Marion Builds Enclosed Top-Mount Pumper for Wisconsin Department

Marion/Spartan 1,500/1,000 Pumper

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The Bloomfield-Genoa City engine that Marion built has a 5-inch suction inlet on the extended front bumper, along with a tray for 200 feet of 1¾-inch preconnected hose. (Photos 2 through 6 courtesy of Emergency Vehicle Services.)

 

By Alan M. Petrillo

Bloomfield-Genoa City (WI) Fire & Rescue needed to consolidate its response vehicles by eliminating two small squads and one pumper in order to house all of its apparatus in two stations after a new village hall/station was built. The department chose to go with a single multiuse engine to replace those three vehicles and chose Marion to build the new pumper.

Fred Schalow, Bloomfield-Genoa City’s chief, says the truck committee came up with several “must-have” features for its new pumper. “We wanted an enclosed pump panel, a 1,500-gpm pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, and plenty of compartments to hold a lot of equipment,” Schalow says, “because this new pumper was going to be a multiuse engine. We were at FDIC International and came across Marion and fell in love with a pumper they had on display.”

Bloomfield-Genoa City provides fire and rescue services to the town and village of Bloomfield, and the village of Genoa City in Wisconsin, Schalow notes. The department’s other apparatus includes a Central States-HME pumper, a US Tanker Ford L9000 tender (tanker), a US Tanker Ford F-450 wildland pumper, two ambulances, a support car, and a Polaris 6-wheel UTV operating out of two fire stations.

Todd Prellwitz, owner of Emergency Vehicle Services, who sold the pumper to Bloomfield-Genoa City, says Marion built the department’s pumper on a 2019 Spartan MFD (medium four door) chassis and cab with seating for five firefighters, a 24-inch raised roof, and enclosed top-mount pump controls.

Wheelbase on the pumper is 210 inches, overall length is 34 feet 4 inches, and overall height is 10 feet 9 inches, he notes, while the front axle is rated for 21,500 pounds and the rear axle for 31,000 pounds. The rig is powered by a 450-hp Cummins L9 engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.

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Bloomfield-Genoa City’s new engine has a 1,500-gpm Waterous pump, a 1,000 gallon water tank, a 20-gallon foam tank, and a Waterous Aquis 3.0 foam system. Prellwitz says the pumper carries Whelen Pioneer LED scene lights, two at the brow and two dual-head models on each side as well as a Whelen LED warning light package. “It has a 6-kW Harrison MSV generator, electric outlets for fans, and SCBA cylinder storage in the wheel wells—two on the driver’s side, and four on the officer’s side,” he says.

Schalow points out that the pumper has a 5-inch front suction and 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose in a compartment in the extended front bumper; two speedlays at the control panel at the back of the cab, each holding 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose; a 2½-inch discharge on each side of the pump house; and three 2½-inch discharges at the rear of the pumper. The hosebed holds 1,200 feet of 5-inch LDH, 600 feet of 3-inch hose hooked to 150 feet of 1¾-inch hose in a hotel pack, 600 feet of 2½-inch hose, and 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose.

“We had a big discussion about where we were going to carry our ladders,” Schalow points out. “Originally, we were going to have them on a drop-down rack above the right side of the pumper, but we saw a lot of pumpers that carry their ground ladders in a through-the-tank tunnel, which is what we ended up doing.” The rig has one 24-foot two-section extension ladder and two 14-foot roof ladders. The new Bloomfield-Genoa City pumper also carries a complement of hydraulic rescue equipment, Schalow notes, along with rehab equipment, a large misting fan, and water rescue suits.

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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.

 

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      By Alan M. Petrillo Bloomfield-Genoa City (WI) Fire & Rescue needed to consolidate its response vehicles by eliminating two small squads and one pumper in order to house all of its apparatus in two stations after a new village hall/station was built. The department chose to go with a single multiuse engine to replace […]

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