SVI/Seagrave Builds Heavy Rescue for Earleigh Heights (MD)

Apparatus Ideas BOB VACCARO

On April 18, 1918, a meeting was held at the home of Joseph Urban of Earleigh Heights, MD, for the purpose of establishing a volunteer fire department.

A slate of officers was selected, and the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company was formed with 14 members, no station, and no equipment, with a grand total of $2.50 in its treasury.

Fast forward 104 years, and the fire company has a much different appearance with a new, modern station on Ritchie Highway and a roster of 154 members, of which 75 are active with the company’s day-to-day operations.

The Earleigh Heights company has been a leader in change in the design of its modern-day apparatus and, like most fire departments, it has experienced a great deal of change over the years.

• Departments Going Smaller with Rescues, but Heavy Rescues Still Popular
• Honolulu’s New Twin Heavy-Rescues
• Apparatus Purchasing: Specs and Heavy Rescues
• Fire Departments, Builders Weigh in on Big vs. Small Rescue Trucks
• Traditional Rescue Trucks Remain Popular with Fire Departments

For most of the past three years, the members of the fire company have been working on a new squad vehicle, and they decided it was time for something different.

“The previous squad was 20 years old and was due to be replaced,” says David Crawford, Earleigh Heights fire chief and chairman of the truck committee. “Our fire company had outgrown it, and we needed new space not only for current equipment but space if we wanted to add any new equipment in the future.”

The department members checked out several manufacturers during the specification process but decided to go with SVI when it came to making final decisions, Crawford says.

“Since we had previous experience with SVI, our fire company decided to go with them,” Crawford says. “We felt they were a qualified manufacturer for building strong bodies, and we went with Seagrave for its strong cabs and chassis as well.”

Crawford explains that because Earleigh Heights is a private company, its members were not forced to take the lowest bid, even though bids were sought.

“We do have to meet the county’s specs for squad and truck company operations and must carry the basic complement of tools and equipment, but we greatly exceeded that requirement with this build,” Crawford adds. “Our committee, which is blended with career and volunteer members, came up with the specs and then sent them to the county chief of logistics for approval and suggestions.” Crawford adds that the logistics chief has the right to make changes as needed and then submits the documents for the purchase of the apparatus.

“This purchase was all about quality and functionality, and these two manufacturers gave us what we wanted,” Crawford says. “This new squad gave us more compartment space overall. It is higher, not longer, than the old squad. We didn’t want the vehicle to be any longer than we had in the past, since we have a great deal of tight streets and the vehicle had to be highly maneuverable to operate in our response district.”

Crawford explains the department decided to buy a walk-in body and chose Hurst eDraulic extrication tools on both sides of the apparatus and Paratech struts in a transverse compartment. The department members also purchased SVI’s newer and lighter electric ventilation fans and selected a simplified light tower with LED body-mounted scene lighting to provide lighting for operations.

“Our response district is pretty diverse,” Crawford says. “Not only do we have the normal single-family dwellings, apartments, and strip shopping centers, but we also respond to the U.S. Naval Academy, BWI Airport, NSA, and Fort Meade, which are considerable target hazards for us.”

Other hazards, according to Crawford, include a large number of heavily traveled roadways, including the Beltway around Washington, DC. “We also support all the other fire departments for special operations in the surrounding areas,” he adds.

“The design and building of this vehicle had to take all of the above into account,” he says.

Crawford says the Earleigh Heights members visited the SVI plant in Colorado when the Seagrave chassis was delivered to go over the body design and mounting details. Firefighters returned when the truck was 90 percent complete to finalize compartment designs and tool mounting, he adds.

“What was great for us was that we had the budget to purchase all new equipment and tools for the squad and had SVI perform all the mounting for us,” Crawford says, adding that he and his committee had a great working relationship with the local dealer, SVI, and Seagrave throughout the whole acquisition process.

“We were really pleased with the final result,” he says.

The Earleigh Heights Volunteer Fire Company put a great deal of effort into the design of its new squad. Its members planned well in advance and designed a vehicle that would support them now and well into the future. While they had to deal with two different manufacturers, both companies worked well to give them a highly functional and maneuverable heavy rescue to use in their immediate response district as well as the surrounding counties.

While many departments in the country may not be able to purchase all new equipment for mounting in their new vehicles, make sure what you have currently fits in the compartments without causing the vehicle to be overweight (use the National Fire Protection Association 1901 Appendix Weight Calculator to figure this out) and also plan some additional space for the future if you can.

You will never go wrong with proper planning for your needs in advance rather than playing catch-up after the fact.

---

BOB VACCARO has more than 40 years of fire service experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (NY) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol, and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. He is a life member of the IAFC.