Special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo
There are a lot of features on the market today that enhance firefighter safety on fire apparatus, but finding all of them on one fire truck is a tall order. Yet, a pumper built by 4 Guys Fire Trucks for the Bostian Heights Fire Department has many elements designed into the truck that enhance firefighter safety and provide added protection.
Mark Brenneman, assistant sales manager for 4 Guys, says Bostian Heights is a long-time customer that approached 4 Guys about a new pumper after one of its rigs had been struck at a motor vehicle accident scene. “They had some very specific needs about a new pumper that was designed for the performance they needed but provided as many features as possible that promote firefighter protection and safety,” Brenneman observes.
1 4 Guys Fire Trucks built this custom pumper for the Bostian Heights Fire Department on a Spartan Gladiator long four-door cab and chassis with seating for four firefighters. (Photos courtesy of 4 Guys Fire Trucks.)
Nate Callahan, 4 Guys mechanical engineer, says 4 Guys built Bostian Heights a pumper on a Spartan Gladiator chassis and long four-door cab with a 10-inch raised roof and seating for four firefighters, threeof them in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats, with a Hale 2,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,000-gallon polypropylene L-shaped water tank for a lower hosebed, a 50-gallon integral foam cell, and a FoamPro 2002 system.
Mike Zimmerman, Bostian Heights chief, says the department went with a side- mount pump instead of its traditional topmount to shave some of the new rig’s overall length. “We wanted a big motor on this pumper, so we went with a 565-horsepower Cummins engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission to give us the amount of power we needed,” Zimmerman points out. “We also wanted four steamer connections, one on each side and one on the front and one on the rear, all with Hale master intake valves on them. Plus, we put cameras on the front, officer’s side, and rear of the pumper so the operator could have a view of each intake by viewing screens at the pump panel and in the cab.”
Brenneman notes that some of the additional safety and firefighter protection features on the Bostian Heights pumper include an advanced protection system of side curtain air bags in the crew compartment and knee air bags for the driver and officer, an antitheft system, an electric remote controlled Akron DeckMaster 3440 deck gun with a 30-foot remote tether, and an Akron 1577 Sabermaster 1,250-gpm electronic nozzle. It also has a Zico electric-powered ground ladder rack, a low compartment at the rear holding suction hose and a preconnected low-level strainer, a powered aluminum diamond plate hosebed cover, and HiViz FireTech BG2 LED traffic control lights at the sides and rear of the rig.
Brenneman says the BG2 lights were designed to allow the rig to function as a blocking truck if necessary. “With a typical rear traffic advisor light, the light is on the rear of the rig, and it will either flash, direct center out, left to right, or right to left,” he observes. “To maximize the visibility of that type of light, you need to park the truck parallel to traffic, which presents its smallest side to traffic.”
He continues, “The HiViz FireTech BG2 lights are a combination of scene and warning lights and a traffic advisor. The traffic advisor function can do multiple different flash patterns, including tracing from the rear and down the side of the truck. That allows the fire department to position the vehicle at a 45-degree angle to traffic, presenting a barrier roughly three times the size of the rear face, while presenting two sections of arrow stick toward the oncoming traffic.”
Zimmerman says the remote-controlled Akron DeckMaster deck gun allows firefighters to avoid climbing on top of the truck, and the low hosebed and speedlays in trays also make it safer when reloading hose. The new pumper carries two 200-foot, 1¾-inch hose speedlays in removable trays along the front side of the pump house, one 200-foot 2½-inch hose crosslay above the pump panel, 300 feet of 1-inch booster hose on an electric Hannay reel, and a front bumper 2½-inch discharge with a gated wye and 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose.
The pumper’s hosebed holds 1,500 feet of 5-inch large-diameter hose and on each side of the hosebed 200 feet of 2½-inch hose tipped with a gated wye with one outlet connected to 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose, a setup the Bostian Heights firefighters call a “bomb line.”
2 The Bostian Heights pumper has an L-shaped 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank with an integral 50-gallon foam cell to allow for a low hosebed design.
3 The new pumper has HiViz FireTech BG2 lights on the sides and rear that are a combination of scene and warning lights and a traffic advisor.
4 Lighting on the front of the rig includes Whelen LED emergency lighting, Whelen 600 series rotating warning lights, a Whelen Freedom IV LED lightbar, and a HiViz FireTech LED brow light.
5 The Bostian Heights pumper has a Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm pump and a FoamPro 2002 foam system.
Zimmerman says the department went with a 28-foot extension ladder instead of the traditional 24-foot ladder, along with a 14-foot roof ladder and a 10-foot attic ladder; and a 12,000-pound Warn winch kept in a compartment but that can be connected to the four receivers on each side of the pumper.
Lighting on the new Bostian Heights pumper, in addition to the HiViz FireTech BG2 lights, includes Whelen LED emergency lighting, Whelen 600 series rotating warning lights on the bumper and front of the rig, a Whelen Freedom IV LED light- bar, a HiViz FireTech LED brow light, and SoundOff Signal LED compartment lighting. The rig also has foldable DEWALT scene lights and a Xantrex 3,000-watt inverter.
Bostian Heights’ 4 Guys Fire Trucks pumper prioritizes firefighter safety with a combination of features that will help the department ensure crew protection while maintaining high performance.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizonabased 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.
