Oklahoma City (OK) is the 20th largest city in the United States with its 621 square miles being covered by the Oklahoma City Fire Department from 38 stations. The city has a substantial number of high-rise apartment buildings and complexes, warehouses, and other large buildings that would require hours to clear of smoke and fumes after a fire using traditionally-sized ventilation fans. So, the department decided to purchase a super-sized ventilation truck to handle vent duties on big structures.
“With standard ventilation fans, it would take a long time to vent a large building or warehouse,” says Scott Douglas, Oklahoma City’s district chief and public information officer. “Often crews were on a scene for several hours after a fire clearing the structure. Once we received the new Super Vac ventilation truck, we can clear a large building in a matter of minutes now, instead of running several vent fans for two to three hours after an incident.”
The vehicle built for Oklahoma City, says Roger Weinmeister, Super Vac’s president, is a Super Vac SVU (specialized ventilation unit). The vent truck is built on a 4×2 Ford F-450 chassis and two-door cab, powered by a Ford 7.3-liter 2V DEVCT NA PFI V8 430-horsepower (hp) engine.
The rig has a 15-kW Onan Protec PTO (power takeoff) generator, and a Super Vac six-point 48-inch diameter SVU fan with carbon fiber blades and a 250,000-cubic feet per minute (cfm) output. The fan is direct coupled to a 3.7-liter 90-hp Ford gasoline-powered engine that feeds off the truck’s main fuel tank.
Weinmeister points out the SVU vent truck has a 270-degree electric turntable with a scissor lift that allows for an elevation of 30 inches. “The tilt table allows the fan to tilt up to 20 degrees and rotate 90 degrees on either side of the vehicle,” he says. “With the elevation and tilt, the operator is able to aim the ventilation stream at a second story window.” The SVU also has a shroud misting ring that produces 30-gpm of water at 60-psi (pounds per square inch), two Whelen PFH2 shroud lights for spot/combination lighting, and a transverse compartment behind the cab with opposing fold-down side doors for access to storage allowing roll down access for additional fans and equipment, Weinmeister adds.
Douglas notes that the department uses the Super Vac vent truck about twice a month. “We recently used it at a huge industrial complex, where we set it in an open garage door on one side of the building and cleared the entire structure in minutes,” he says. The department keeps the vent truck at a centrally located fire station, Douglas says. “It’s not staffed 24/7, but when we need it, we do a split crew and bring the vent truck to the scene.”
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.
