Features

By Alan M. Petrillo W.S. Darley & Co. has built four custom pumpers designed to ford high water conditions for Sheldon (TX) Fire & Rescue, a fire district in Harris County to the east of Houston. Roland Balderas, Sheldon’s assistant ...

By Bill Adams Crosslays and Mattydales Transverse hose storage for handlines has been around since the late 1940s. Commonly called crosslays and mattydales, they’re usually located immediately above or recessed into the top of a midship-mounted pump enclosure. Some are ...

By Alan M. Petrillo The Elkhart (IN) Fire Department covers the 32-square mile city of Elkhart with 140 paid firefighters working out of seven stations, and running six engines, one quint, one aerial platform, and three ambulances as front-line apparatus. ...

By Bill Adams Part 1 illustrated this writer’s opinion that the requirement for and installation of “warning signs” on fire apparatus could be scrutinized. This part further investigates the whys and wherefores of providing signage. There is no intent to ...

By Alan M. Petrillo East Avon (NY) Fire Department always was a believer in equipping its apparatus with foam systems, especially for industrial applications and for motor vehicle fires, but hesitated to get into compressed air foam systems (CAFS) until ...

By Bill Adams The tones dropped and everyone headed for the rig. The chauffer fired up the motor as the lieutenant impatiently waited for the crew to load up. One jumped in behind the officer’s seat while two others stood ...

Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment publishes a monthly list showing photos of about two dozen new apparatus deliveries. In the last three months, 66% of the deliveries featured roll-up compartment doors, 23% had hinged doors, and 11% had a combination of both.

Two longtime customers of Sutphen Corp., the Dearborn (MI) Fire Department and Clemson (SC) Fire and EMS, are running only Sutphen engines and aerials in their fire response fleets, and praise the family-owned company for its quality products and strong relationships with its customers.

Limestone (OK) Fire Protection District had W.S. Darley & Co. build two wet light rescues on RAM 5500 4×4 chassis with four-door cabs powered by 6.7-liter Cummins I6 diesel engines and Aisin six-speed automatic transmissions.

In comparing dozens of OEMs’ Web sites, there is no common industry-wide description for a light rescue except for the intimation they’re support rather than suppression vehicles.