The Haughton (LA) Fire Department covers a growing community of approximately 50,000 residents in the greater Haughton area that includes residential subdivisions, three schools, and agricultural use. The department runs a front-line pumper and one reserve engine, a 77-foot aerial ladder quint, a brush truck, a medium rescue, and an emergency medical services (EMS) first response truck. The department has 11 paid full-time firefighters, 10 paid part-time firefighters, and 20 volunteer firefighters.
Jimmy Holland, Haughton’s fire chief, says that in 2023 the department had a string of maintenance issues with some of its apparatus, especially its medium rescue. “We decided that we wanted a vehicle that could handle all hazards, something that was more useful for us in our responses,” Holland says. “We decided on a rescue-pumper and went to Ferrara because we already had a 2015 Ferrara pumper and a 2018 Ferrara quint. At the time, Ferrara had a stock rig coming off the production line that we were able to purchase and make it into a rescue-pumper.”
Tim Besser, sales manager for Ferrara Fire Apparatus and KME, says the Haughton rescue-pumper is built on a Spartan FC-94 cab and chassis, with seating for four firefighters, three of them in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats, and powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. “It’s a nice, compact vehicle with a 181-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 29 feet 8 inches, and overall height of 9 feet 7½-inches,” Besser observes.
Courtney Butcher, sales representative for Bulldog Fire Apparatus, who sold the rescue-pumper to Haughton, says the rig has a Hale Qmax 1,500 gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank, and full-height rescue-style compartments on both sides of the body. “The vehicle was in production when Haughton approached us about getting a new truck because they needed one pretty quickly,” Butcher says. “We were able to modify it so they could make it into a rescue-pumper, and also added a direct tank fill at the rear, a 1-inch booster reel, and an extended front bumper with a discharge and hosewell.”
Nick Palmer, Haughton’s deputy chief, notes that the front bumper line has 150 feet of 1¾-inch hose, and that the rescue-pumper also has two 1¾-inch hose crosslays of 200 feet each. “The hosebed on the rescue-pumper carries 600 feet of 5-inch large diameter hose (LDH), 600 feet of 3-inch hose, and 200 feet of preconnected 2½-inch hose,” Palmer says.
In addition, he points out, Haughton had Ferrara remove the two forward facing seats in the crew cab and install an EMS cabinet, and also a Zico lazy Susan-style fixture on a slide-out tray in the L3 compartment that holds the department’s battery-powered TNT Rescue Systems spreader, cutter, and ram. Palmer adds that the Zico lazy Susan fixture was purchased through a grant awarded by the Gary Sinise Foundation.
Besser says that lighting on the Haughton rescue-pumper includes a Federal Signal LED Navigator lightbar, a HiViz FireTech FT-B-72-B LED brow light, TecNiq LED headlights and turn signals, HiViz FireTech FT-GMS LED scene lights, and Federal Signal LED warning and scene lights. The rig also has Retrac West Coast mirrors, a Federal Signal siren and speaker, and dual air horns.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
