Heavy-rescue units are the workhorse of fire department response units, yet they are versatile enough to meet the needs of any community.

In southern Indiana, the Zionsville Fire Department is a combination department with 41 career and 30 volunteer members, operating from two fire stations. The department covers 
52 square miles and serves a population of 30,000. Their most recent purchase was a 24-foot heavy-rescue apparatus from SVI Trucks that replaced an older, much smaller vehicle. Zionsville opted to have all the tools and equipment shipped to SVI for placement on the apparatus before delivery.

Zionsville’s heavy-rescue truck was built on a Spartan Gladiator 20-inch raised-roof ELFD cab/chassis. The vehicle features a Cummins ISM 450-hp engine, an Allison 4000 EVS transmission, a 31-inch extended front bumper with tool storage and two hydraulic reels, an LPL air outlet, two brow lights, a David Clark intercom system and seating for six people. The apparatus is 
41.8 feet long, 11 feet high of and 10 feet wide. It has eight 1,000-pound slide-out trays, seven 400-pound slide-out trays and one 250-pound tray. Three slide-out tool boards and adjustable shelving also provide easy access to tools and equipment.

According to Chief James Van Gorder, Zionsville took advantage of SVI’s expertise in custom fitting all the necessary tools and equipment into the vehicle.

“The ability to sit in a room with SVI and see the layout of our rescue unit on CAD made the process so easy,” Van Gorder said. “We spent a ton of time reviewing each and every tool we were going to put on the rescue. We took pictures of every tool [from multiple angles] and placed [them on] a spreadsheet, and brought this info with us to our pre-build trip where SVI — in great detail — designed all the major trays, shelves and tool holders.”

The department opted to bid the loose equipment separately and had it drop-shipped to SVI, which stored the equipment until the department personnel arrived for the tool mounting. “We unpacked and placed each and every tool with a craftsman at SVI over three days,” Van Gorder said.

With minor adjustments, the truck was on display at FDIC, after which the department took delivery and drove it the 20 miles between Indianapolis and Zionsville. “Within a few days the vehicle was ready to go in service,” Van Gorder said.

He added that the apparatus was specified with two light towers; an onboard, six-bottle, high-pressure breathing-air cascade system; extensive exterior scene lighting; and an Amkus Ultimate rescue system that allows the department to operate up to six rescue tools simultaneously. In addition, the vehicle’s custom cab layout allows surface water-rescue personnel to dress in a warm environment.

Mobile Boat Launch

Meanwhile, 11 miles of difficult shoreline for water rescues were the driving force for the New Rochelle (N.Y.) Fire Department’s latest heavy-rescue vehicle, and explains why the Liberator 4000 crane and boat is on top of unit. New Rochelle, a career department with 160 members and as many as 9,000 runs a year, has five fire stations that cover 10 square miles near New York City.

The rescue unit was designed with an inflatable boat atop the vehicle because of the number of lakes in the area, as well as the aforementioned difficult shoreline along Long Island Sound. “We have extremely limited access for launching,” said Barry Nechis, captain and OEM coordinator for the city. “With the crane and boat, we now have up to 40 launch sites for the boat and the team.”

Nechis said that the rescue boat is strapped to a beach dolly so that if they launch to water the boat is unstrapped, but if the boat is set down on pavement — like at a municipal beach — the boat being on the dolly allows it to be rolled to the water for quicker deployment.

New Rochelle’s rescue vehicle, also built by SVI, is on a Spartan Gladiator LFD 24-inch raised-roof cab/chassis, with a 45-hp Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine and an Allison 4000 EVS transmission. The cab has seating for five people, three brow lights (two LED and one quartz) and a Firecom intercom system. The cab’s command area includes floor cabinets with roll-up doors, a slide-out desk and cargo netting.

The 24-foot-long body has street-side and curbside awnings and plenty of storage with seven 1,000-pound slide-out trays, six slide-out tool boards, adjustable shelving and a Stokes basket module.

“We were very lucky with the vehicle we ended up with,” Nechis said. “[With] the city money and a fire act grant we were able to maximize what we needed and wanted on this vehicle.”
Besides the rooftop boat, there is a Hippo power unit that includes a hydraulic-driven air compressor, as well as two hydraulic tool circuits with an adjustable flow that ranges from 0 to 10 GPM at 2,000 psi, an idea that Nechis said came from the railroad industry. The unit offers both low-volume air and high-volume air to run industrial tools, like a jack hammer, and provides hydraulics to run multiple Stanley tools.

Multijurisdiction Command

Near the nation’s capital, a Rosenbauer heavy-rescue apparatus was the vehicle of choice for six Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments bomb-squad vehicles that were ordered last year. Arlington County, Va., handled the procurement and was one of the departments to receive a truck. The units replace outdated and undersized units and provide a uniformed platform for teams operating in Washington and surrounding areas.

The bomb-squad vehicles were purchased under a federal grant. Departments that received units included the Arlington County Fire Department, the Loudoun County (Va.) Sherriff’s Office, the Montgomery County (Md.) Fire Department, the Prince George’s County (Md.) Fire Department, the Virginia State Police, and Washington’s Metro Transit Police.

The ³⁄₁₆-inch formed aluminum body measures 27-feet in length and is mounted on a Spartan Metro Star ER chassis. An interior command center is located in the forward area of the body and houses an elaborate array of audio/visual equipment, along with a desk, chair and storage areas. Ramps allow for a remote-controlled robot and equipment carts stored in the body to be deployed from either side. Spanning the length of the body on each side is an electric awning that offers protection during inclement weather or on hot days.

A 20-kW diesel generator supplies electrical power to a 6,000-watt light tower, two electrical reels and multiple outlets located throughout the vehicle. A camera is mounted on a 25-foot telescoping mast that is located behind the cab. More than 20 LED warning lights are installed on each vehicle. Additional storage is available in the rooftop compartments, which are reached via an access ladder located on the rear of the truck.

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