The Osakis Fire Department covers a fire district that includes the towns of Osakis, Nelson, and West Union, as well as all or parts of seven townships in Douglas and Todd counties, providing fire suppression, rescue, and first responder emergency medical services (EMS) to a total population of approximately 3,500 people.
Travis Middendorf, chief of Osakis Fire, says the department operates out of a single station with 20 volunteer firefighters that crew a first line engine, a back-up engine, three tankers (tenders), two one-ton brush trucks, a rescue truck, an Argo utility terrain vehicle (UTV), and a 16-foot aluminum rescue boat.
“We needed to replace a rescue truck that was more than 25 years old,” Middendorf observes. “It had served us well but we needed a new rescue, so we went to CustomFIRE to build it. This is the third vehicle we’ve done with CustomFIRE.”
Middendorf notes that storage space on the new rescue was of paramount importance. “We needed a lot of space for our hydraulic extrication tools because we have a big stretch of an interstate in our district,” he says. “We also needed storage for our grain bin rescue equipment, and wanted a walk-in rescue truck that could carry firefighters in a crew cab, yet not sacrifice storage space in the walk-around part of the truck.”
Wayde Kirvida, sales engineer for CustomFIRE, says the walk-in rescue truck his company built for Osakis Fire is on a Freightliner M2 106 commercial chassis and cab with seating for five firefighters, four of them in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats. The crew cab also has a forward mounted console with upper storage and charging for hand lights and portable radios, EMS equipment, as well as an apartment size Dometic CRX 140S refrigerator for firefighter rehab.
Kirvida points out that the rescue has a 39,000-pound gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), a stainless steel sub frame, a stainless steel body of concealed bolted construction, and roll-up compartment doors. The rescue is powered by a 360-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
Middendorf says the rescue carries the department’s HURST Jaws of Life® eDraulic® spreader, cutter and medium ram on a roll-out tray in the rig’s back compartment, and two coffin compartments on top of the rescue hold spill kits, ice rescue equipment, portable emergency roadway signs, and extra traffic cones, all accessed by a folding ladder at the right rear of the truck.
The driver’s side of the rescue has an under-seating compartment that holds SCBA air bottles and extra turnout gear, while the L1 compartment has cribbing, rescue struts, short pike poles, backboards, shovels and cordless tools.
The L2 compartment, Middendorf notes, is transverse over the wheel wells and has roll-out trays holding, on top, ice rescue suits, and below, a short ladder, pike poles, axes, shovels and a portable fire extinguisher. There is SCBA air bottle storage in front of the rear wheels, and extra SCBA packs behind the wheels on both sides of the truck.
The L3 compartment holds chain saws, both gasoline powered and battery powered, cordless and gas powered cutoff saws, gas cans, oil cans, extra chains, and cutoff wheels.
Middendorf points out that the R1 compartment has EMS jump bags and equipment, bio-hazard cleanup equipment and mass casualty gear; the R2 compartment is transverse; and the R3 compartment holds chimney cleanout tools, portable cribbing, both corded and cordless portable lighting, two electric cord reels, and a 15-kW Onan Protect generator.
Kirvida adds that the rescue has folding style wheel chocks, Zico drop-extension and raise-extract upper body steps, adjustable shelf tracks, removable interior compartment bulkheads, drop-in storage pods, pull-out compartment trays, a Gast air compressor, an eight-cylinder SCBA storage rack, a Pro-Vision® rear view camera, a Whelen electronic siren, a Federal Q2B siren, and an Ecco back-up alarm.
Lighting on the CustomFIRE walk-in rescue includes TecNiq warning lights, LED aerodynamic marker lights, LED step lights, a Roto-Ray LED warning light, a Whelen Edge Ultra Freedom IV LED light bar, under cab and underbody LED lighting, Whelen Pioneer Plus LED flood/spot lights, Fire Research Spectra LED scene lights, a Whelen LED traffic advisor, and a Will-Burt Night Scan light tower in a recessed stowage area.
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.
