Pierce Mfg. sure knows how to attract attention. On Thursday at the Fire Department Instructors Conference, the company unveiled one of the best-kept secrets in the industry — the Pierce Ultimate Configuration.

Wilson Jones, vice president of sales, said this truck has been in development for five years and was designed in response to fire department requests for easier operation. The full-tilt cab, multi-purpose response vehicle doesn’t have a pump house, yet still offers a powerful pump and CAF system. A simplified two-step process quickly makes the pump operational by the time the driver reaches the pump panel.

The PUC has all the safety features of the last year’s Velocity fire truck, including a new pump panel located along the side of hose connections instead of over them, as well as chest height crosslays, ladder storage and Stokes baskets, keeping “boots safely on the ground,” said Jones. Score a big one for Pierce.

Also at the show — and near and dear to my heart — is a new seat-monitoring and data-acquisition system from Fire Research Corp. The system includes a seatbelt monitor that sends an audible alarm if a seatbelt in an occupied seat is not buckled. The system also includes a lateral G-force indicator that records vehicle speed, engine RPM and throttle position, and ABS status. The system records the data, which then can be downloaded through a USB connection.

Once again the safety message came through loud and clear in the first few hours of the show.

While I often brag about the innovations I come across at industry events, I’d like to take a moment to brag about something, or someone, a little closer to home. Andy Van Sciver is a FIRE CHIEF sales representative, but his first love is his work with the Ventura County (Calif.) Search & Rescue Team.

On April 14, Andy and three of his crewmembers received the Peace Officers Association of Ventura County’s Medal of Merit, the highest honor awarded to civilian personnel. According to Matt Findley, president of the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Association and past president of the Peace Officers Association, the award was presented to the crew for their extraordinary efforts in rescuing a child and an adult from the side of a cliff in Rose Valley.

“The four search-and-rescue personnel decided on their own how to combine their skills of rappelling and rock climbing to rescue the child and adult,” said Findley. “Had they not been able to perform the rescue, they could have suffered hypothermia or dropped down 300 feet from the side of the cliff.”

Congratulations, Andy!

Janet Wilmoth, Editorial Director
janet@firechief.com