The Troy (NY) Fire Department needed to replace a 30-plus-year-old aerial platform that was having major suspension issues, so the department decided to go with what has been a tried-and-true model for it: a Sutphen SP95 aerial platform.

Deputy Chief Jared Barringer notes that Troy is a seven-square-mile city with a population of 50,000 and terrain that runs from a river valley to the hills overlooking the river. “We’ve been seeing a regrowth of our downtown, with a building boom of large apartment complexes,” Barringer points out. “While we were retiring a 1991 Sutphen SP95, we wanted to stay with that model because we liked its design, especially the aluminum box ladder design that gives us a lot of flexibility and strength to operate on hills and the ability to carry Qmax pumps that can back up our engines in their areas, when necessary.”

Barringer adds that Troy has many narrow, one-way streets in its downtown and in the city’s Lansingburgh area, so the SP95 outriggers are good when operating in tight places. “The rear outriggers on the SP95 go straight down, while the front outriggers are out-and-down H-style jacks,” he says. “They give us the ability to short jack when we need to and allow for easier placement of the truck.”

Philip Vander Molen, president of Vander Molen Fire Apparatus Sales & Service, who sold the new aerial platform to Troy, points out that the Troy Fire Department has run Sutphen SP95 aerials since the 1970s, having purchased eight of the rigs over the years. Vander Molen says this SP95 is built on a Sutphen Monarch heavy duty chassis with 56-inch-long cab with a flat roof and is set up to carry four firefighters, three of them in H.O. Bostrom self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) seats. “The crew cab also features a large emergency medical services (EMS) cabinet covered by an Amdor roll-up door,” he says.

Vander Molen notes that the fire department paid a lot of attenti

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Manufacturers offer different types of jacking systems, various jacking widths, and short jacking options that depend on the type and model of the aerial they are building as well as any special requirements of the purchasing fire department.

Justin Rice, aerial sales manager for E-ONE, says that the company was the first to use crisscross under-slung outriggers on its aerials, like on its most popular model, the HP 100 platform, and its second most popular aerial, the 100-foot aerial ladder. “Our torque box is custom manufactured into a single unit instead of being bolted to the frame rails,” Rice points out. “The single unit allows us to use a shorter jack spread, and E-ONE has never had a catastrophic failure tip over.”

Rice says the HP 100 platform’s four crisscross under-slung outriggers have a 15-foot 6-inch jack spread with a short jacking feature that allows the platform to set up in tight places as well as enhanced leveling capabilities for setting up on grades. “We call it enhanced jacking,” Rice notes, “and it enables the platform to short jack at an 11-foot 2-inch spread, and to set up on some crazy slopes.”

The shortest standard jack spread that E-ONE offers is on its 100-foot aerial ladder on a single rear axle, Rice says, that comes in at 11 feet fully extended on crisscross outriggers. Its 100-foot aerial ladder on tandem rear axles cam have a fully extended crisscross outrigger spread from 12 to 13 feet 8 inches, depending on the tip load, he adds. E-ONE also makes a 137-foot aerial ladder with crisscross outriggers that have a 13-foot 8-inch fully extended stance but that can operate with a jack stance of 10 feet where one side is fully deployed and the other side is short jacked.

Rice says E-ONE uses H-style out-and- down outriggers on two of its products—the HP 75 and HP 78 aerial ladders. Both feature a single set of H-style outriggers with a spread of 16 feet and have an optional short jack feature with a 200-degree rotation and alley mode where the truck is short jacked on both sides.

Jenny Bloemer, senior business development manager for aerial products at Pierce Manufacturing, says that almost all of Pierce’s aerials use H-style stabilizers except for its Snozzle and Sky-Boom products that use A-frame style stabilizers. Bloemer notes that Pierce’s best-selling aerial product, the 100-foot Ascendant aerial tower midmount platform, has four H-style outriggers with an 18-foot jack spread that can be short jacked and controlled by Pierce’s Command Zone multiplex system. She adds that the rig has integrated ground pads on the stabilizers to streamline setup time, has a 93-foot horizontal reach, and can operate below grade at -20°.

Pierce’s Ascendant 110-foot Heavy Duty Aerial Platform also uses four H-style stabilizers with a 16-foot jack spread, Bloemer points out, allowing the rig 90 feet of horizontal reach and 110 feet of horizontal reach. “Our shortest H-style stabilizer spread is 12 feet on our ladders like the 100-foot heavy duty aluminum ladder with a jack spread of 12 or 13 feet, depending on the tip load, and our 100-foot heavy duty steel ladder with a jack spread of 12 or 14 feet, also depending on the tip load,” she says.

1 This E-ONE HR 100 aerial ladder with an 11-foot jack spread is shown jacked for a below grade operation. (Photo 1 courtesy of E-ONE.)

2 The Paoli (PA) Fire Department operates a Pierce 100-foot Ascendant midmount platform facing downslope with integrated ground pads on the stabilizers.

Angie DiMichele
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
(TNS)

Three months after the crash between a Delray Beach Fire Rescue truck and a Brightline train, the city has released its investigation report that resulted in the termination of the veteran firefighter who was behind the wheel.

City Manager Terrence Moore announced on Thursday his decision to terminate driver-engineer David Wyatt after two investigations found he violated city policies and state traffic laws by driving the $1 million ladder truck onto the railroad tracks, directly into the path of a Brightline train, and by driving the city’s fire trucks for months with a suspended license before the crash, according to the investigation reports and Wyatt’s termination letter obtained by the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Monday.

The investigation of the Dec. 28 crash concluded on April 1. A separate investigation into firefighters driving city vehicles with suspended licenses concluded in February.

A total of 15 people were injured in the Dec. 28 crash, including Wyatt and his two passengers, firefighter Joseph Fiumara III and Capt. Brian Fiorey.

“On more than one occasion, your actions have jeopardized the safety of the public, something that I do not take lightly, leaving me with no other option than to terminate you,” Moore wrote in a termination letter to Wyatt, dated Thursday. “Your reckless actions have cost the taxpayers of Delray Beach millions of dollars. But, above all, your actions resulted in serious bodily injury to your colleagues and members of the public.”

Wyatt was hired more than 20 years ago and became a driver-engineer about 10 years ago.

Craig Mahoney, president of the fire department’s union IAFF Local 1842, in an email to Moore and city commissioners on Thursday asked that both sides agree to move forward into the arbitration process.

Wyatt will remain on paid administrative leave while the disciplinary process is pending, according to Moore’s termination letter.

Truck 111

There were mechanical issues that morning with the windshield wipers of the fire truck that would soon be destroyed, the investigation report showed.

Wyatt drove the fire truck, Truck 111, to the city garage just before 8:30 a.m., but a worker wasn’t able to fix the malfunctioning wipers. Fleet Manager Andrew Rayfield said the wipers “were a safety concern, and the truck would need to come out of service,” the report said.

One of the battalion chiefs was notified that morning that the fire truck would be removed from service. He came to the city garage to pick up Wyatt and have him swap to a different, spare ladder truck from Station 114, according to the report.

Wyatt later returned to Station 111 in the spare ladder truck. Moments later, the alarm sounded for an apartment building fire in the 300 block of Southeast 6th Avenue. The crew loaded into Truck 111, the one that had been removed from service because of the wipers. It is unclear why they took Truck 111 rather than the other spare ladder truck, the report said.

Apartment fire

Wyatt, Fiorey and Fiumara III left Station 111 in Truck 111 at 10:39 a.m., according to the report.

At 10:42 a.m., command s

Justin Strawser
The Daily Item, Sunbury, Pa.
(TNS)

MIFFLINBURG — Firefighters from Mifflinburg Hose Company started training on Friday after the arrival of the department’s new ladder truck.

The 2025 Sutphen Tower 3 arrived at the fire company at 325 Chestnut St. on Thursday, and firefighters will be training with a representative of Sutphen in the parking lot of Harvest Bible Church through Sunday. The truck will then head to Sutphen East in Lake Ariel in Wayne County where it will have all of its tool mounting installed.

“Upgrading our ladder truck will better serve the community for many years to come,” Company President Shawn Bridge said. “This will be here for at least the next 30 years.”

The fire company ordered a 100-foot aerial ladder truck for $1.6 million and a new engine truck for $830,000 in November 2022. The two trucks replace a 1999 70-foot ladder truck and a 2006 engine truck.

In addition to a ladder that’s 30 feet longer, the new truck has more compartment space. The overall length of the truck is also 10 feet longer than the old truck. The new engine truck has a 2,000-gallon-per-minute pump and a 1,000-gallon tank, Bridge said.

“We will now be able to reach anything in the borough or our coverage area,” he said.

The trucks are funded through $1.4 million worth of money through fundraisers and capital campaigns. The remaining costs are funded through a 2 percent, 20-year loan designated for first responders from the Office of the State Fire Commissioner and an additional loan from Service 1st Federal Credit Union.

The training over the weekend consists of learning each part of the truck, getting acclimated to the new controls, driving it and getting used to the new setup. Adam Brooks, of Sutphen, will lead several three-hour training sessions for 77 active firefighters, which includes 13 qualified operators.

Brooks told the firefighters on Friday that driving the truck is like driving a school bus. It has a tighter turning radius than the previous truck.

“Always be mindful,” he told them. “If you’re on a 90-degree turn, always know what’s on the other side. You’ll be doing a lot of two-point turns, especially the way the fire house is set up (on Chestnut Street).”

The Mifflinburg Borough Council intends to pursue a setback or sloped curb/sidewalk project on the opposite side of the street from the fire company to allow fire trucks to more easily maneuver backing into the station house.

Following this weekend’s training and tool mounting installation, the ladder truck will head to the Fire Expo in Harrisburg to be featured as part of the Sutphen vendor. It’s expected to be in service by June, Bridge said.

The new engine truck is expected to be in the borough by May. The old trucks will be sold, Bridge said.

© 2025 The Daily Item (Sunbury, Pa.). Visit www.dailyitem.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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