The Lower St. Croix Valley Fire Department runs two CustomFIRE pumpers and one CustomFIRE pumper-tanker in its fleet, so when it needed to replace an engine, it again turned to CustomFIRE for a new rescue-pumper.
Jim Stanley, Lower St. Croix Valley’s chief, says the department wanted to duplicate its previous 2015 rescue-pumper but with a couple of important changes.
“We went to an enclosed pump panel instead of an exposed side-mount panel because of the highways where we respond,” Stanley says. “We didn’t want our engineer exposed on the traffic side of the pumper when on the road. The other major change that we made was to have our ground ladders mounted in a rack on the right side of the rescue-pumper instead of in a tunnel through the water tank as on our previous rig.”
Wayde Kirvida, sales engineer for CustomFIRE, says the rescue-pumper constructed for Lower St. Croix Valley is built on a Spartan Gladiator chassis and 24-inch raised roof cab with seating for six firefighters, five in H.O. Bostrom self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats. The interior of the crew cab has an emergency medical services (EMS) cabinet at the end of the engine tunnel and three camera monitors to provide all-around viewing for the operator in the enclosed pump panel area. Video is provided by a Pro-Vision five-camera system, showing all four sides of the vehicle as well as the roof and deck gun area.
1 CustomFIRE built this rescue-pumper on a Spartan Gladiator chassis and 24-inch raised roof cab for the Lower St. Croix Valley (MN) Fire Department. (Photos courtesy of CustomFIRE.)
2 It is powered by a 450-hp Cummins L 9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
DEPARTMENT
Lower St. Croix Valley (MN) Fire Department
Strength: One paid fire chief, 28 on-call firefighters; one station.
Service area: Provides fire suppression, EMS, and rescue services to five cities in a 30-square-mile area that includes considerable rural areas and also the St. Croix River with two large marinas.
Other apparatus: 2015 CustomFIRE rescue-pumper, 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm) pump, 750-gallon water tank, 30-gallon foam tank; 2008 CustomFIRE pumper-tender (tanker), 750-gpm pump, 2,400-gallon water tank; 2004 CustomFIRE rescue-pumper, 1,500-gpm pump, 750-gallon water tank, compressed-air foam system; two Chevy one-ton brush trucks, 350-gpm pumps, 200-gallon water tanks; Chevy utility pickup hauling a dive trailer; two duty officer Chevy Tahoe SUVs.
He notes the wheelbase on the rig is 207 inches, overall length is 34 feet 5 inches, and overall height is 11 feet. “The rescue-pumper has a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L 9 diesel engine, an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, and a 48,500-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR),” Kirvida says.
The rescue-pumper has a Waterous CMC20 1,500-gallon per minute (gpm) midship-mounted pump with a top-mount enclosed pump panel, a 750-gallon UPF Poly® water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, a FoamPro 2001 single-agent foam system, a Waterous oil-less pump primer, and a FRC PUMP BOSS pressure governor. The rig has four six-inch suction inlets, in the front, rear, and one on each side, each with suction preprime.
For discharges, Stanley says the CustomFIRE rescue-pumper has two 250-foot 1¾-inch hose crosslays, a front bumper discharge with an enclosed electric Hannay reel holding 175 feet of Niedner’s Reeltex lightweight flexible 1¾-inch rigid hose, a 2½-inch discharge on the driver’s side, a 2½-inch and 4-inch discharge on the officer’s side, a 5-inch large-diameter hose (LDH) rear discharge, and a top deluge discharge to a Task Force Tips 1,500-gpm Typhoon monitor. Stanley adds that the hosebed holds 1,000 feet of 5-inch LDH and along each side of the main hosebed 750 feet of 2½-inch hose and 500 feet of 3-inch hose. The hosebed is covered by a hinged aluminum hosebed cover.
3 It has an enclosed top-mount pump panel for the rig’s Waterous CMC20 1,500-gpm midship pump.
4 For equipment, it has pull-out and drop-down trays and pull-out and swing-out tool boards. The rig also has a two-drawer custom toolbox.
SPECS
CustomFIRE Enclosed Top-Mount Rescue-Pumper
- Spartan Gladiator chassis and cab with seating for 6 firefighters, 5 in H.O. Bostrom SCBA seats
- 450-hp Cummins L 9 diesel engine
- Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission
- Waterous CMUC20 1,500-gpm midship pump
- 750-gallon UPF Poly® water tank
- 30-gallon foam cell
- FoamPro 2001 single-agent foam system
- Front bumper extension with fire hose reel enclosure
- Harrison 6-kW hydraulic generator
- Will-Burt NightScan light tower
- Whelen LED light bar, warning lights, and scene lights
- Whelen electronic siren and speaker
- Opticom traffic control
5 The equipment loading on the officer’s side of the rescue-pumper.
6 The rescue-pumper has a swing-down ladder rack. The department’s previous rig had a through-the-tank ladder tunnel.
7 The rescue-pumper’s hosebed holds 1,000 feet of 5-inch LDH and on each side of the main hosebed 750 feet of 2½-inch hose and 500 feet of 3-inch hose.
Stanley notes that the department was originally considering the purchase of an aerial quint but changed its mind and went with a second rescue-pumper and, with the funds saved between the cost difference of an aerial and pumper, purchased a 21-foot fire/rescue boat by Connor Industries/Stanley, with a drop-down bow, 300-hp engine, and 500-gpm pump. “That boat replaces a Boston Whaler and a Zodiac, two former Minnesota Department of Natural Resources boats that had outlived their useful lives,” he says.
Other features on the CustomFIRE rescue-pumper, Kirvida points out, include adjustable compartment shelving, a two-drawer custom toolbox, pull-out and pull-out tip-down compartment trays, swing-out tool panels and pull-out tool boards, removable speedlay hosebeds, slide-in suction storage, wheel well SCBA cylinder and wheel chock storage, pike pole storage on the drop-down ladder rack, and a speedy dry dispenser.
Stanley adds that all the tools carried on the new CustomFIRE rescue-pumper are battery powered, including a Genesis Rescue Systems combi tool. Other battery-powered tools on the rig are a smoke extractor, a Sawzall, a circular saw, a grinder, and a chain saw. The rescue-pumper has a Harrison 6-kW hydraulic generator, and the vehicle’s lighting includes a Will-Burt NightScan light tower and Whelen warning lights, light bar, and scene lighting. The rig also has a Whelen electronic siren and speaker and an Opticom traffic control system.
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.
