The Glenn Heights (TX) Fire Department protects a growing bedroom community of 20,000 residents from a single station with 15 full-time paid firefighters and six paramedic firefighters. With four schools in its district and the addition of an apartment complex that has nine three-story buildings, the Glenn Heights city council gave the department the OK to purchase an aerial device.
Chief Nick Williams says the department is running a 2016 Spartan ER engine with a 2,000 gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, and a 20-gallon foam cell, as well as a Ford F-550 4×4 wildland engine, a Ford F-150 squad/utility vehicle, and two chief’s vehicles. “We had been working with mutual-aid departments north and east of us that had aerials, but with the growth in our community, we knew we needed to get an aerial for ourselves to deal with the multistory structures that were being built,” Williams points out.
Deputy Chief Chad Moore notes that the department has been dealing with Metro Fire Apparatus Specialists for its Spartan ER rig service and maintenance and wanted to continue working with them. “We looked at a number of other aerial ladder manufacturers, but decided that Spartan ER was the best choice for us,” Moore says. “We needed a ladder but also wanted it to have the capabilities of an engine, so we put the specs out for a quint that is almost equal to the power of an engine.”
Josh Slovak, territory manager for Metro Fire, says the department originally wanted to purchase a 75-foot aerial ladder on a single-rear-axle chassis. “They were concerned about some tight streets in the city and narrow roads in the apartment complexes,” Slovak says. “So, we took a single-axle 75-foot quint and a 105-foot aerial ladder quint on tandem rear axles and let them drive both around their district. They were able to take the tandem-rear-axle 105 anywhere they could access with the single-axle aerial.”
Slovak continues, “Then we went to different apartment complexes and housing developments and showed them the difference in reach with the 105 compared to the 75 footer. By going with the 105-foot aerial, they got an additional 30 feet in reach.”
Brian Cudaback, apparatus sales director for Metro Fire, says the Spartan ER 105-foot aerial ladder quint built for Glenn Heights is on a Spartan Gladiator ELFD cab and chassis with seating for five firefighters, four of them in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats, powered by a 565-horsepower (hp) Cummins X15 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission, with a Rayco-Granning independent front suspension and a Raydan air rear suspension. Wheelbase on the quint is 237 inches, overall length is 41 feet 8 inches, and overall height is 11 feet 11 inches.
Cudaback notes that the rig has a 2,000-gpm Waterous CSU pump, a 550-gallon water tank, a 20-gallon foam tank, and a FoamPro 2001 Class A foam proportioning system. He adds the ELFD cab, pump house, and engineer’s compartment were shortened to keep the wheelbase comparable to that found on a single axle aerial ladder.
Slovak says that Spartan ER also eliminated a compartment over the pump house so that the two 200-foot 1¾-inch hose crosslays and one 200-foot 2½-inch hose crosslay would be lower and easier for firefighters to reach and deploy. “The ladder has a 750-pound wet or dry tip load,” he adds, “and at the tip is a Task Force Tips Monsoon monitor.”
Moore says the department added Spartan ER’s ergonomic hose loader to the rig, so it’s carrying 850 feet of 5-inch large diameter hose (LDH) and 800 feet of 2-inch hose. He points out that the truck runs as a first out vehicle on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, while the department’s Spartan ER engine is first out on the other four days of the week. “When the truck is running first out, it handles all types of calls on those days,” he says.
Ground ladders on the quint include a 35-foot three-section extension ladder, a 28-foot two-section extension ladder, a 16-foot roof ladder, and a 10-foot folding attic ladder, all in a slide-in compartment; a 16-foot roof ladder on the aerial’s fly section; and a 17-foot Little Giant ladder on top of the body.
Lighting on the rig includes Whelen M6 and M9 LED emergency lighting, Whelen Pioneer Plus LED scene lights, Whelen rotating beacons at the rear of the rig, and a Whelen LED traffic advisor. The quint also has TecNiq LED ground lighting that’s illuminated when the vehicle makes a turn or is put in reverse.
Jason Cates, Glenn Heights captain, says that firefighters have found it seamless to move between staffing the engine and the truck. “We also have trained on the truck with rope skills for rescue operations from low-lying areas,” Cates says, “and have used the truck on multiple fires. It has performed exactly what we expected of it.”
Williams echoes Cates assessment of the truck. “Our firefighters love this truck,” Williams says. “It has been more than we expected.”
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.
