The Shreveport (LA) Fire Department has added two short-wheelbase Ferrara Cinder pumpers to its fleet, rounding out a purchase of a dozen Ferrara Fire Apparatus engines to bring its frontline pumper total up to 18 rigs.
Chief Clarence Reese Jr. says, “We protect an area of 140 square miles with 600 full-time paid firefighter/paramedics operating out of 22 stations. We are an all-hazards department running 18 Ferrara pumpers, along with three aerial ladders, one rescue, and advanced life support (ALS) ambulances.”
Ferrara Fire Apparatus recently delivered two Cinder custom pumpers to the Shreveport (LA) Fire Department. (Photos 1-4 courtesy of Ferrara Fire Apparatus)
Reese points out that because of Shreveport’s many tight, narrow streets, the department needed to have a relatively short wheelbase on its pumpers, so it went with Ferrara rigs with a 194-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 31 feet 6 inches, and an overall height of 9 feet 6 inches. “These pumpers handle very well, and are able to get into places that a bigger rig couldn’t do,” he observes.
The pumpers have 194-inch wheelbases, which helps the department negotiate tight, narrow streets.
Courtney Butcher, fire apparatus and equipment salesman for Bulldog Fire Apparatus, who sold the pumpers to Shreveport, says the Ferrara pumpers are built on Cinder cabs and chassis with 8-inch raised roofs and seating for six firefighters. He notes the crew cabs have two emergency medical services (EMS) boxes, treadplate floors, and active air purification systems.
The rigs have Darley PSD 1,500-gpm, side-mount, single-stage power takeoff (PTO) pumps, and 500-gallon polypropylene water tanks.
“Shreveport is running a clean cab concept with these pumpers, where they have no tools or self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) in the cab,” Butcher points out. “The SCBA air packs are located in the high side compartments over the pumper’s rear wheel wells.”
The rigs carry 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose and a 50-foot roll of forestry hose in a compartment in their extended front bumpers.
Butcher says the rigs have 450-horsepower (hp) Cummins L9 engines, Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmissions, Hendrickson STEERTEK™ NXT front axles, Darley PSD 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm), side-mount, single-stage power takeoff (PTO) pumps, and 500-gallon polypropylene water tanks.
The newest delivery brings Shreveport’s frontline pumper fleet up to 18 Ferrara rigs. (Photos 5-6 courtesy of Bulldog Fire Apparatus)
Jason Louque, Ferrara’s director of inside sales, says the pumpers have two 1¾-inch crosslays, one of 200 feet and 250 and one of feet; two 1¾-inch speedlays of 250 feet in removeable trays; 200 feet of 1¾-inch hose and a 50-foot roll of forestry hose in compartments in the extended front bumpers; and Task Force Tips (TFT) deck guns with TFT 18-inch Extend-A-Gun™ extensions. He says the pumpers’ hosebeds hold 1,500 feet of 5-inch large diameter hose (LDH) and 300 feet of 3-inch hose.
Shreveport employs the clean cab concept on its pumpers with SCBA air cylinders carried in the high-side compartments over the rear wheel wells.
Louque adds that the Ferrara pumpers have Kochek Hydrassist intake valves at the rear, slide-in compartments for ground ladders and two New York hooks, four coffin compartments, two-piece clamshell aluminum hosebed covers, and FRC inView™ 360 HD 4-camera systems.
Lighting on the rigs includes Whelen Freedom IV LED lightbars, Whelen Pioneer LED brow lights, Whelen M6 and M9 series LED warning lights, Whelen Pioneer LED scene lights, and OnScene Solutions Access series LED compartment lights.
Archie Watson, Shreveport Fire’s chief of maintenance, observes, “We love the way these pumpers ride. Their shorter wheelbase makes them much more compact, which fits in our streets, and the Darley PTO-driven pump is great, especially in terms of maintenance.”
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist who has served as a newspaper reporter, editor, and magazine writer and is a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
