By Alan M. Petrillo
The Cortland (OH) Fire Department serves a city of 7,000 residents in the northern corner of Ohio, about 75 miles from the Pennsylvania border. The combination department runs 2,200 calls annually, staffed by 10 firefighter/paramedics, a full-time chief/paramedic, four part-time firefighter/paramedics, and five volunteer paramedics and EMTs (emergency medical technicians).
The Cortland rescue-pumper is powered by a 450-hp Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
David Rea, Cortland’s chief, says the department wanted to replace a 1993 Pierce Manufacturing Dash pumper that Cortland had outgrown in terms of how much equipment they wanted to carry. “We purchased a new rescue-pumper from Sutphen Corp. through the Ohio State Term Schedule, which is a cooperative purchasing program that Sutphen participates in,” Rea says. “We went with a rig that has a rescue body with roll-up doors which allowed us a lot more ability as to where we put various pieces of equipment because that body gave us a lot more storage area.”
Cortland’s new rig has a Hale QMax XS 2,000-gpm pump, two 1-3/4- speed lays in lift-out trays, and a 1,000-gallon water tank. (Photos 3-4 courtesy of Herb Fire Equipment)
Ray Capezzuto, salesman at Herb Fire Equipment, who sold the rescue-pumper to Cortland, says the rescue-pumper that Sutphen built for Cortland is on a Monarch heavy-duty custom chassis, a 73-inch cab and 10-inch raised roof with seating for four firefighters, three of them in H.O. Bostrom SCBA (self-contained breathing apparatus) seats, and with a full height cabinet on the crew cab’s back wall with an EMS cabinet in the center.
The rescue-pumper has a step well at the top of the rear access ladder to make it easier to transition to the top of the rig.
Capezzuto notes the rescue-pumper is powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS Gen 5 automatic transmission, with a Delco-Remy 430-amp alternator. The rig has a Hale QMax XS 2,000-gallon per minute (gpm) pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, two 1-3/4-inch speed lays in lift-out trays, a 2-1/2-inch discharge in the front bumper, two 2-1/2-inch discharges on the left side, one 3-inch and one 2-1/2-inch discharge on the right side, a 3-inch discharge on the rear, and an Elkhart Brass 8297 Stinger 1,250-gpm manual deck gun with a Task Force Tips 18-inch Extend-A-Gun and quad-stacked tips.
The Cortland rescue-pumper’s R2 compartment holds the department’s Holmatro hydraulic rescue tools, air bags, and other equipment. (Photos 5-6 courtesy of Cortland Fire Department)
Rea notes that Cortland’s new rescue-pumper has more than 400 cubic feet of compartment space. “The R2 compartment holds our Holmatro hosed hydraulic tools in a lazy Susan slide-out tray, with air bags on individual shelves underneath them, and the Holmatro pump, cribbing, air bag hoses, SCBA bottles, and hydraulic tool hoses on the top shelves,” he says. “Behind the cab we have an eight-foot wide compartment with access from both sides that hold our forcible entry tools and water cans, and from the inside the cabinet is accessible on the back wall of the cab where we have our EMS cabinet for a LifePak 15 and ALS (advanced life support) jump bag, a refrigerator for hydration, a Keurig coffee maker, energy bars, and tactical helmets and ballistic vests.”
Cortland’s new rescue-pumper is shown operating at the scene of a motor vehicle accident.
Capezzuto points out that the rescue-pumper has a grill-mounted Federal Q2B siren, a FRC inView TrueSight™ two-camera system, and an Alco-Lite ladder complement of a two-section 24-foot extension ladder, a 14-foot roof ladder, and a 10-foot folding ladder. Lighting on the vehicle includes a Whelen Freedom IV LED 72-inch light bar, a Hi Viz Fire Tech LED 72-inch 12-volt brow light, Whelen M9 and M6 LED warning lights, Whelen M9V2 LED warning/scene lights, FRC Spectra LED 12-volt scene lights, and a Whelen TAL65 LED traffic advisor.
