The Columbia (MO) Fire Department has its stations filled with Sutphen apparatus, so when it needed to replace an aerial quint, it naturally turned to Sutphen to fill its needs.
The Columbia (MO) Fire Department had Sutphen Corp. build this SA 75 quint aerial ladder for it with a Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm single-stage pump, a 500-gallon water tank, and a 75-foot aerial ladder. (Photos courtesy of Columbia Fire Department.)
Kyle Fansler, Columbia’s deputy chief, says the department runs approximately 13,000 calls for service annually out of nine stations covering 65½ square miles and a population of 121,000 that swells by 50,000 when the University of Missouri, Stephens College, and Columbia College are in session. “We have 144 career firefighters and 12 in-service companies daily,” Fansler points out. “All of our vehicles are built by Sutphen, except for a Spartan tech rescue and foam truck.” Fansler says the department has two engine companies, seven SA 75 aerial quints, and a Sutphen heavy rescue on an SVI Trucks body.
Related Content
- Sutphen Reconditions 1997 SP100 Aerial Tower for the Escondido (CA) Fire Department
- Sutphen Builds Short-Wheelbase, Maneuverable Pumpers for the Mabscott (WV) Volunteer Fire Department
- Sutphen Corporation Announces New Sales and Service Representative in Virginia
“Historically, our chiefs have liked the quint concept,” Fansler says, “so we have quints located in single-company stations, and in one case with the heavy rescue, while the engines are each located with our two Sutphen platforms, an SP 95 and an SPH 100. We like the commonality of having all one brand of apparatus, and with the quints, we get added aerial protection with the ability to deploy the aerial quickly, sometimes in places where we can’t get our bigger platforms. When we’re fighting a big defensive fire, the quints are very valuable.”
Zach Rudy, director of sales for Sutphen Corp., says the SA 75 aerial quint Sutphen delivered to Columbia is on a Monarch heavy duty custom chassis with a 62-inch extended four-door cab and 10-inch raised roof with seating for four firefighters, three in SCBA seats. He notes the rig is on 10-inch double frame rails and has a 23,000-pound front axle, a 31,000-pound rear axle, and is powered by a 500-hp Cummins X12 diesel engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission. Wheelbase on the vehicle is 221 inches, overall length is 39 feet 6 inches, and overall height is 10 feet 9½ inches.
Besides the 75-foot aerial ladder, the rig has 96 cubic feet of compartment space covered by ROM roll-up doors; a Hale Qmax 2,000-gpm single-stage pump; a 500-gallon water tank; and a ladder tunnel with one 24-foot two-section extension ladder, one 14-foot roof ladder, two 10-foot folding ladders, and a 10-foot attic ladder.
The quint has a 221-inch wheelbase, and overall length of 39 feet 6 inches, an overall height of 10 feet 9½ inches, and is powered by a Cummins 500-hp X12 diesel engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission.
Fansler points out that the hosebed on the quint is a big deal to the department. “We like to carry a lot of hose because the quint operates as a first-out vehicle,” he says. “We are carrying 1,200 feet of 4-inch LDH, 600 feet on each side of the ladder. We have two 200-foot crosslays of 1¾-inch hose and 200 feet of 2½-inch hose in a crosslay, all of which are deployable when the aerial is in its stowed position. The monitor at the tip of the aerial is a 1,500-gpm Elkhart Brass Cobra 7205 that’s remote and wirelessly controlled.”
Fansler says that all the department’s quints carry HURST Jaws of Life® eDraulic cutter, spreader, and ram hydraulic rescue tools, while the platforms carry an eDraulic combi tool. “The rear end of this quint is different because of the layout of the compartment in the back,” he points out. “The ground ladders are stored under the aerial, and there’s also a space for backboard storage there.”
Rudy notes that additional equipment on the quint includes a grille-mounted Federal Q2B siren, five air bottle compartments, a Safety Vision camera system, a Smart Power 8-kW generator, an FRC Spectra LED brow light, a Whelen Freedom IV LED light bar, Whelen LED M9 scene lights, a Whelen L31 LED rear beacon, a Whelen 600 amber light, and Rigid D2 LED spotlights.
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.
