bumper with 200-feet of foam-capable 1-3/4-inch hose in a covered compartment and a 5-inch intake, two 1-3/4-inch and one 2-1/2-inch hose crosslays above the side mount pump, a booster reel with 200 feet of 3/4-inch hose in the dunnage area, and a Task Force Tips Crossfire deck gun with a Streamshaper nozzle and quad-stacked tips.
Esposito says the rescue-pumper has roll-up doors on the compartments except over the wheel wells where there are conventional flip-up doors that allow the pump operator to be shielded from rain and snow. He notes that the vehicle has power locks on all the doors, and a class 4 tow hitch with a 1,000-pound tongue weight and a 10,000-pound trailer weight. The hosebed holds 1,200 feet of 5-inch large diameter hose (LDH), 600 feet of 3-inch hose, 400 feet of 2-1/2-inch hose, and 800 feet of 1-3/4-inch hose.
Bunnell adds that the rescue-pumper carries its ground ladders on beam in a compartment on the right side of the rig, and has a 6-kilowatt Smart Power generator.
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.
