Kansas City area fire apparatus

[MFD76]

[quote name='Toneslider12' post='318701' date='Jul 3 2009, 09:19 ']Nice looking tower, it seems like atleast a mid-mount design would have been a better compromise between the crews and chiefs. Too bad the bumper space is taken up with a hose tray and not an extrication tool since they do more truck work.



I have to say that in a defensive mode it's nice to not have to dedicate an engine to pump for a tower.[/quote]



Ever since the Seagrave Ladder failure in 96 the department has been very gun shy to have a mixed aerial fleet. This is due to the fact the Truck 3 was normally in a Sutphen Tower and the night of the failure they were in a 1979 Seagrave 100ft Quint. The FAO was operating the ladder wrong with about four major errors that lead to the failure. So ever since then they have been trying to standarize the fleet. On top of that the Chief wants to use the Trucks to meet NFPA 1710 instead of adding pumpers. His choice was to have a fleet of Rearmount Towers. He alos sees the resale value Tower Quints have. So you end up with a fleet of goofy Towers and four tillers and one stright stick. I with the Truck Officers would much rather see a Tillered fleet or even stright dry ladders. I believe you need at least one or two Towers in a big city but the whole fleet is a bit much. They weigh more are a little harder to maneuver, have a bigger jack spread and really dont fit KCFD Truck work.



I do agree the pump is handy on the Towers for defensive fires. Like the old Boston Tower Unit. The whole fleet but Truck 13 was E\-One so they had simliar jacking set ups and operations. Now they are adding Pierce and that was a big six month long debate because of not wanting to mix the aerial fleet. They had debated staying with E\-One just to keep the fleet standardized. However Pierce designed non-pinable outriggers for the KCFD Towers this was a requirement since the E-Ones don't have to be pinned.



Why was Truck 2 in DFD ordered as a Quint? Thanks for the info stay safe, Rick