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| Western Taney’s Rosenbauer pumper/tanker was designed as a “do-it-all” apparatus. (Rosenbauer Photo) |
When people take a close look at the trucks Chief Chris Berndt designs for his department – the Western Taney County Fire Protection District in Branson, Mo. – the reaction is nearly always the same.
“They say they’re a little weird,” said Berndt. “There’s always something just a little different with them.”
The latest addition to his fleet, a 2008 Rosenbauer pumper/tanker, manufactured at the Central States plant, is no exception. The apparatus, built on a Spartan Gladiator cab and chassis, features a rear-mount pump with engaging controls both in the cab and at the pump panel in the left rear compartment. It also has twin priming systems that permit easy drafting from portable tanks while water is still being flowed from the on-board tank.
‘They Did It’
“We really wanted to have pump controls in two places,” Berndt said, “and Central States said they had never really done that kind of thing before, but they did it.”
The department’s design caught the eyes of Harold Boer, the president of Rosenbauer America, and founder of Central States. Boer believes Berndt’s designs often incorporate European ideas. He has built 15 trucks for Berndt in two different departments over the years, and each iteration was slightly different than the previous one.
Berndt, who grew up in Germany, said he was a firefighter cadet and served briefly as a volunteer in Germany. “I know trucks are a little different there,” he said.
Doing It All
In Missouri his department has 12 stations and is largely volunteer, supported by six full-time staffers, including clerical support people and mechanics. During daytime calls, he said he’s lucky to have three or four people respond, even with a roster of 80 members.
“If we got three people, each of them would be driving an apparatus, and they really couldn’t do anything,” Berndt said. “I really need something that can do it all, and that’s why we went to the pumper tanker combination.”
Berndt said the newest Rosenbauer/Central apparatus is the third generation pumper/tanker the company has built for Western Taney. In total, he said the company has built 10 for the department, most on commercial cabs and chassis, largely Freightliners.
The new unit is built on a Spartan custom cab and chassis, a first for Western Taney.
“I’m a big fan of commercial cabs and chassis, but we decided to go with a custom cab this time because we wanted the extra space and a shorter wheelbase,” Berndt said. So far, he said he and his members are very pleased with the decision, particularly because the cab is much lower, making access easier.
With a Darley 1,250-gpm pump and 1,500 gallons of water in a UPF tank, Berndt said the new pumper/tanker can make an effective initial attack on a house fire, even if there are only three people working.
“That amount of water will give the initial crew about 10 minutes of flowing an inch and three quarter line at 150 gallons per minute,” he said. Add to that a FoamPro Class A foam system and firefighting capabilities increase substantially, he said, while a 1,500-gallon tank keeps the unit at a single axle.
Because the apparatus also has to serve as a tanker, it’s equipped with two Newton dump valves, one on each side. The department would liked to have had one on the back too, but because it has a rear-mount pump, he said it was impossible to snake plumbing to accommodate a rear dump valve.
To overcome that deficiency, Berndt said he and department members decided to pump water off the back for tanker shuttles. That, he said, is the biggest reason for having dual pump controls. The one in the cab will allow the operator to discharge the tank water without leaving the apparatus.
Better Weight Distribution
“We can pump the full tank off in 75 seconds and never leave the cab,” he said, noting the discharge time is close to that achieved with a straight dump valve.
The dual controls also allow the pump operator to engage the pump in the cab, get out and flow water for suppression or disengage the pump from the pump panel if it’s not needed. Because the pump is pto-driven, he said it was possible to have two places for engagement and give the apparatus pump-and-roll capabilities.
The decision to order a rear-mount pumper was based on the need to keep the wheelbase short and get better weight distribution for improved handling on narrow roads in rural areas, he said.
Additionally, the department’s standard operating procedure is to set up portable tanks in the rear of the apparatus to keep one lane of road open if possible. So moving the pump to the rear seemed to be a logical evolution in the department’s specifications.
Because the apparatus is expected to operate in areas without hydrants, drafting is an important component of firefighting for the department, which protects a suburban area of Branson.
To make it easier to get draft, Berndt asked Rosenbauer to install a unique priming system. One is a standard primer typically found on pumpers, evacuating air from the pump. The other control evacuates air on the external side of the intake butterfly, taking air out of the hard suction.
Berndt said the design, which was his idea, allows the pump operator to flow water from the tank and establish draft from a static source without having to shut down either operation. When prime has been achieved in the hard suction, the butterfly on the intake valve is open, and water from the portable tank floods the pump.
Making It Simple
The design makes simple a procedure even the most experienced pump operators find challenging. “It works very, very well,” Berndt said.
He first made a connection with Central States when he was an assistant chief in Raymore, a suburb of Kansas City, Mo.
“I saw trucks they made, liked them and ended up buying five from them,” he said. At the time, Central States was not part of the Rosenbauer company.
When he became chief of the Western Taney department, he stuck with Central States and started ordering the first generation of his pumper/tanker in 1996, built on two-door and four-door Freightliner cabs and chassis, many of which are still in front-line service.
The need for do-it-all apparatus, he said, is partly based on the geography of the department’s coverage area, which is 212 square miles with a population of about 25,000. Three lakes split the community into fragments, he said, making it next to impossible to get from one part to another for an emergency response.
The department responds to about 1,800 calls annually with about 70 percent being medical calls, which are answered by first responders in privately owned vehicles. The department relies on a county ambulance service for patient transport.
Because it is a tourist area, the community is dotted with condominiums and resorts. The coverage area also includes a charcoal plant that has 8,000 gallons of lighter fluid on site for making easy light products for barbecue grills.
A commercial airport is also being constructed in his district with a scheduled opening in May. The facility will have its own crash/rescue department, but will require backup response from Western Taney.
“Growth has slowed some,” Berndt said, “but we’re still growing.”
As long as he is around, he said Rosenbauer/Central States will be the apparatus manufacturer of choice for the department.
“We’ve never had any problem with them,” he said. “They provide an excellent value… In fact, we have a twin to this one on order for delivery in May.”
The $331,640 unit was sold by Jack Graves, Hayes Fire Equipment, Hayes, Kan.
For information about Rosenbauer go to www.rosenbaueramerica.com.
Western Taney County Fire Protection District
Strength: Six career firefighters and support staff and 80 volunteers out of 12 stations providing fire and rescue coverage as well as medical aid at the First Responder level.
Service Area: 212 square miles with a population of about 25,000 and numerous condominiums and resorts in a suburb of Branson, Mo., a popular tourist destination. The community is split by three lakes and has a charcoal processing plant.
Other Apparatus: two 1984 FMC/GMC pumpers; a 1979 3D/Duplex pumper/tanker; two 1996 Central States/Freightliner pumpers; a 2000 Central States/Freightliner pumper; two 2001 Central States/Freightliner pumpers; two 2004 Central States/Freightliner pumpers; a 1997 FireMaster/Freightliner pumper; a 1976 Seagrave 100-foot aerial; a 1997 Luverne/Freightliner heavy rescue; two 1993 Central States/Freightliner tanker; a 1999 Central States/Freightliner tanker; four brush trucks; a 1984 FMC water rescue unit; a 2003 Freightliner hazmat unit with a Hessey body; five Ford Explorer chiefs vehicles; three utility pickup trucks; two boats; a rescue trailer; and an air and light trailer.
Rosenbauer/Central States Pumper/Tanker
Dimensions
- 183-inch wheelbase
- 31 feet long
Chassis
- Spartan Gladiator five-occupant cab and chassis
- Caterpillar C9 425-hp engine
- Allison 3000EVS transmission
- Jacobs engine brake
- 20,000-pound front axle rating
- 27,000-pound rear axle rating
Pumping Features
- Darley PSP rear-pto single-stage 1,250-gpm
- Pump and roll capabilities
- 1,500-gallon UPF tank
- Deck gun with radio controls in two positions
- Left and right side 10-inch Newton dump valves
- FoamPro Class A foam system with 30-gallon foam cell
- Two pump shift locations
- Front bumper crosslays
Other Features
- Code 3 LED warning lights and LED DOT lights
- Roll-up doors
- Fire Research Corporation 12-volt scene lights
- Automatic tire chains
- Federal Signal Q2 siren
- Rear-accessible ladder rack
- NFPA compliant hose bed for a pumper
- 1,000 feet of 5-inch supply hose
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