Kansas

[MFD76]

Lyon County, KS Fire District Four

(Emporia, Kansas Fire Department)

County Engine 2

06/1993

#10507

Ford F700/ Luverne

1250/1000

Gas/Automatic

 

[southwheatland514]

Does anyone know when Wichita will start receiving deliveries from their Pierce order?  Or at least when they might be on the assembly line?  Any details on orders besides the Dash CF Pumpers?

[MFD76]

<div style="margin:0px;">Note: First TDA in Kansas in over Thirty years. Also first Velocity PUC TDA and second PUC TDA built. Pump and Tank are confined to the tractor. 
 
</div>
Lenexa, Kansas Fire Department
Ladder 91
#25453
07-2012
Pierce Velocity PUC TDA
1500/300
100ft Ladder
 

[Athomas5784]

Great shot Rick!

[MFD76]

Topeka, Kansas Fire Department

Ex: Engine 6

#1175998 (Tagged Demo)

09-04-1998

HME SFO/ Central States 

1000/500/30F

Note: Rear tail board mounted pump panel.

Note: Purchsed as a Demo in 1998 for Engine 6. Numours mechnical issues over the years disposed of never entered spare fleet. Only rear mount pump ever purchased all eleven other Engine Companies operated standard engines. Engine 6 has been assigned Ex Engine 10 HME 1871/ Ferrera standard size engine. 
 

[Guest]

Fairly similar to the HME/Central States that Denver has a couple of. Do you have any other shots of the backstep, cab configuration, pump panel set up?

[MFD76]

Yep no problem. I always try to shoot a 360 just for these occasions. Many times there are great or not so great design features on the officers side and rear that are not captured with the standard posed shot. 

 

Topeka, Kansas Fire Department
Ex: Engine 6
#1175998 (Tagged Demo)
09-04-1998
HME SFO/ Central States 
1000/500/30F

 

[hp1530]

Spotted a group photo of the trucks headed to Witchita, 9 Engines and a Tower. Mighty impressive. 

[Guest]

Wichita, Kansas Fire Department Engine 9

Pierce Dash CF PUC 1500/600

Job: 26625-06 Built: 07-2013

   

[Guest]

Wichita, Kansas Fire Department Engine 12

Pierce Dash CF PUC 1500/600

Job: 26625-09 Built: 07-2013

   

[Guest]

Wichita, Kansas Fire Department Engine 12 Rear View

Pierce Dash CF PUC 1500/600

Job: 26625-09 Built: 07-2013

   

[Guest]

Wichita, Kansas Fire Department Truck 2

Pierce Dash CF PUC 1500/200

Job: 26626 Built: 07-2013

   

[Guest]

It has been refreshing to see Wichita spec a Pierce PUC with a low hosebed.  It seems to be very rare, for some reason, but I'm glad to see that WFD has some folks that still think about fireground efficiency and safety.  I'm anxious to hear how they feel about them.  Any idea on price tag for the pumpers?

[MFD76]

It has been refreshing to see Wichita spec a Pierce PUC with a low hosebed.  It seems to be very rare, for some reason, but I'm glad to see that WFD has some folks that still think about fireground efficiency and safety.  I'm anxious to hear how they feel about them.  Any idea on price tag for the pumpers?

 

It took quite a lot of work. The firemen and officers really wanted standard pumpers and were not thrilled about the PUC design. They also did not want the fake grill. As most of us know CF Cab Forward fire apparatus don't have grills and should not have the over the road truck look we have been plagued with for the last twenty years as CF cabs became obslete. As you said this is not normal for a PUC. Most PUC come in the over the top high hose bed with large rescue body. They went back and forth a number of times with the dealer and mfg to get this. One issue that has risen since delivery is although low the bed is not deep. It was believed they would have more depth. The depth issue it a two part problem from the water tank to the PUC design. So this poses a small problem for the hose bed bundles. It will mean the bundles and supply will be higher than planned. WFD has worked very hard over the last few years to return to rear hose lays. They have two dead beds one 2.5 finished with a wye and 1.75 bundle and  3" finished with a wye and 2.5 bundle. So you can pull past for the Truck and pull the bundle or reverse out to the plug and dump the bundle at the curb.  WFD is extremely concerned about fire ground efficiency. As many departments spec machines that treat firefighting as a secondary or last resort. The WFD has taken the opposite approach and designed and reconfigured existing machines into aggressive fire attack machines with the focus on fighting fire. After all we don't go to as many fires anymore but you better have a machine and men that can perform at top speed and efficiency when we do take a fire. They want to make sure when fires occur they have a quick efficient way to get the first and second line in service. I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished. I will check on the price with some close friends that played a key roll on the committee. 

 

The Truck is the other impressive accomplishment. The firemen had very little say in the last Tower Ladder order in 2003-2006. Thus they ended up with quints with poor ground ladders and poor fire ground ability to accomplish effective truck work. Over preceding years since the crews modified the older towers for additional equipment by removing hose and other non truck items. The committee pushed for a dry Truck but lost, quite a lot of time has passed from the last dry trucks. The last dry aerial trucks were purchased by the WFD in 1975 and retired between 2003-2006. This is the first step toward a dry truck. They will be evaluating how often the pump is used so hopefully the next order will be dry. As we know pump panels and tanks are a waste of a perfectly good throughway compartments for tools. Some of positive the features it only carries 200 gallons of water. The pump panel is very basic only two valves for the front bumper and two for the officer side LDH and 2.5 discharge and the hand wheel for the fly pipe. The drivers side discharges were speced with gates at the valves on the lower panel. The front bumper is designed for two 1.75 pre-connects. They wanted compartment by the pump panel to hold their roof hooks and trash hooks. So as the truckmen exit the cab the hooks are easy to access. This is whey the front bumper holds the hose and is designed so eventually tools could be stored there instead of hose. The ground ladders are also impressive 2 two section 28ft, 1 three section 45ft, 2 twenty foot roof, 2 sixteen foot roof, 1 two section fresno. It has a small bed for five inch LDH. They also specced a Stang Intelligent manual "getto" monitor in the basket. They researched the and found its flow exceeded what others could provide. This took special approval as Pierce has not placed one on a tower ladder in a number of years. Overall it is a start in the right direction for the department that focuses on aggressive interior fire attack with aggressive truck work. 

 

The black over red was a big surprise. They originally were going to be the Traditional WFD solid RED with the large triple stripe and this order having painted roll ups. They switched the color at the pre build conference after viewing a number of machines on the floor. They decided to go with a basic stripe and the black over red. With the change to a more basic stripe the savings covered the cost of the paint change. There are mixed feels as WFD tradition is solid red, however I believe feelings are changing as they look very nice.

 

See you soon brother.

 

Stay Safe,

Rick 

[MFD76]

The door above the pump panel is for 6ft roof hook and 6ft trash hook storage. 

 



 

Here is a shot of the basic panel 

 

[MFD76]

 

It took quite a lot of work. The firemen and officers really wanted standard pumpers and were not thrilled about the PUC design. They also did not want the fake grill. As most of us know CF Cab Forward fire apparatus don't have grills and should not have the over the road truck look we have been plagued with for the last twenty years as CF cabs became obslete. As you said this is not normal for a PUC. Most PUC come in the over the top high hose bed with large rescue body. They went back and forth a number of times with the dealer and mfg to get this. One issue that has risen since delivery is although low the bed is not deep. It was believed they would have more depth. The depth issue it a two part problem from the water tank to the PUC design. So this poses a small problem for the hose bed bundles. It will mean the bundles and supply will be higher than planned. WFD has worked very hard over the last few years to return to rear hose lays. They have two dead beds one 2.5 finished with a wye and 1.75 bundle and  3" finished with a wye and 2.5 bundle. So you can pull past for the Truck and pull the bundle or reverse out to the plug and dump the bundle at the curb.  WFD is extremely concerned about fire ground efficiency. As many departments spec machines that treat firefighting as a secondary or last resort. The WFD has taken the opposite approach and designed and reconfigured existing machines into aggressive fire attack machines with the focus on fighting fire. After all we don't go to as many fires anymore but you better have a machine and men that can perform at top speed and efficiency when we do take a fire. They want to make sure when fires occur they have a quick efficient way to get the first and second line in service. I am extremely proud of what they have accomplished. I will check on the price with some close friends that played a key roll on the committee. 

 

The Truck is the other impressive accomplishment. The firemen had very little say in the last Tower Ladder order in 2003-2006. Thus they ended up with quints with poor ground ladders and poor fire ground ability to accomplish effective truck work. Over preceding years since the crews modified the older towers for additional equipment by removing hose and other non truck items. The committee pushed for a dry Truck but lost, quite a lot of time has passed from the last dry trucks. The last dry aerial trucks were purchased by the WFD in 1975 and retired between 2003-2006. This is the first step toward a dry truck. They will be evaluating how often the pump is used so hopefully the next order will be dry. As we know pump panels and tanks are a waste of a perfectly good throughway compartments for tools. Some of positive the features it only carries 200 gallons of water. The pump panel is very basic only two valves for the front bumper and two for the officer side LDH and 2.5 discharge and the hand wheel for the fly pipe. The drivers side discharges were speced with gates at the valves on the lower panel. The front bumper is designed for two 1.75 pre-connects. They wanted compartment by the pump panel to hold their roof hooks and trash hooks. So as the truckmen exit the cab the hooks are easy to access. This is whey the front bumper holds the hose and is designed so eventually tools could be stored there instead of hose. The ground ladders are also impressive 2 two section 28ft, 1 three section 45ft, 2 twenty foot roof, 2 sixteen foot roof, 1 two section fresno. It has a small bed for five inch LDH. They also specced a Stang Intelligent manual "getto" monitor in the basket. They researched the and found its flow exceeded what others could provide. This took special approval as Pierce has not placed one on a tower ladder in a number of years. Overall it is a start in the right direction for the department that focuses on aggressive interior fire attack with aggressive truck work. 

 

The black over red was a big surprise. They originally were going to be the Traditional WFD solid RED with the large triple stripe and this order having painted roll ups. They switched the color at the pre build conference after viewing a number of machines on the floor. They decided to go with a basic stripe and the black over red. With the change to a more basic stripe the savings covered the cost of the paint change. There are mixed feels as WFD tradition is solid red, however I believe feelings are changing as they look very nice.

 

See you soon brother.

 

Stay Safe,

Rick 

 

Here is the current Engine 5. All of the hose beds on the 2003-2006 order for Pierce Dash pumpers are now standardized across the WFD. The lengths are below the photo. 

 



 

Left to Right 

700'/ 5" LDH, 800'/ 3", 400'/ 3" gated wye finished bundle 200'/ 2.5" with smoothbore, 400'/ 3" gated wye finished bundle 200'/ 1.75" with smoothbore. 200'/ 1" red booster in rear compartment. 

 

Here is an early photo when specific WFD engines were testing the bundles before the above finished product. 

 

[Juice]

 The black over red was a big surprise. They originally were going to be the Traditional WFD solid RED with the large triple stripe and this order having painted roll ups. They switched the color at the pre build conference after viewing a number of machines on the floor. They decided to go with a basic stripe and the black over red. With the change to a more basic stripe the savings covered the cost of the paint change. There are mixed feels as WFD tradition is solid red, however I believe feelings are changing as they look very nice.

 

I was actually very disappointed to see that they switched colors as theirs was unique, add to the fold that it's now Black and Red, which everyone and their brother is doing anymore, and they just don't have that POP that WFD trucks had. As I've said several times over, Black and Red is now the new White and Red, and I have no idea why it just all of a sudden became so popular, it's been around for ages.

 

What would the point in the grab rail on the front corners of the cab be, do you know? Also, you said that the guys weren't big on the fake grilles, so what led to them being put on anyhow?

 

Thanks for all of the info Rick,

Trav!

[MFD76]

 

I was actually very disappointed to see that they switched colors as theirs was unique, add to the fold that it's now Black and Red, which everyone and their brother is doing anymore, and they just don't have that POP that WFD trucks had. As I've said several times over, Black and Red is now the new White and Red, and I have no idea why it just all of a sudden became so popular, it's been around for ages.

 

What would the point in the grab rail on the front corners of the cab be, do you know? Also, you said that the guys weren't big on the fake grilles, so what led to them being put on anyhow?

 

Thanks for all of the info Rick,

Trav!

Hey Trav,

 

My understanding was originally when the committee finished meeting there was no grill and only the classic stainless band. The grill was added a the pre-build conference when the color change occurred and was decided. The front grab rails are there to assist in stepping up in the bumper to clean the windshield and front roof of the cab.  Hope all is well.

 

Stay Safe,

Rick 

[firetdriver_99]

I personally like the Witchita trucks i am not to crazy about the stadard ladder set up on the passenger side on the PUC body but I understand why they designed it like they did. In all i think they look very sharp.

[Athomas5784]

I was told that the black over red was done so that guys on the job would know right away without a doubt that they were working with a new rig not the older ones, as many things are different.

 

Here is published quote stating that:

"In the end, Aaron said, all of the department’s firefighters will have some training on the new engines and truck. That’s because there may be situations where a firefighter who does not work from one of the new engines may be sent to get a piece of equipment off one. And a hose nozzle or ax may be in an entirely different compartment on the new apparatus. That’s a big reason why the new equipment has a different paint scheme, so they are quickly recognizable to any firefighter.

“It’s not always the best visibility at a scene,” Aaron said. “So that’s the logic behind it.”

 

Link to article

 



Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/09/02/2978319...rylink=cpy"