United States Forest Service

[Aaronw]

Yes for the most part they are all pump and roll, with either a PTO pump or an aux pump (seperate motor).



The Model 61 and early Model 62's have a crew compartment in the front of the body (where the window and door is).



There really isn't a hosebed on these engines, what is refered to as a hose bed is really just a large storage area on top of the engine. This storage is usually used for hosepacks, rolled hose, saws, portible pumps, tents, red bags (personal crew bags, 2 weeks of clothing, sleeping bag, toiletries etc), but flat loaded hose as on structure engines is rare. There is a huge variation of how these are arranged and exactly what is stored up there.



Not really sure what you are asking on the last.

Each region has one or more engine designs they utilize, this is determined by each region. The type of engine assigned to a station is largely determined by the past, if a station had a light engine, the replacement will be a light engine unless the forest comes up with the money to upgrade to a larger engine. Sometimes a forest can petition the region for the money if they can articulate the need well.

[truck1882]

I see a lot of this is west coast and midwest, does anyone have any information on the Allegheny National Forest in PA? I have been told there is suppose to be a couple US Forestry stations on these lands, but no one I have ever spoke to seems so know anything about them, where they are, equipment, manpower, nothing basically. Can anyone help me out with info for this PA National Forest.

[mnsand]

Aaron,



Great topic and thanks for the time and effort in posting.



Is there a way to find out what apparatus run at certain locations? I am in the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia and know that the Skyline Drive area (Luray, VA) is protected by the forest service. I am curious what apparatus they run.



Any input is appreciated.



Thanks again Aaron.





Mike Sanders

Winchester, VA

[Guest]

[quote name='Monrovia1' timestamp='1303019243' post='435030']





Fire Oberservation aircraft.

[/quote]



Nice "defanged" Cobra!

[Aaronw]

I wish I could provide more info but being on the west coast I don't know much about the east coast forests. I would guess they probably have some engines based on 1 - 1.5 ton trucks and a small fire staff, probably relying heavily on the "miltia" (Forest Service employees who do fire on the side).



The website should provide contact info, if you ask to talk with someone in fire management I'm sure they would be wiling to arrange a time for some photos (which I would love to see <img src='http://www.firepics.net/groupboards/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/fireman.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> ). The USFS version of a fire chief would be the Fire Management Officer, and most that I've met don't bite. <img src='http://www.firepics.net/groupboards/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />



Allegheny NF



http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinte...=Allegheny National Forest- Home



and in Virginia



George Washington & Jefferson NFs.



http://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinte...me=George/

[Guest]

Here's one from the 2009 Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, VA.



Assigned to the George Washington National Forest.

[Image7801]

This is one of two ex-military Huey Cobra copters that the USFS uses as part of the [url="http://www.firewatchcobra.com/"]Firewatch Cobra[/url] program.



They have FLIR turrets in place of the gun in the nose. They are used to map fires in either color or infrared, then downlink them in realtime to a support van on the ground.



One of them was recently used on the Wallow fire in Eastern Arizona.





[quote name='Monrovia1' timestamp='1303019243' post='435030']





Fire Oberservation aircraft.

[/quote]

[Aaronw]

The Virginia engine posted above is a Model 52.



The Model 52 is available in two sizes, a Type 4 engine used on a medium / heavy duty truck chassis with a 750-1000 gallon tank, and a smaller Type 6 engine on a 1 to 1.5 ton chassis with a 200-300 gallon tank. The pumper unit is built on a platform made to fit onto a flatbed truck. Both sizes of pumper use an 85 gpm aux pump.



The Model 52 originated in Region 1 (Idaho / Montana) but they have spread to many other regions.



Coronado National Forest Engine 33

Model 52 (Type 6)

Tank 250 gallons, pump 85 gpm



Photo by Aaron Woods

[Aaronw]

This is the larger version of the Model 52



Idaho Panhandle National Forest Engine 4241

Model 52 (Type 4)

750 gallon tank, 85 gpm pump



Photo by Aaron Woods

[Aaronw]

Ford / Model 50 in front, followed by two Model 51s, photo probably taken in the late 1970s.



Credit Sierra National Forest archives

[Aaronw]

1948/49? Dodge "Model 50"



This was one of the prototype engines that eventually became the Model 50



Credit San Bernardino National Forest archives

[Aaronw]

White Mountain National Forest fire truck



White Mountain National Forest archives

[Aaronw]

Sawtooth National Forest Engine 1441

Model 52 (Type 6)



Photo by Aaron Woods

[Aaronw]

Sierra Hotshots Superintendant truck. Hotshots are highly trained / experienced 21 person hand crews (in reality the number will vary from 16-22 due to injuries, details, trainees, vacancies etc). The Superintendant of a hotshot crew is roughly equal to a Battalion Chief in rank / experience. They typically have a seperate truck as they tend to work very freely from the crew, acting as a lookout, scouting the fire, shuttling supplies, filling misc overhead positions on the fire, running injured / ill crew members into camp etc. The two crew captains handle most of the crew's fireline supervision.



The trucks vary greatly crew to crew, some like this one include a small pump and tank (100 gallon tank, 85 gpm pump) to assist the crew with burn out operations or during initial attack. Others opt for fuel tanks for drip torches, larger cargo carrying capability or even small ATVs used to scout fireline.

[Aaronw]

Sierra Hotshots Crew Buggy. The crew has 2 buggies, each capable of carrying 10 firefighters (2 in the cab, 8 in the back). markings for the crew will include crew number (Sierra HS is crew 15), module (A or B ) and the superintendant. So for example the Sierra Hotshots includes the 2 buggies 15A, 15B, and Supt 15.



The Sierra Hotshots are based on the Sierra National Forest in central California.

[Aaronw]

Crane Valley Hotshots (Sierra National Forest, CA)



Since 2000 there has been an on going battle over the use of green or white for USFS fire apparatus. Fleet managers prefer the white for simplcity (every manufacturer offers white as a standard color) / resale value, the field employees, fire crews in particular tend to favor the green for mostly traditional identity reasons.

[Aaronw]

Kings River Hotshots (Sierra National Forest)



This is an older IH4900 Crew buggy.

[Monrovia1]

Angeles Engine 311.

[Monrovia1]

Angeles Patrol 11.

[Monrovia1]

Angeles Water Tender 10.