By William C. Peters
The Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) has always been the premier show for apparatus manufacturers to unveil their new and exciting projects, and this year was no different. There was no limit to the interesting and useful features and ideas being shown to America’s fire service. It appeared to me that safety and ergonomics were high on the list of priorities of the manufacturers at this show.
Unfortunately, I was not able to visit every display, but some of the eye-catching units are included in this article.
Hackney
Hackney, which started out with a converted beverage truck line, has really evolved into a premium manufacturer of special service apparatus including rescue, haz-mat, mass-casualty vehicles, breathing-air, and command units.
The truck on display was a rescue/hazardous-materials response unit with Hackney’s heavy duty auto-deploy staircase (photo 1). The stairs deploy in 30 seconds and feature wide steps and comfortable, stable handrails. This makes it much safer to retrieve heavy equipment from the top of the rig rather than trying to climb down a straight ladder with your hands full. An additional benefit of this system is that the rear compartment is not obstructed with the stairs deployed. Equipment stored there can easily be accessed.
 (1) These wide spacious steps make it easy to reach the top of the apparatus. Also, the lower compartment is not blocked. (Photos by author.) |
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American LaFrance
When I was wandering around before the show opened, the lights in the exhibit hall were set at a very low level. Off in the distance, an aerial ladder with LED rope lighting on both sides of the walkway caught my eye (photo 2). The illumination was quite impressive and would easily enhance the safety of the climbers at night. This feature was on the recently redesigned 100-foot aerial ladder by American LaFrance. Other features of this truck included 500-lb. tip load, 1,500 gpm unrestricted waterway, and outriggers that require only 12 feet of space to fully deploy (photo 3). This should be of great interest to urban fire departments that must contend with congested city streets and parking on both sides.
 (2) Red LED rope lighting on both sides of the aerial illuminates the rungs for climbing at night. |
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 (3) A 12-foot outrigger spread should gain wide acceptance in urban areas. |
American LaFrance also unveiled its plans for a 57,500-square-foot corporate headquarters and a 42,000-square-foot assembly plant near its current facility in South Carolina. The new buildings are set to open in March 2007.
Rescue 1
Rescue 1 is a builder of rescue and specialty vehicles located in New Jersey. The unit displayed had a number of interesting features for departments that perform rope rescue work.
The upper corners and center of the top of the body had rigging points that were rated for 1,000 pounds and tested to 9,000 pounds (photo 4). This could be extremely useful in various rope-rescue situations.
 (4) Heavy-duty rigging points on the rescue box will enhance rope-rescue operations. |
Once again, getting to the compartments at the top of the truck was made safer by installing an electric-over hydraulically operated staircase built into the rear of the apparatus (photo 5). When the stairs are down, the firefighter has full, unimpeded access to the top walkway compartments. Raising the stairs exposes a large, open compartment up the center of the body, which would be handy for storing plywood or shoring.
 (5) The rear stairs lift up by electric control, exposing a large storage compartment underneath. |
Another feature of this unit is the addition of candy-stripe red and white reflective tape to the edge of all roll-out shelves. Some of the heavy trays extend 60 inches to where they could easily be struck by a passing car. This relatively inexpensive safety feature could easily prevent extensive damage or injury.
Crimson
The employees at Crimson must be working overtime producing innovative fire apparatus. One unit on display was the company’s rear-mount compressed air foam system (CAFS) pumper/tanker. This unit does it all.
It has a 2,000-gpm pump, CAFS with 200-cfm compressor, 2,000-gallon water tank with 100-gallon foam tank, and dual electric tank dumps. The monitor is remote controlled and, in keeping with the theme of safety, five tailboard-level removable speedlays are provided (photo 6). The hosebed can hold 2,000 feet of LDH, and dual ladder racks hold 106 feet of ground ladders.
 (6) Three of the five tailboard level speedlays are shown here. |
To make working on the pump easier, the rear mount pump module was mounted on a series of frame-mounted rollers, much like the Crimson aerial design. By disconnecting some Victaulic couplings, the whole pump module slides back away from the body (photo 7). This feature, coupled with the wide open pump compartment door, is a mechanic’s dream.
 (7) The whole pump enclosure splits from the body for easy maintenance and repair. |
Some improvements were also made to the Crimson platform. Wider outside ledges around the platform allow for safer roof operations, and the control panel slides across the whole width of the platform, allowing the operator to stand in the safest and most advantageous position, depending on circumstances.
Darley
Darley had an interesting WildCAFS Attack unit in an unusual purple color on display. The first difference I noticed was that it was on a GMC commercial chassis. Until now, the Ford 550 seemed like the chassis of choice for this mid-size type of application. After opening the roll-up doors, you find that this tough, durable, corrosion-resistant body, made by PolyBuilt, is entirely manufactured of plastic, with an integrated water tank. The unit on display had a PTO-driven CAFS air compressor and a Darley pump driven by a 34-horsepower diesel engine.
Darley also had a wide array of pumps and CAFSs on display.
Pierce Manufacturing
As I entered the RCA dome at FDIC, the first thing that caught my eye was Pierce’s new, heavy-duty aluminum 100-foot aerial (photo 8). Historically, a steel aerial supplier, Pierce displayed its first aluminum 75-foot quint last year. The truck displayed this year, on a Dash chassis, has a 750-pound tip-load aluminum aerial ladder with 1,500-gpm waterway, stainless-steel body, 2,000-gpm fire pump, 500-gallon poly water tank, and 30-gallon foam tank. The hosebed has room for 1,000 feet of five-inch LDH; a 10-kW hydraulic generator was also installed, as well as a full complement of ground ladders. This unit also features a narrow 12-foot stabilizer spread.
 (8) Pierce displayed its first 100-foot heavy-duty aluminum aerial ladder. |
Also at the Pierce display was a new Enforcer rail rescue unit (photo 9). This unusual unit has railway gear provided at the front and back to allow it to drive on the road and on railroad tracks. With transportation accidents occurring more often, a unit like this will provide close-up rescue support to remote areas.
 (9) The Pierce Rail Rescue truck can drive on the road or on the railroad. |
Primarily designed as a rescue unit, it has a stainless-steel rescue body, a 25-kW PTO-driven generator, a light tower, cord reels, and a hydraulically driven tool air compressor. Since it will operate off road, it also has a Darley HH-500 hydraulically driven pump, a dual-agent foam system, and a 500-gallon poly water tank with 30- and 50-gallon foam cells. To dispense the water/foam, two speedlays, a front bumper discharge, and an electronically operated bumper turret are supplied.
Sutphen
Sutphen had a variation of its 100-foot platform on display. Different from some of the previous Sutphen products, the platform is mounted higher, which opens the rear of the apparatus for conventional ground ladder and hose storage. The full width platform looked spacious, and the stainless-steel body had large compartments on both sides. A 2,000-gpm pump, 300-gallon water tank, and 6-kW hydraulic generator rounded out the truck.
Sutphen also had two ergonomically designed low-hosebed pumpers on display. A feature that I had not seen before was curved handrails at the end of each hosebed divider to provide plenty of handholds when climbing into the hosebed to pack hose (photo 10).
 (10) The low hosebed with handrails on the hosebed dividers adds to the safety of this Sutphen pumper. |
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E-ONE
A standout at the E-ONE display was a 40-foot-long mobile Command Center that it built for the Arlington Virginia Fire Department. The body is 31 feet long and is constructed of aluminum. Two slide-out rooms, one on each side, provide a spacious command area and meeting room (photo 11). A four-jack leveling and stabilization system provides a firm base for operations. A 35-kW PTO generator, side quartz lights, a light tower, and a video tower are all provided.
 (11) E-ONE built this command center truck with slide-out side rooms. |
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KME
The KME booth displayed a Predator custom pumper with a number of interesting features. The unit has a 2,250-gpm pump with direct injection foam system, a 600-gallon water tank, 15/40-gallon foam tanks, a 15-kW hydraulic generator, and a light tower. The top-mount pump controls are covered by a roll-up door to keep out snow and debris (photo 12). LED strip lighting is provided under the pump panel door and along both sides of the covered hosebed. An electrically operated roll-up door is used as a hosebed cover (photo 13). When closed, the hose is completely enclosed in the bed. When activated, an electric motor rolls the door neatly to the front of the hosebed, exposing the entire hoseload.
 (12) The pump panel on this KME unit has a roll-up door and LED lighting. |
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 (13) An electrically operated roll-up door is used as a hosebed cover on this KME unit. Notice the LED strip lights in the hosebed. |
The ladder rack on the right side of the apparatus also had an enclosure built around it to match the opposite side of the rig (photo 14). As an added benefit, the ladder tips are not exposed so they do not catch on tree branches and other obstructions. The finished product gives off a nice, squared-off, rescue body style appearance.
 (14) The ladder rack is enclosed in a box and painted to match the other side of the apparatus. |
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Ferrara
It seems Ferrara Fire Apparatus expands its product line at every FDIC, and this year was no different. Its entry into the industrial pumper market with the “INUNDATOR” was an interesting sight (photo 15). This white rig with blue “splash marks” on the sides was certainly different.
 (15) The Ferrara Inundator is its industrial foam unit. |
The Inundator features a Detroit Diesel Series 60, 515-hp engine and a Hale 8FG, 3,500-gpm pump. An eight-inch wireless remote-controlled deckgun is mounted at the top. The unit has a Williams foam system rated at 5,000 gpm at six percent and features a 1,000-gallon poly foam concentrate tank. Ten electrically controlled discharges are operated from the top-mount pump.
HME Ahrens-Fox
The HME Ahrens-Fox booth had several units on display. Its “CAT” model is specifically designed for city-type departments with high call volume. “Low” was the watch-word when HME designed this pumper (photo 16). The hosebed is at ground level as well as the cross-lays, backboard, and pike pole storage. Raised quartz lights at the rear corners are easily reachable, and a ladder rack delivers the ladders at a manageable level. The unit also features a neat pump panel illuminated by LED strip lighting and a CAFS system.
 (16) The low hosbed on this unit allows the firefighters to easily reach hose and equipment from the ground. |
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Rosenbauer
The three “Tech Drive ’06” apparatus were on display at the Rosenbauer booth this year. There are so many innovative options and features on these units that they could take up the whole article.
The first thing that attracted my attention were the numerous yellow handrails installed on all of the apparatus. The company has gone out of its way to design safety into these rigs.
Rosenbauer’s rescue truck has a rear compartment with a hydraulically operated flat lift that delivered a small 4 × 4 ATV, with a self-contained fire extinguishing unit installed, for off-road access (photo 17). The fold-down wheelwell steps allow access even to equipment mounted high and deep in the compartments (photo 18).
 (17) An ATV with fire extinguishing capabilities is stored in the rear of this rescue unit. |
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 (18) Fold-down steps over the wheelwell and under the compartments allow access to stored equipment. |
Reaching the top of this unit is easy with side pocket-mounted fold-out steps (photo 19). An electrically controlled awning is mounted to the side of the apparatus with a wind sensor at the top. If the wind speed exceeds a preset limit, the awning automatically starts rolling up to prevent damage. The cab of this unit contained a command center.
 (19) Fold-out pocket steps help to reach the top of the rig safely. |
The displayed pumper had a rear-mount Rosenbauer NH1250 pump that can deliver 1,250-gpm at 150 psi, as well as 600 psi at 100 gpm simultaneously. This is a step up from last year’s 1,000-gpm model. The diagrammatic pump panel will help identify the various discharges and controls. A ground ladder rack stores the ladders on top and automatically delivers them to the rear of the unit when activated.
The third unit was a hybrid pumper with a 60-foot aerial ladder. A unique feature of this unit is the “globe” suspended from the tip of the aerial. It contains a wireless remote-controlled video camera that transmits images to a computer that can be up to two blocks away. A safety feature on this rig is its top side-mount pump. It gives the operator the benefits of viewing the fire scene from the pump operator’s position and staying up out of traffic while not requiring the 24 inches necessary for a standard top-mount walkway.
 (20) A top side-mount pump panel keeps the operator out of traffic and allows viewing of the fire scene. |
This was just a small sampling of some of the huge displays at the FDIC this year. For apparatus buffs like me, it did not disappoint!
