By Mike Ciampo
The City of Carmel is a suburban city located just north of the City of Indianapolis. The city is mostly residential and has more than 40 corporate headquarters and regional offices. Another unique feature of the city is the large number of roundabouts or traffic circles within its limits. The city has gained the reputation of being the “Roundabout Capital of the United States.”
For these reasons, it’s easy to see why the Carmel Fire Department operates two tractor-drawn aerial devices, making maneuvering through these obstacles easier. The department operates out of six fire stations strategically placed around the city, providing fire protection and prevention, emergency medical operations, and tactical and hazardous material operations. The department operates on these incidents with the following equipment: six engine companies, two ladder companies, four ambulances, one Battalion vehicle, one safety vehicle, one EMS duty officer, one Tactical Service Unit (tactical and hazardous material responses), two boats, one command vehicle, three reserve engines, one reserve ladder, two reserve ambulances, and one rehab support vehicle.
Carmel Ladder 345 runs with a 2020 Pierce Enforcer Ascendant 107′ heavy-duty tillered aerial ladder. The rig is painted black over red, with the tiller enclosure and aerial ladder also painted black. There are two gold and one black reflective stripes running around the base of the front of the cab; toward the rear of the crew cab it runs higher. It remains at a high position on the front of the trailer and then runs diagonally downward, where it then runs along the bottom portion of the trailer. The rear of the trailer has the safety chevron pattern for higher visibility.
Ladder 345 is powered by a Detroit Diesel DD13 with 505 horsepower. The front suspension is Pierce’s Tak-4 independent suspension with the rear of the tiller being a regular spring suspension. The unit also features Pierce’s Command Zone electrical system. A 12KW Onan diesel generator provides electrical power to the cord reels for power on scene. There are two Hannay cord reels mounted in a diamond plate enclosure on the rear of the tractor, they carry 200′ of 10/3 electrical cord. The compartments on the rig have two types of doors: standard hinge doors and Amdor Roll-up doors are found on the cab and trailer.
The rear compartment on the tiller has a roll-up door and carries the portable ladder complement consisting of the following Duo-Safety ladders: two 35′ two-section extension, two 28′ extension, one 20′ roof, and one 10′ folding ladder. Inside that compartment there is also storage for six pike poles. Ladder 345’s ladder complement doesn’t end there, on both sides of the tiller are Duo-Safety 24′ extension ladders and 14′ roof ladders. A Little Giant ladder is mounted inside a cross-lay compartment on the tractor.
On the aerial’s fly section, an 18′ roof ladder is mounted to assist in roof ventilations efforts on high-pitched roofs. There’s also brackets to support a Stokes Basket on the base of the aerial. There is a pre-piped waterway with 5″ inlets on each side of the tractor. On the aerial’s tip, there are lifting eyes to place the rescue attachment into.
The apparatus has a lot of area where lights are mounted due to its overall length. These lights are for warning oncoming vehicles, scene safety, and lighting up the work area. The apparatus has a mixture of Whelen warning lights; they include: a Freedom IV-Q 72″ front light bar, two Freedom IV 21.5″ light bars located on the side of the crew cab, a Pioneer visor scene light and Pioneer LED stabilizer locator light on each side of the rig. The trailer’s running board lights and aerial ladder lighting are also Whelen LED lights. There are three HiViz LED scene lights enclosed in aluminum treadplate enclosures on each side of the trailer, to illuminate incident scenes.
To assist the tiller firefighter align the trailer with the tractor, an Atwood centering light is mounted on the roof of the tractor, on a collapsible bracket in case the aerial has to be operated over the cab. Also located on top of the cab is a GoLight Stryker LED spotlight to be used by the officer or chauffeur. For additional safety, the truck is equipped with a Zone Defense camera system, there is a forward view on each side of the trailer to assist the tiller firefighter, two front-view and two side-view cameras located on the cab to assist the chauffeur drive the apparatus. A Pro-Vision back-up camera is mounted on the rear of the rig behind the tiller enclosure.
To assist in driving during inclement weather, the cab is equipped with Retrac heated mirrors. Dual Grover air horns and a Federal Q2B siren warn other vehicles of the truck’s approach. As tradition continues in the fire service, the rig has a chrome bell and eagle mounted on the front of the cab. On the chauffeur side of the cab, there is a Kussmaul Super auto-eject shoreline power receptable, so the apparatus can be plugged in while parked in quarters. Another well-thought-out characteristic of the cab is the full length of diamond plate on the area where the hooks are stored in their vertical mounts, this protects the cab from damage from repetitive movement in and out of the brackets.
On the trailer portion of the apparatus, some compartments have transverse trays which allow removal of tools and equipment from either side of the rig. In the extrication compartment, the trays store the units Vetter and Paratech Air Bag inventory and controls, Amkus auto extrication tools and Dewalt cordless tools and battery charger. The company carries both battery-operated and hydraulic fluid supply lines extrication tools. In the adjoining transverse compartment, the rig carries its assortment of Res-Q-Jacks, slings, and attachments. In addition, above the pull-out tray there is storage for some of the unit’s saws. Beneath both pull-out trays, the unit stores its wood and plastic cribbing used for shoring at rescue scenes.
Carmel Ladder 345 is a beautiful piece of firefighting machinery, the layout of the tools and equipment on it shows the pride and dedication of the firefighters who designed it and maintain it.
Photo Captions
Photo 1- An overview of Carmel’s Pierce Ascendant Heavy Duty Aerial Ladder
Photo 2- The front view of the Pierce Enforcer with American Flag grill
Photo 3- The rear view of Ladder 345 with safety chevrons
Photo 4- The front cab doors sporting gold leaf department logo
Photo 5- The signage mounted onto the sides of the aerial ladder
Photo 6- Mid-way on each side of the trailer there is additional Carmel gold leaf signage
Photo 7- The extrication compartment when the trays are in the closed position
Photo 8- The middle extrication tray in the open position with Amkus tools
Photo 9- The stabilization compartment with the trays in the closed position
Photo 10- The middle tray of the compartment with Res-Q-Jacks mounted in the tray
MICHAEL N. CIAMPO is a 36-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 writes the monthly back page ON FIRE for Fire Engineering and Compartment Corner for Fire Apparatus Magazine. 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.
