The South Chicago Heights (IL) Fire Department protects the 1½-square-mile village of South Chicago Heights in South Cook County, Illinois, and its 4,000 permanent residents with two paid firefighters, a paid chief, and 32 paid on-call firefighters operating out of a single station.
The department determined it needed a new rescue-pumper to replace an engine that went out of service that was subsequently sold, and the department started researching manufacturers.
After getting the good news of receiving an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG), the department went to Sourcewell, a cooperative purchasing organization, and chose Spartan Emergency Response to build its new rig.
“Our village is about 20 minutes south of the city of Chicago, with a 50/50 mix of residential and commercial structures as well as a pretty decent size industrial area,” says Chad Vliestra, South Chicago Heights chief. “We have three schools, an air gas transport facility, and two main thoroughfares running through the middle of town, and our daytime population swells to 15,000 people when the industrial and commercial locations fill up.”
Vliestra says that South Chicago Heights operates a 2004 Crimson pumper-tanker and two American Emergency Vehicles (AEV) ambulances. “We are extremely pleased with the performance of the Crimson pumper-tanker on a Spartan chassis, so we leaned toward Spartan Emergency Response to build our new rescue-pumper,” he points out. “We went with a 2,250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump on the new engine so that we would hit the 3,000-gpm Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating with two engines. We’re fortunate to have a really good water system in the village, so we’re sure we’ll be able to feed the new pump to the maximum.”
1 Spartan Emergency Response built this rescue-pumper on a Spartan Metro Star chassis and LFD cab with seating for five firefighters for the South Chicago Heights (IL) Fire Department. (Photos courtesy of Spartan Emergency Response.)
department
South Chicago Heights (IL) Fire Department
Strength: One full-time paid firefighter, one part-time paid firefighter, a full-time paid chief, 32 paid on-call firefighters, one station.
Service Area: Provides fire, rescue, and EMS response to the 1½-square-mile village of South Chicago Heights in Cook County, Illinois, that is approximately half residential and half commercial and industrial areas.
Other Apparatus: 2004 Crimson pumper-tanker, 1,250-gpm pump, 1,000-gallon water tank; 2018 American Emergency Vehicles (AEV) ambulance; 2014 AEV ambulance.
2 The South Chicago Heights rescue-pumper has a Waterous CSU 2,250-gpm pump, a UPF Poly 750-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, and an Elkhart Brass model 240-125 125-gpm eductor foam unit.
3 The rescue-pumper’s hosebed holds 1,050 feet of 5-inch LDH, 400 feet of 2½-inch dead lay, and 300 feet of preconnected 2½-inch hose with a Task Force Tips Blitzfire monitor.
4 The extended front bumper carries 150 feet of preconnected 1¾-inch hose and a 5-inch intake.
Darwin Kampa, Spartan Emergency Response account manager, says the rescue-pumper is on a Spartan Metro Star chassis and LFD cab with seating for five firefighters, four of them in H.O. Bostrom self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats; an emergency medical services (EMS) cabinet with a refrigerator; and a 21,500-pound front axle with an air-ride independent front suspension and a 27,000-pound rear axle and an air-ride Hendrickson FireMax rear suspension that allows the vehicle to kneel up to eight inches, improving hosebed loading height and climbing access.
Kampa points out the rescue-pumper has a Waterous CSU 2,250-gpm side-mount pump, a UPF Poly® 750-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, and an Elkhart Brass model 240-125 125-gpm eductor foam unit. Wheelbase on the rig is 215 inches, overall length is 34 feet 6 inches, and overall height is 10 feet 2 inches.
5 The compartments on the rescue-pumper have slide-out trays and roll-out tool boards.
specs
Spartan Emergency Response Side-Mount Rescue-Pumper
- Spartan Metro Star LFD cab and chassis with seating for five firefighters
- EMS compartment with refrigerator
- Cummins 450-hp L9 engine
- Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission
- Waterous CSU 2,250-gpm pump
- UPF Poly® 750-gallon polypropylene water tank
- 30-gallon foam cell
- Elkhart Brass model 240-125 125-gpm eductor foam unit
The rescue-pumper has three speedlays (two with 250 feet each of 1¾-inch hose and one with 250 feet of 2½-inch hose) and 150 feet of preconnected 1¾-inch hose in the extended front bumper—all foam-capable; a 5-inch intake on the front bumper; and an Akron Brass deck gun.
Vliestra notes that there are a number of garden style apartments in the department’s coverage area, so it chose to have a 28-foot two-section extension ladder on the rig, along with a 14-foot roof ladder and 10-foot folding attic ladder in the enclosed ladder tunnel. “Our hosebed holds 1,050 feet of 5-inch large-diameter hose (LDH), 400 feet of 2½-inch hose dead lay, and 300 feet of preconnected 2½-inch hose with a Task Force Tips Blitzfire monitor,” he says.
The top of the rescue-pumper has four coffin compartments, Vliestra says, and a container under the hosebed cover that holds a Stokes basket. The rig has Spartan Emergency Response’s Smart Storage in the wheel wells, roll-out trays and tool boards in the compartments, and a transverse compartment under the seats at the back of the cab.
Kampa says that the rescue-pumper has Whelen LED warning lights, a Whelen F4N72 LED light bar, and HiViz FireTech LED headlights and scene lighting.
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.
