The Clovis (CA) Fire Department had a straight stick 105-foot aerial ladder in its fleet that was up for replacement. Because of a lot of new development in town, the department set about looking to beef up its truck response to address residential and commercial development.
“We have a lot of very tight apartment complexes where the developers are putting in tight, single-lane streets,” says Jim Damico, Clovis battalion chief. “We wanted the new truck to be a quint platform so we could effectively put a lot of options into a single package. We are restricted by state laws on highway weight maximums in California, so we chose the Pierce Ascendant 110-foot aerial platform quint on a tandem rear axle with Super Single wheels and tires and all-wheel steer, which was a deal breaker for our truckies because the independent rear steer was the number one feature they wanted on the new truck.”
Clovis is a bedroom community of Fresno, Damico notes, and has about a 120,000 population in the city’s 26 square miles that the department covers from six fire stations with 66 paid firefighters. “We run single-company houses, and our truck company runs as a quint,” he states. “For our new truck, we had considered a TDA quint, but the overall length on the rig would have been too long for us. We only have one station currently that has a 60-foot-long bay to handle a truck, and we feel that the all-wheel steer is as maneuverable or better than a tiller.”
Marc Faluotico, west regional vice president for Pierce Manufacturing, says the Clovis aerial platform quint is built on a Pierce Velocity® chassis and cab with seating for five firefighters, powered by a 525-horsepower (hp) DD13 Detroit Diesel engine and an Allison 4500 EVS automatic transmission. The wheelbase on the quint is 252½ inches, overall length is 46 feet, and overall height is 13 feet 2 inches with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 72,000 pounds.
department
Clovis (CA) Fire Department
Strength: 66 paid full-time firefighters, six administrative staff, six stations.
Service area: The department provides fire protection, rescue, and first responder emergency medical services to the 26-square-mile city of Clovis that has a population of approximately 120,000 people.
Other apparatus: two 2020 Pierce Velocity PUC pumpers, 1,500-gpm pumps, 525-gallon water tanks, 30-gallon foam tanks, Husky 3 foam proportioning systems; one 2018 Pierce Quantum pumper, 2,000-gpm pump, 500-gallon water tank; one Pierce Type 3 International chassis wildland engine; one Freightliner Type 1 USAR rescue truck; one Pierce Type 1 hazardous materials truck; California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) 2018 HME Ahrens-Fox Type 1 engine, 1,250-gpm pump, 850-gallon water tank; and OES 2020 Boise Mobile Equipment Type 3 International 4×4 chassis wildland engine, 500-gpm pump, and 500-gallon water tank.
1 Pierce Manufacturing Inc. built this 110-foot Ascendant aerial platform quint for the Clovis (CA) Fire Department. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Golden State Fire Apparatus.)
2 The quint flows water through a Task Force Tips Hurricane 1,250-gpm remote control monitor at a fire scene.
Dewayne Young, sales consultant for Golden State Fire Apparatus and a former firefighter at Clovis, notes the department moved to a platform from a straight stick to give added capabilities to the aerial as well as for greater crew safety without losing tip weight. “The Ascendant aerial quint has a 110-foot aerial ladder, TAK-4 independent front suspension, and TAK-4 T3 rear-steer independent rear suspension,” Young points out. “It’s a 100 percent mechanical to hydraulic steering system that gives the rear axles steering capability to reduce wide swings, give a tighter turning radius, and provide better maneuverability.”
The Pierce quint has a Pierce PUC 1,500-gallons-per-minute (gpm) midship pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, a Husky 3 foam proportioning system, and storage for 600 feet of 5-inch large-diameter hose (LDH).
Faluotico notes that the Clovis aerial has a Command Zone electronic system that integrates the entire vehicle into one user interface. “All the vehicle’s systems are available on the touch screen, and users are able to connect through WiFi, cell phone, or a tablet to operate the Command Zone system,” Faluotico says. “The aerial has collision avoidance, which can see anything fixed on the apparatus and avoid it, as well as envelope control so the aerial always knows its location in relation to the chassis. It also has electric over hydraulic controls, including ramp controls that allow from full speed to creep speed at any elevation.”
He adds that the rig has a secondary Coleman 120-volt cab-mounted air conditioning system, a Jensen AM/FM radio, a Setcom wireless intercom for all positions, a Safety Vision rear backup camera, a 10-kW Harrison Hydra-Gen hydraulic generator, two Hannay 200-foot electric cord reels, and provisions for battery-powered hydraulic rescue tools.
3 The quint has a Pierce PUC 1,500-gpm midship pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, and a Husky 3 foam proportioning system. (Photos 3-6 courtesy of Clovis Fire Department.)
6 The new rig, far left, is shown with two other Clovis aerial ladders built by Pierce.
specs
Pierce Manufacturing 110-Foot Ascendant Aerial Platform Quint
• Pierce Velocity® chassis and cab Ascendant aerial platform quint
• Seating for five firefighters, two in SCBA seats
• 110-foot aerial ladder platform on tandem rear axle
• Detroit Diesel 525-hp DD13 diesel engine
• Allison 4500 EVS automatic transmission
• TAK-4® independent front suspension
• TAK-4 T3 independent steer rear suspension
• Pierce PUC 1,500-gpm midship pump
• 500-gallon water tank
• 30-gallon foam tank
• Husky 3 foam proportioning system
Young says the platform has a Task Force Tips Hurricane 1,250-gpm remote control monitor; Akron Brass 9335 electric controllers for all discharges that show a graphic display of the valve’s position on the controller; and ground ladders that include a 35-foot two-section extension ladder, a 24-foot two-section extension ladder, a 20-foot roof ladder, two 16-foot roof ladders, one 10-foot folding ladders, and a 12-foot Little Giant ladder along with two 12-foot, one 10-foot, one 8-foot, and two 6-foot pike poles.
Damico points out that Clovis wanted its aerial platform quint to be well-lit, so the rig has all Whelen LED warning lights, Whelen Pioneer PH1 LED scene lights on the body, Whelen Pioneer PH2 LED lights on the catwalk facing outboard, Whelen MPB LED lights on the platform, all-white TecNiq LED rung lighting the length of the ladder, and Amdor LED compartment lights.
“We really like the PUC concept,” Damico observes. “This is the first PUC that we’ve put in service, but we have two more PUC engines coming shortly. On the aerial platform quint, the PUC pump saves a lot of space, which allows for more compartmentation, giving us six compartments down each side of the rig.”
Damico notes that the interior of the cab is set up differently than other departments. “We are set up to carry five firefighters, but the driver, officer, and center forward facing seat are not SCBA seats,” he says. “Only the two outboard flip-up seats have SCBA. The officer and driver have SCBA tubes in the fenders on each side. We have an assignment for four firefighters, but our minimum staffing is three.” He adds that the new Pierce Velocity pumpers that Clovis received are transitioning to the clean cab concept with half of their SCBA in tubes in the fenders.
“All our turnouts are in cabinets in the cab that are accessible from either inside or outside,” Damico says. “Our new decon policy is to carry a five-gallon bucket with decon gear and a garden hose extension to do gross decon, then bag the turnouts and bring them back to the station to be put in the extractors while the firefighters use their second set of turnout gear.”
He points out that on the aerial platform and the two new engines, the department added remote fuse blocks for chargers in compartments to allow for 24/7 charging of battery-operated tools. “The circuits are always hot when on shore power,” Damico says, “and the power strip also has 110-volt to give us the option of both AC and DC charging.”
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.