By Alan M. Petrillo
The city of Rawlins (WY) has 8,000 residents in the eight-square mile city, and while that is the main response area for the Rawlins Fire Department, the agency also runs on mutual aid in Carbon County’s 7,980-square miles. The city has a mix of residential, commercial and industrial occupancies, including a number of hotels and churches, while there is an oil refinery six miles outside of town.
Blain Schumacher, Rawlins chief, says that Rawlins Fire Department protects its district with two Type 1 pumpers, a 100-foot aerial platform, a heavy rescue, two Type 6 wildland pumpers, and one ambulance, operating out of two stations. “We’re a combination department with nine full-time paid firefighters, three of them on duty during the day running 48/96 shifts, two administrators, and 15 volunteer firefighters,” Schumacher says. “Our second station is manned during the night.”
Allen Robinson, Rawlins battalion chief, points out that, “This is our first Type 3 wildland urban interface (WUI) all wheel drive engine that is replacing a Type 1 pumper. We wanted something with a big enough pump to fight structure fires, as well as to handle wildland fires.”
The Rawlins Type 3 WUI engine has a Waterous CXS 1,250-gpm pump, a 750-gallon water tank, a 30-gallon fuel cell, and a FoamPro 2001 Class A and B foam proportioning system. (Photo courtesy of SVI Trucks)
Jason Kline, SVI Trucks sales manager for Colorado and Wyoming, notes that Rawlins Fire came to SVI “looking for a multi-function, dual-purpose vehicle, something that could handle the wildfires that they get in that area, but also deal with structure fires too.” The Type 3 WUI engine that Rawlins got from SVI is on a Freightliner chassis with a four-door cab and seating for four firefighters in a clean cab design. The self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) air packs for the four crew members are located on a pull-out tray in the rear compartment on the driver’s side of the rig. Wheelbase on the Type 3 is 197 inches, overall length is 29 feet 4 inches, and overall height is 11 feet.
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