The Eden (NC) Fire Department needed to replace an early-1990s aerial platform because the department couldn’t get maintenance parts for it anymore, so it turned to Sutphen Corp. because Eden was very happy with the aerial quint it purchased from Sutphen in 2017.
Eden (NC) Fire Department recently got this SP 70 aerial ladder platform quint from Sutphen Corp. (Photos courtesy of Stevens Fire Equipment.)
“We went to our dealer, Robert Stanley at Stevens Fire Equipment, and he had a 70-foot aerial platform quint demo that he brought over for us to examine,” says Todd Harden, Eden’s chief. “We were very pleased with the performance of the 75-foot aerial ladder quint we bought from Sutphen a few years ago, and decided to replace our 1991 Grumman Firecat 102-foot aerial platform with the Sutphen 70-foot platform.”
Eden’s Sutphen platform quint has a 70-foot aerial ladder, a Hale QMax 1,500-gallons-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 500-gallon water tank, and a 30-gallon foam tank.
Harden adds, “While we were working with the Sutphen platform, Robert mentioned that he also had a demo custom pumper that we might want to see, as we were considering replacing a 1995 KME pumper at some point. We bought both vehicles because everything on the platform quint and the pumper met our needs, so we didn’t have to change anything. They were exactly what we wanted.”
Eden Fire Department is a combination department with 18 full-time paid firefighters, 20 part-time paid firefighters, and 15 on-call paid volunteer firefighters, Harden says. The department covers a fully-hydranted but mostly rural area of nearly 15 square miles that includes three small municipalities and a population of 15,400 from four stations with the two new Sutphen apparatus, plus a 2017 Sutphen 75-foot aerial ladder quint, and a 2008 Pierce engine.
Stanley says the SP 70 aerial platform quint is built on a Sutphen Monarch heavy-duty custom chassis with a 62-inch cab and 10-inch raised roof with seating for six firefighters, and a 70-foot aerial ladder, powered by a 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison Gen 5 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Wheelbase on the rig is 221 inches, overall length is 43 feet 5-3/4-inches, and overall height is 10 feet 9-1/4-inches, while the front axle and suspension is rated at 23,000 pounds, and the rear axle and suspension at 31,000 pounds.
Eden also purchased a Sutphen custom pumper powered by a 380-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison Gen 5 3000 EVS automatic transmission.
The aerial platform quint has a QMax 1,500-gallons-per-minute (gpm) single-stage pump, a 500-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, two 1-3/4-inch hose cross lays, two 2-1/2-inch and one 3-inch discharge on the left side, a 2-1/2-inch discharge on the right side, and a 1-1/2-inch discharge in the 24-inch extended front bumper. The rig’s 190 cubic feet of compartments are covered by ROM roll-up doors, and the 85 feet of ground ladders includes a 35-foot three-section extension ladder, a 24-foot two-section extension ladder, a 16-foot roof ladder, and a 10-foot folding ladder.
Eden’s custom pumper from Sutphen has a Hale QMax 1,500-gpm single stage pump, an 1,800-gallon water tank, and a 30-gallon foam tank.
Other equipment includes a Federal Q2B grill-mounted siren, a FRC inView 360 HD camera system, a Harrison Stinger 3.6-kilowatt generator, a Hannay 150-foot electric cord reel, a Whelen Freedom 4 light bar, a FRC VantagePoint LED spotting light, a FRC Spectra LED brow light, FRC Spectra 120-volt scene lights, and FRC Spectra 900 scene lights, and on the platform two Elkhart Brass monitors.
Both the Sutphen SP 70 and the custom pumper have Federal Q2B grill-mounted sirens, and Whelen Freedom 4 LED light bars.
Stanley points out Eden’s custom pumper is built on a Monarch heavy-duty chassis with a 62-inch cab and 10-inch raised roof with seating for six firefighters, powered by a 380-hp Cummins L9 diesel engine, and an Allison Gen 5 3000 EVS automatic transmission. The pumper’s wheelbase is 185 inches, its overall length is 31 feet 10 inches, its overall height is 9 feet 10 inches, its front axle and suspension is rated at 20,000 pounds, and its rear axle and suspension at 31,000 pounds.
The Eden pumper has a Hale QMax 1,500-gpm single-stage pump, an 1,800-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon foam tank, two 2-inch hose cross lays, two 2-1/2-inch discharges on the left, a 3-inch and a 2-1/2-inch discharge on the right, a 2-1/2-inch discharge at the rear, a 1-1/2-inch discharge in the 24-inch extended front bumper, and a 3-inch deck gun discharge for a Task Force Tips Extend-A-Gun.
The pumper carries a Federal Q2B grill-mounted siren, a FRC TrueSight™ camera system, a Ziamatic Quic-Lift electric ladder rack, triple air bottle compartments, an E.J. Metals 8-inch electric dump valve with a stainless-steel chute at the rear, a Whelen Freedom 4 light bar, a HiViz 72-inch LED brow light, and HiViz FireTech Guardian Elite LED scene lights.
The SP 70 aerial platform quint has two Elkhart Brass monitors mounted at the sides of the platform.
Zach Rudy, Sutphen’s director of sales and marketing, notes, “With the purchase of their second and third Sutphen apparatus, respectively, we are proud to keep the Eden Fire Department in the Sutphen family. Working through Stevens Fire Equipment, we know that the Eden Fire Department is in good hands, and we look forward to a continued long-term relationship.”
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Ariz.-based journalist, the author of three novels and five non-fiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial advisory board. He served 22 years with Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including the position of chief.
