Navajo Nation (AZ) Fire and Rescue Services (NNFRS) covers an area of 27 square miles (17.5 million acres), roughly the size of the state of West Virginia, encompassing land in three Western States: Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico.
The Navajo Nation has eight fire districts in its territory including Arizona-based stations in Window Rock, Fort Defiance, Tuba City, Chinle, and Twin Arrows, and New Mexico-based stations in Shiprock, Newcomb, and Ojo Amarillo.
(Photo courtesy of Navajo Nation Fire and Rescue Services.)
NNFRS Chief Larry Chee said he was faced with delivering fire protection, technical rescue, hazardous materials response, and emergency medical services (EMS) to the Navajo Nation with an aging fleet of hodgepodge vehicles. When the Nation’s Division of Motor Vehicles decided to purchase new fire vehicles, he became immersed in the specifications process with the division.
“Sometimes, it takes 45 minutes to get to an emergency scene,” Chee points out, “because of distance and the fact that about 70 percent of our roads are not paved, graveled, or maintained regularly. Often, our calls are in remote mountain or desert areas, with a lot of structure fire calls way off the highway. We have four seasons in the Nation, and 80 percent of our district is off the grid, so we have to make sure our fire vehicles can handle the terrain, which is why we went with four-wheel drive on all of our new fire trucks.”
Mike Todd, fire apparatus sales engineer for Velocity Fire Equipment, says NNFRS met with Velocity sales staff and were impressed with the Rosenbauer Avenger chassis. “Their eyes lit up when they saw the Avenger,” Todd says. “Although it’s a very modern design, it’s the right fit for the Nation, which had been running very basic commercial chassis and cab pumpers with no frills.”
The Navajo Nation had Rosenbauer build three Avenger four-wheel drive rescue-pumpers and four four-wheel drive Timberwolf pumpers, which are designed to meet the requirements of a Type 1 structural pumper and a Type 3 off-road wildland engine.
Each Avenger rescue-pumper is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Features include a Rosenbauer NH 1,250-gallons per minute (gpm) pump, a 900-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, and a Task Force Tips Monsoon deck gun. The wheelbase on each Avenger is 215 inches; the overall length is 34 feet, 4 inches; and the overall height is 10 feet, 10 inches.
Chee points out that each Avenger can handle both fire suppression and rescue type calls. “Besides all the fire suppression equipment, each rescue-pumper is equipped with a battery-operated rescue tools consisting of a cutter, spreader, and rams as well as an assortment of saws and medical jump bags,” he says.
Each Timberwolf wildland urban interface (WUI) pumpers is built on a Freightliner M2-106 four door 4×4 chassis and cab, powered by a 350-hp Cummins L9 diesel engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, and carries a Rosenbauer NH 1,250-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 30-gallon foam cell, an Elkhart Brass Sidewinder monitor on the front bumper, and ground sweep nozzles under the front bumper and on each side of the rig. The wheelbase on each Timberwolf is 196 inches; overall length is 29 feet, 3 inches; and overall height is 10 feet, 7 inches.
Chee notes that the Navajo Nation is so pleased with the performance of the Avenger and Timberwolf pumpers that it ordered two more Avengers, two more Timberwolfs, two mini-pumpers, and two Type 6 engines from Rosenbauer.
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.
