Utica Fire Department spent a considerable amount of time and effort figuring out the design of a new pumper, and was hoping to work with Spencer Manufacturing to get a demo unit that wasn’t spoken for. While no demos were available, a pumper cancelation on Spencer’s line turned into an opportunity for Utica and the department committed to the new rig.
Matt Creech, vice president of sales for Kodiak Emergency Vehicles, says his company had been working with Utica firefighters about either finding a demo unit or designing a new rig, which the department did not want to do because of the time lag in getting the apparatus built. “Spencer Manufacturing had a pumper on the production line that was reserved for another fire department, but after that department changed its mind and released the rig, it became available. Utica especially liked the pumper’s transverse compartment, and when they heard the rig was available, they immediately approved the purchase.”
Ben Bregg, design engineer for Spencer Manufacturing, says the Utica rescue-pumper is built on a Spartan Metro Star chassis and medium four door (MFD) cab with seating for four firefighters, three of them in self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats. The rig is powered by a Cummins L9 engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, and has a wheelbase of 193 inches, an overall length of 33 feet, 2 inches, and an overall height of 9 feet, 10 inches.
Kevin Wilseck, Utica Fire’s chief, says the department was fortunate to be able to purchase the rescue-pumper. “We kind of fell into this truck because we had been working with Kodiak about either a new pumper or a demo, and then all of a sudden this one became available,” Wilseck observes. “We were able to make a few changes to the vehicle while it was on the line, like eliminating two firefighter seats in the crew cab and adding an emergency medical services (EMS) cabinet, adding a Will-Burt Night Scan 2.3 light tower and a booster line reel, and changing one of the hard suction compartments to a walkway with a pull-down, and the other side into coffin compartments.”
The Utica rescue-pumper has a Spencer Solid-Poly™ body with a transverse L1/R1 compartment and an enclosed side mount pump panel, Solid-Poly tool boards, and SlideMaster slide-out trays. The rig has a Hale Qmax XS 1,500 gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 20-gallon foam tank, a Hale SmartFOAM 2.1 foam system, and a Class 1 Sentry pressure governor.
Bregg points out that the Utica rescue-pumper has a Task Force Tips Crossfire deck gun monitor with a TFT 18-inch Extend-A-Gun, two 1-3/4-inch speed lays in front of the pump panel, a 1-3/4-inch hose in a well in the 21-inch extended front bumper, two 2-1/2-inch preconnects of 200 feet each off the rear of the rig, 200 feet of one-inch booster hose on an electric reel in the rear compartment, and a hose bed carrying 1,000 feet of 5-inch large diameter hose (LDH). He says the ground ladders are carried through-the-tank on the beam on the right rear of the apparatus.
Besides the Will-Burt light tower, other lighting on the rescue-pumper includes a Whelen LED warning light package, and all Whelen LED scene 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.
