
APPLETONWI – Pierce Manufacturing, an Oshkosh Corporation (NYSE:OSK) company, delivered a heavy-duty rescue vehicle unlike any fire apparatus in company’s history. Built for the Portland (OR) Fire & Rescue (PF&R) Department, the apparatus is built on a tiller configuration, except that the rig features a heavy-duty boom—instead of an aerial ladder —mounted directly behind the cab. The heavy-duty boom is manufactured by Iowa Mold Tooling (IMT), an Oshkosh Corporation Company. In addition, PF&R has ordered a Pierce 100-foot medium-duty tiller vehicle.
“With multiple earthquake faults in the region, the new Pierce heavy-duty rescue tiller boom was built to support urban search and rescue operations, including a large scale emergency,” said Tony Snook, firefighter at the PF&R and 21-year veteran of Heavy Rescue Squad 1, who led the department’s development of the vehicle. “The new apparatus carries an IMT heavy-duty rescue boom mounted directly behind the cab on the tractor, and the trailer becomes, in effect, a huge heavy rescue body. We’re a specialized heavy rescue team built for just that – tough rescue challenges.”
When placed into service, the heavy-duty rescue tiller with aerial boom will respond to a wide range of emergencies throughout the tight and congested areas of Portland, including trench rescues, confined space rescues, tunnel collapses, and more. The vehicle is built on a Pierce Arrow XT™ chassis with a 16-inch raised roof cab and seating for six firefighters. The vehicle, with a GVWR of 74,300 pounds, features Pierce’s TAK-4® independent suspension on both the front axle and the rear tiller trailer. The IMT articulated boom is built by Pierce sister company, IMT. The body features 15 compartments with a wide array of slide-out and tilting trays, shelves, and toolboards for rescue equipment, compressors and hydraulic hoses.
The second apparatus is a 100-foot medium duty aerial tiller built on the Arrow XT chassis. It features a raised roof cab, seating for six firefighters, watertight sealed compartments, an array of slide-out trays and toolboards, LED floodlights and spotlights, both backboard and stokes basket storage, 11 ground ladders ranging from 12 to 45 feet long, and a 100-foot medium-duty aerial ladder.
PF&R is Oregon’s largest fire and emergency services provider. The department provides an extensive range of public safety services including fire prevention, public education, response to fire, medical, and other emergency incidents, and disaster mitigation. PF&R operates 30 engine companies, nine truck companies, two fireboats, a heavy-duty rescue, two specialized units for chemical and biological, radiological/nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) response, a Pierce custom mobile command center, and a specialized unit for hazmat.
Pierce dealer, Hughes Fire Equipment, Inc., of Springfield, Ore. provides local service and support.
For more information, visit www.piercemfg.com.