By Alan M. Petrillo

The Rochelle (IL) Fire Department wanted to replace a 1995 rescue truck and decided on a rescue-pumper as the platform for its new rig to handle incidents in a coverage area that includes Interstate 88 and Interstate 39, two Class I railroad crossings (Union Pacific and SCF) in the middle of town, plus numerous industrial facilities such as a large ethanol plant, a huge food processing plant, and 100,000 square feet of frozen food warehouses. The department has 13 full-time paid firefighters, and 25 paid on-call firefighters running on a 2014 Alexis engine, a 2000 Alexis 105-foot aerial ladder, three Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, a dive truck, a hazardous materials trailer, a utility pickup truck, and a rescue boat.

“We wanted our new rescue-pumper to be set up as an all-hazards vehicle that can handle motor vehicle accidents, as well as act as a support for hazardous materials incidents,” Dave Sawlsville, Rochelle Fire Department’s chief, says. “We also chose the rescue-pumper-type vehicle where we could send a crew of four out on a call and allow them to get started on a situation, before other support comes on the scene.”

Dale Derner, Midwest regional sales manager for Toyne, which built the new rescue-pumper for Rochelle, says the rig is on a Spartan Metro Star ELFD chassis and cab with a 24-inch raised roof and seating for six firefighters, and a bolted stainless-steel body, powered by a 380-horsepower (hp) Cummins ISL 9 diesel engine, and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission. Wheelbase on the rescue-pumper is 224 inches, overall length is 33 feet 7 inches, and overall height is 11 feet.

Toyne built this custom rescue-pumper for the Rochelle (IL) Fire Department on a Spartan Metro Start ELFD chassis and cab with a 24-inch raised roof and seating for six firefighters. (Photos courtesy of Toyne.)

Derner points out that the rescue-pumper has a Hale QMax 1,250-gallons-per-minute (gpm), side-mount pump with the pump panel on the curb side of the rig, a Fire Research Pump Boss pressure governor, a Waterous Aquis 6.0 Class A/B foam system, Waterous Overboard Foam Power Fill, a UPF 500-gallon Poly® water tank, a 30-gallon Class A foam tank, and a 30-gallon Class B foam tank. The rig has two 1-3/4-inch hose crosslays, and one 2-1/2-inch crosslay; one 2-1/2-inch discharge, a 2-1/2-inch direct tank fill, and a 6-inch intake at the rear; a 2-1/2-inch and a 4-inch discharge, a 2-1/2-inch intake and a 6-inch intake on the left side; two 2-1/2-inch discharges, and 2-1/2-inch and 6-inch intakes on the right side of the vehicle; and a 1,250-gpm Elkhart Brass Cobra wireless foam-capable deck gun.

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