Equilon Enterprises LLC Shell Convent Refining in Convent, Louisiana, was adding storage tanks at its Convent Refining facility, which meant it needed another pumper that was capable of very large water flows. Shell Convent Refining turned to Ferrara Fire Apparatus to build it a Super Pumper that could deliver those big flows.
Ferrara Fire Apparatus built this Super Pumper for Equilon Enterprises LLC Shell Convent Refining on a Inferno chassis and XMFD four-door cab with an 8-inch raised roof that’s set up to seat six firefighters. (Photos courtesy of Ferrara Fire Apparatus.)
Brad Williamson, Ferrara’s industrial product manager, says that the fire chief at Shell Convent Refinery, Mark Kinchen, is a proponent of big water. “The refinery was putting in bigger and taller tanks in its storage areas, and the only way to effectively work them is with a large flow apparatus,” Williamson says. “Chief Kinchen was familiar with our Super Pumper with its 6,250-gpm pump, and also liked the ability to get 12-inch supply hose to the pumper.”
The Super Pumper for Shell Convent Refining has a US Fire Pump HVP 6,250-gpm rear-mount pump, a 900-gallon foam tank, and a FoamPro Fusion 300-gpm foam system with a Fire Lion Global 300-gpm foam pump.
Williamson says that Shell Convent Refining purchased a Super Pumper built on a Ferrara Inferno chassis and XMFD four-door cab with an eight-inch raised roof that is set up to seat six firefighters and 3/16-inch marine grade extruded aluminum body. The rig is powered by a 600-hp Cummins IX 15 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS automatic transmission and carries a US Fire Pump HVP 6,250 rear-mount pump rated at 6,000 gpm, a 900-gallon foam tank, and a FoamPro Fusion 300-gpm foam system with a Fire Lion Global 300-gpm foam pump.
The pump panel for the rear-mount pumper is in the L3 compartment behind a rollup and can be protected by a Girard 12-volt electrically operated awning.
“The more water and foam you can set up with a pumper like this, the quicker you will be able to extinguish the fire and protect the facility and the community around it,” Williamson observes. “Chief Kinchen is integrating 12-inch supply line into his fire response plan and had us build this pumper for current and future needs at the refinery.”
The Ferrara Super Pumper carries a Task Force Tips Tsunami 8,000-gpm wireless remote monitor on its center line, and two Task Force Tips 2,000-gpm Monsoon wireless remote monitors at the rear corners.
Williamson notes that the FoamPro Fusion foam system is able to tell the operator exactly how much time he has left because of onboard foam use. “The FoamPro Fusion is a multipoint injection system that is both flow-based and gallonage-based so the operator always knows where he stands with the amount of foam used and how much he has left in the tank,” he says.
Access to the top of the Super Pumper is by a Zico ladder on the left side of the truck behind the cab.
The pump and foam control panel for the Super Pumper is located in the L3 compartment, which has a Girard 12-volt electrically operated pump operator awning. The rig also has an electric hosebed cover door system with electric controls at both the pump panel and the Zico access ladder at the left side of the truck behind the cab, a Hose Mule hose recovery unit, a Task Force Tips Tsunami 8,000-gpm wireless remote monitor, and twin Task Force Tips 2,000-gpm Monsoon wireless remote rear monitors. Wheelbase on the Super Pumper is 191 inches, overall length is 34 feet 5¼ inches, and overall height is 9 feet 5¼ inches.
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The unit has two 200-foot 1¾-inch preconnects in the middle of its hosebed, a transverse compartment over the rear wheels with rollout and tilt-down shelving, Whelen LED warning lighting, Whelen Pioneer LED scene lighting, FireTech HiViz brow lights, and Amdor LED underbody lighting.
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.
