By Mike Ciampo
Hillsborough Township sits about mid-center in the state of New Jersey in Somerset County. Located about 55 miles from New York City, it is considered a suburb and part of the metropolitan area.
The township sits in the Raritan Valley and is located not far from the Raritan River and heavily-traveled Route 287. The township is full of single-family dwellings, townhouses, condominiums, large commercial properties and numerous strip malls and shopping plazas. In 2021, the 55-square-mile township celebrated its 250th anniversary.
The Hillsborough Fire District provides fire protection to the residents and visitors with career and volunteer staff. The career firefighters provide staffing and supplements the volunteer force Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. The district also conducts all of the fire inspections according to the NJ Uniform Fire Code, manages all of the fire district’s administrative duties and conducts all of the fire cause and origin investigations. The career staff is also certified to the level of EMT or EMR through the NJ Department of Health, swiftwater rescue and extrication technicians. Many of the personnel are also certified as fire and arson investigators. In addition to the career staff, the township is served by three volunteer fire companies within the township and also contracts with the neighboring Neshanic Fire Department.
Flagtown is an unincorporated community located in Hillsborough and is home of the Hillsborough Volunteer Fire Company 1, one of the three volunteer companies serving the township. The company is the first fire department formed in Township. In 1937, seven members of the Township Board of Trade met and decided that the township needed its own fire company due to an increase of fires in the area. The following year the department received its charter and bought its first fire engine that year for $475 from another department. A used chemical engine was bought and nine years later, they bought a surplus army truck and turned it into another fire apparatus.
Like many fire departments, start up involved high costs and to build a firehouse was a difficult process, especially during the World War years. Originally, the engines were stored in a garage at the Clawson Machine Shop for the first eight years. Luckily in 1946 lumber was donated by Doris Duke, a tobacco heiress who lived in the area, and construction began on the firehouse. Over the years the building has been renovated to allow more bays for other apparatus and to meet the needs of the department. Another historic note about the company is they are known as “Mean and Green”, due to its apparatus paint scheme. Their earlier rigs used to be painted pine green and not red, nowadays the color is more of a fluorescent lime green and almost yellow, which makes them stand out.
The department operates a unique fire apparatus. Brush Unit 36 is used for brush fires and off-road incidents. The chassis is a 2015 Ford 4×4 F450 Super Cab with a 6.7L V8 Power Stroke diesel engine. The cab is painted black and has two green reflective stripes on it. The aluminum flatbed conversion was created by 1st Attack Engineering, Inc. out of Waterloo (IN). This company has a very interesting history in that its owner Jeffrey Cook originally started working in his father’s auto body repair and paint shop at a young age. After graduating high school, he attended a trade and technical school and after graduating with honors, he began building custom four-wheel-drive vehicles. In 1991, he joined the volunteer fire service and in 1995 due to his interests in firefighting and apparatus, he built his first brush fire unit. Soon after the delivery, he received many accolades and that inspired him to start designing and developing safer and more efficient emergency vehicles. In 1999, he formed 1st Attack and began building quality fire apparatus for many departments.
Brush Unit 36 is an aluminum flatbed conversion that is comprised of a deck, back-rack safety railing and storage compartments. There are two gear and equipment compartments on each side of the body and one located in the rear, under the pump and tank. That compartment holds 150 feet of 1 ¾” hose, 25 feet of 3” hose and an assortment of brush brooms, brush rakes, shovels, hooks and firefighting tools.
Sitting on top of the deck is a 250 gallon APR Custom Copolymer NFPA water tank. The pump is a 125 GPM 13 horse power Darley Davey Vanguard fire pump powered by a Honda GX 390 motor. Also tied into the pump is a Scotty Around the Pump 5-gallon foam cell. On both sides of the rear deck sit an electric Reelcraft hose reel with 200 feet of 200 PSI rated ¾” hose. These lines are equipped with C&S 1st Attack pistol grip nozzles flowing between 10 to 23 GPMS. Sitting on the top of the tank is flexible suction hose so the rig can draft water to fill its tank or pump from a body of water.
Mounted on the front of the rig in the area of the front brush guard are four 6 GPM ground sweep nozzles. Also mounted there is a skid plate, four off-road lights, light bar and a 2” receiver hitch. On the officer’s side of the rig, just behind the cab and under the deck, a Super Winch is mounted. It can be moved to the 2” rear receiver hitch with reinforcements to the front receiver. The emergency lighting package is compromise of a Whelen 56” Justice LED light bar with take down lights on the cab, side alley lights with read rear and Whelen lenz6 LED strobe lights around the vehicle. A Carson Siren SA500 provides audible warning for the vehicle. To assist Brush Unit 36 operate in rough terrain, the vehicle has a 4” suspension lift kit and had Super Single Wheels with Mickey Thompson Baja Claw Radial 36×15.5×20 tires.
Brush Unit 36 gives the department the flexibility to run brush fires off the road and perform rescues in hard to reach areas. The rig also allows the department to trek through deep snow during storms. Overall, the rig gives the department flexibility when calls occur in unusual terrain.
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 37-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant in the Fire Department of New York. Previously, he served with the District of Columbia Fire Department. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. He is the lead instructor for the FDIC International Truck Essentials H.O.T. program. He wrote the Ladders and Ventilation chapters for Fire Engineering’s Handbook for Firefighter I and II (Fire Engineering, 2009) and the Bread and Butter Portable Ladders DVD and is featured in “Training Minutes” truck company videos on www.FireEngineering.com. In addition, he wrote the textbook: Tower Ladder, Tactic, Tips &Tales available at mikeciampo.com
