The Hagaman Fire Department covers a village, a town fire district, and parts of three counties in upstate New York, northwest of Albany. The department had a 1997 Freightliner walk-in heavy rescue that needed to be replaced, so the chief formed a truck committee of four firefighters, headed by the department’s assistant chief.
“We try to replace one vehicle every 10 years, and it was well past time to replace our heavy rescue truck, which had served as a rescue, command, and rehab truck,” says Hagaman Chief Eric Sandy. “The officers gave the truck committee some information of what we wanted to see on the new vehicle, and the committee took it from there. Some of the things we needed on the rescue were a cascade system and fill station, a generator, a light tower, space for hydraulic rescue tools and struts, and an emergency medical services (EMS) cabinet inside the cab. The overall length of the truck was restricted to a maximum of 36 feet because of the length of our station’s apparatus bays, and we wanted the vehicle built on a single rear axle.”
Jody Carden, Hagaman’s assistant chief and truck committee chair, says the committee decided it didn’t want a rear-access walk-in like its previous rescue truck, so it chose to spec a walk-around body with a walk-in area behind the crew cab that would hold an air bottle fill station. “What was designed was a two-bottle fill station inside the walk-in area, with a 12-bottle rack on the curb side of the vehicle that has access from both inside and outside,” Carden says. “Firefighters could put used bottles head-in in the rack, and the truck operator could fill them and return them to the rack, head-out.”
1 Rescue 1 built this walk-in/walk-around heavy rescue for the Hagaman (NY) Fire Department. (Photos courtesy of Rescue 1.)
department
Hagaman (NY) Fire Department
Strength: 43 volunteer firefighters, one station.
Service area: Covers the Village of Hagaman; Town of Amsterdam Fire District No. 2; and parts of Fulton, Schenectady, and Montgomery Counties for fire suppression, rescue, and first response EMS.
Other apparatus: 2018 Smeal pumper, 2,000-gpm pump, 500-gallon water tank, 20-gallon foam tank; 2012 Toyne pumper, 1,500-gpm pump, 750-gallon water tank, 20-gallon foam tank; 2006 Smeal 85-foot aerial platform quint, 2,000-gpm pump, 500-gallon water tank; 1991 Freightliner tanker, 500-gpm pump, 2,500-gallon water tank; 2008 Chevy Suburban for EMS first response; utility pickup with fire prevention safety trailer.
2 The heavy rescue is built on a Sutphen Monarch chassis with 73-inch extended cab and is powered by a Cummins 450-hp engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
3 The walk-in area at the back of the rescue’s cab holds a two-bottle Space Saver fill station and a 12-bottle rack (lower left of photo) that allows bottle access from both inside and outside.
specs
Rescue 1 Heavy Rescue
- Sutphen Monarch chassis with 73-inch extended cab and seating for six firefighters, five in SCBA seats
- Rescue 1 20-foot heavy duty extruded aluminum body
- Wheelbase: 223 inches
- Overall length: 34 feet 2 inches
- Overall height: 10 feet 10 inches
- Cummins 450-hp L9 diesel engine
- Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission
- Command Light LED light tower
- Harrison 20-kW hydraulic generator
- Air cascade system with two-bottle Space Saver fill station
4 Rescue 1 built the heavy rescue on a 223-inch wheelbase with an overall length of 34 feet 2 inches to meet the department’s requirement for a vehicle less than 36 feet long.
5 The heavy rescue carries a wide assortment of heavy duty aluminum slide-out trays, adjustable shelves, tool boards, and tilt-down trays.
Dan McAllister, sales representative for Vander Mollen Fire Apparatus Sales & Service, who sold the heavy rescue to Hagaman, says the department saw a heavy rescue that Rescue 1 built for the city of Albany and became interested in the body style on that rig. “We took them to Albany to demo the rescue and also to the Syracuse (NY) Fire Department, which has a Sutphen chassis and cab with a Rescue 1 body,” McAllister says. “Because they wanted an air fill station inside their new truck, we went with a 20-foot body, which also allows them enough space for their extrication and rescue equipment and also space for them to expand their capabilities in the future.”
Brad Turk, Rescue 1’s regional sales manager, says Hagaman’s heavy rescue is built on a Sutphen Monarch chassis with 73-inch extended cab and 24-inch Vista raised roof with seating for six firefighters [five in self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats] powered by a Cummins 450-horsepower (hp) L9 engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. The walk-in area that holds a Space Saver two-bottle fill station and a Sierra booster pump is accessed from the back of the crew cab, he notes, and the four ASME 6,000-pound-per-square-inch (psi) air bottles are located in two coffin compartments on the roof of the vehicle.
Turk says Rescue 1 kept the heavy rescue under the maximum length set by Hagaman, with the rig coming in at 34 feet 2 inches long on a 223-inch wheelbase, with an overall height of 10 feet 10 inches. “The heavy rescue has a Harrison 20-kW hydraulic generator, two Hannay electric cord reels with each holding 200 feet of 10/3 electric cord, and a Command Light CL602A-FX light tower with six FRC Spectra MAX 28,000-lumen LED light heads.” Turk points out.
Other lighting on the unit includes a Whelen Freedom IV LED light bar, a Whelen LED brow light, a Whelen LED traffic advisor, Whelen M6 and M9 series LED warning lights, and Whelen Pioneer LED recessed scene lights, Turk adds, along with AMDOR LED red and white compartment lights.
Turk says the Hagaman rescue has a 15-foot recessed electric awning on the officer’s side of the rig; Reese receivers around the truck; upper body rigging and rope tie-off points; a Fort Garry Fire Trucks folding ladder on the rear for access to the top of the rig; AMDOR painted roll-up doors over the compartments; lower skirt compartments for extra storage space; and heavy duty aluminum slide-out trays, adjustable shelves, tool boards, and tilt-down trays.
Sandy notes that with the 20-foot body, the department has plenty of room for its battery-operated Holmatro hydraulic rescue tools, rescue jacks and struts, cribbing, hand power tools, and rope rescue equipment.
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.
