The Tolland (MA) Fire Department is an all-volunteer agency with 15 volunteer firefighters operating out of a single station covering nearly 33 square miles of a mostly rural fire district with only dry hydrants as water sources beyond the water they carry on their pumpers and tankers (tenders).
Jeff LaCasse, Tolland Fire’s deputy chief and chair of its apparatus committee, says Tolland wanted to replace a 1996 custom cab Spartan Laverne engine, which had been donated to the department, with a new rig that could function as a rescue-pumper and also carry a significant amount of water. LaCasse says the department went to Jon Cares, chief executive officer of Granite Fire Apparatus Inc., who sat down with the committee, learned its particular needs, and offered a rescue-pumper with a large water tank built by 4 Guys Fire Trucks.
Cares points out that the Tolland apparatus committee, “Wanted to carry more water than usual, wanted a bigger pump than typical, a top-mount, and a foam system on the vehicle. The resulting rig is on a Spartan Metro Star chassis and cab with a 10-inch raised roof and seating for six firefighters, five of those in H.O. Bostrom 500 SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) seats.” Cares adds that the rescue-pumper is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
Mark Brenneman, assistant sales manager for 4 Guys, says the Tolland rescue-pumper carries a Waterous CSUC20 2,000-gallons-per-minute (gpm) top-mount pump, a 1,250-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 20-gallon integral foam tank, and a Hale Products FoamLogix 2.1 foam proportioning system. “The vehicle has an air-actuated 5-inch rear suction with a 6-inch Storz coupling,” Brenneman says, “a four-inch discharge on the left side of the rig with a 5-inch Storz coupling, and three speed lays, two with 200 feet of 1-3/4-inch hose each, and one with 200 feet of 2-1/2-inch hose.” Wheelbase on the rescue-pumper is 229 inches, overall length is 34 feet 11 inches, and overall height is 10 feet 6-1/2-inches.
LaCasse points out that the rescue-pumper carries Amkus battery-powered hydraulic tools, and in the hose bed, 1,500 feet of 4-inch LDH (large-diameter hose), and 300 feet of 3-inch hose fitted with a Task Force Tips Blitzfire nozzle. He adds that the rig has two 100-foot 1-3/4-inch hose lines in the two running boards, and an Akron Brass deck gun. “All of our discharges are foam capable,” LaCasse says. “We use foam on all our structure fires because we are so water limited. Anything we can do to conserve water use is helpful.”
LaCasse adds that other elements which were important to the department on the new rescue-pumper were a low hose bed, giving the truck a lower center of gravity, the top-mount pump panel, and ladders housed inside the body of the rig. “We wanted the hose bed and speed lays as low as possible because we didn’t want our firefighters climbing on the truck, since their average age is 50,” LaCasse says. “Also, with that amount of water, we wanted to keep the vehicle’s center of gravity as low as possible. We wanted the ladders run through the center of the tank so they wouldn’t be on top of the truck and snag on low hanging trees in our wooded lanes, and the top-mount pump panel was important to us for our pump operator’s visibility on a fire scene.”
Cares says that the rescue-pumper has a Will-Burt folding light tower, all Whelen LED emergency lighting, Whelen LED 9000 series scene lighting on the body and the cab, a Whelen LED traffic advisor, and a Hi Viz FireTech LED brow light. The rig also has a 10-kilowatt Smart Power hydraulic generator, On Spot automatic snow chains, a suction hose compartment in the hose bed, an oil dry hopper in the driver side wheel well, an electric rewind reel for 150 feet of electric cord, a rear camera system, and an EMS (emergency medical services) cabinet with a rollup door in the crew cab.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Ariz.-based journalist, the author of three novels and five non-fiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial advisory board. He served 22 years with Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including the position of chief.
