About 15 years ago, the New Rochelle (NY) Fire Department had an idea to operate a small foam unit in the numerous parking garages, some 10 to 12 stories high, located throughout the city. A small pickup truck was used with pressurized foam.
“It was basically a concept truck we developed but it didn’t really work out well for us at the time,” says Captain Barry Nechis. “As the city progressed, the fire department was presented with more and more high-rise residential buildings being built with multi-level parking garages—some below level, in many instances.”
Nechis says the department asked what other departments around the world were doing to handle the hazard. “The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) didn’t really have a standard that covered a specific type of vehicle that could be used for fighting these types of fires,” he says.
The department really needed to get ahead of the situation because the city was experiencing a building boom and the risk was rapidly growing, he says. “Other fire departments around the country were basically using mini-pumpers to try and solve the problem, but we wanted to look at other options as well,” he says, noting that the department had been working for four or five years writing specifications and designing a new vehicle that would work.
Nechis says he contact a friend, Jim Cottrell, who is an expert in foam operations and a consultant for National Foam, to see what suggestions he might offer. The result was a layered approach that worked for the department, he says.
“Our design started with a Ford F-550 chassis then added a flatbed design that would be small and low enough to be able to be driven into various parking garages with its height and weight,” Nechis says. “We also had to take into consideration the floor space in our fire stations.”
Other considerations were the need to feed standpipe connections in the parking garage and to have three preconnected 2-inch attack lines. The new apparatus also had to have the ability to be fed by other engines outside the parking garage and to have a foam eductor connection at standpipes on all floors of the parking garages.
1 The New Rochelle (NY) Fire Department’s foam unit is built on a Ford F-550 chassis with a body built by Combat Support Systems. (Photos by Dom Ramacciato.)
| The City of New RochelleNew Rochelle (NY) has a downtown section that is densely developed with condominiums, high-rises, offices, shopping centers, affordable housing complexes, a medical center, nursing homes, two college campuses, and an intermodal transportation hub. The rest of the city consists of sprawling residential neighborhoods. The city’s population is 77,000 with more than 11,500 single-family homes within the 13.2 square miles that make up the city limits. |
“Our department operates on Interstate 95 at times with numerous accidents and so we wanted the unit to be able to handle a gasoline tanker fire if needed,” Nechis says.
Other features of the new apparatus are a 1,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) TFT deck gun mounted on the front bumper with a joystick control in the cab as well as a second TFT deck gun in the rear of the vehicle.
The apparatus carries 125 gallons of AFFF, 200 pounds of Purple K extinguishing agent, and a thermal imaging camera in the cab for various operations.
“We designed the apparatus with a crew cab so behind the driver and officer are two 1-hour self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) with a 125-foot hose if an attack had to be made by the officer or firefighter in the front seat.” The apparatus also carries six 1-hour SCBA bottles that can supply air to keep the engine running in heavy smoke, he adds.
“Since we wanted the unit to be able to draw foam from other sources if the internal tank ran out, we carry a 300-gallon folding tank,” Nechis says. “Our method of thinking was other companies coming on the fireground could take 5-gallon cans of foam and dump it into the folding tank, giving us a continuous supply—sort of like a foam tanker shuttle.”
Nechis says that during the design process, the fire department talked to numerous manufacturers and presented its design and idea concepts to them. “Our city required us to go out to bid, which we did, but Combat Support Products in North Carolina was the only real bidder with the most experience to build what we really wanted,” Nechis says.
2 The front-mounted foam nozzle controlled by the cab-mounted joystick.
3 The rear view showing Purple K and the foam tank.
4 A close-up of the TFT automatic deluge gun.
| The New Rochelle Fire DepartmentThe New Rochelle Fire Department operates a headquarters and five fire stations. The uniform, paid personnel number 160. The department operates with the following apparatus:5 Engines3 Trucks1 Heavy Rescue1 Collapse Rescue Unit1 MCI Unit1 Squad Support Unit3 Utility Units1 Squad Support Unit1 Mask Service Unit1 Foam Unit |
“All in all, the design and operation of the vehicle met all of our expectations,” says Chief Andrew Sandor. “A lot of hard work by several people made this difficult and different design work. We are really happy with the final result.”
The New Rochelle Fire Department was proactive in its planning for numerous target hazards in its growing city. The department has come up with a uniquely designed fire apparatus that could be used in the tight quarters of numerous parking garages located around the city and also on a heavily traveled Interstate 95 for tanker fires. The apparatus would have to be self-sufficient with limited staffing until other units arrived.
The outcome was a small, powerful, hard-hitting mini foam unit that meets all the department’s needs.
If you need help with your apparatus for specialized operations, use outside engineers and consultants and pick a manufacturer that is experienced in what you are trying to accomplish.
Proper preplanning helps when designing a specialized piece of fire apparatus.
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.
