Description and Photos by Lindsay Dye

Truck 501 began service on April 21, 2018 with the Flower Mound (TX) Fire Department. The truck is built on a Pierce Velocity cab and chassis and features with TAK-4 suspension on the front axle. Seating for six is provided as are two forward-facing EMS compartments on each side of the cab. The cab and body are constructed of aluminum, and hinged compartment doors are part of the body package. A Coleman Mach 8 unit mounted on the cab roof provides auxiliary cooling (15K) and heating (6K) for the cab. The Pierce Command Zone Advanced Electronics and Control System is also featured. 

Power is provided by a 525-hp Detroit DD13 engine and an Allison Fifth Generation 4500 EVS six-speed automatic transmission with pushbutton shifter. An Onan 10-kW generator is mounted below the torque box.

The apparatus has a Waterous S100 single-stage 1,500-gpm pump (midship) and a 300-gallon “L” shaped UPF poly tank. The front bumper tray carries 150 feet of 1¾-inch hose which is the only preconnect on the truck. Fifty feet of 5-inch LDH is stored above the pump panel on the officer’s side.

The aerial is a midmount 95-footer constructed of aluminum with stainless waterway. An Elkhart Cobra EXM 7250 monitor and Elkhart SM-1250 nozzle are mounted on the platform. A full complement of Duo-Safety ground ladders is stored in the torque box along with a 10-foot roof ladder located behind the right boom panel and a Little Giant Model 17 ladder stored in a compartment above the pump panel. A transverse storage compartment on the forward section of the body contains the Stokes basket and long tool storage.

The warning lights include a Whelen Freedom IV-D 72-inch light bar along with Whelen M6 and M4 LED lights around the rig exterior. Whelen Model MCFLED2 LED lights are mounted on the upper rear corners at the rear of the truck. Scene lighting is provided by FRC LED lights located on the cab brow, cab sides, and body. Audio warning devices include a recessed, bumper-mountrf Federal Q2B and a Whelen Model 295HFS2 electronic siren module with two Whelen SA315P 100-Watt speakers mounted through the front bumper.

Dealer: Siddons-Martin Emergency Group-Houston, TX

Representative: Travis Ownby 

The city of San Antonio notified the San Antonio Professional Fire Fighters Association on Thursday that it has officially dropped the lawsuit that the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear over the summer. The dismissal of the suit sets the stage for contract negotiations to begin more than four years after the fire union’s contract initially expired.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News

Some Medford firefighters are upset after their ladder truck was pulled out of service for hours to put up the city's holiday decorations. Medford Firefighter Eddie Buckley says he's shocked because the town is already down ladder trucks. One of them is out of service for repair so Boston Fire is loaning them one, leaving Medford with just one working ladder truck of its own.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Boston 25 News

Butte County Sheriff’s Deputy Aaron Parmley was on Pentz Road attempting to rescue four nurses when his patrol car broke down. With embers swirling around him, he set out on foot surrounded by flames. Parmley switched on his body camera “in hopes of capturing what he thought were going to be the last moments of his life,” the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
- PUB DATE: 11/30/2018 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Mendocino Beacon