By Alan M. Petrillo
Middlebury (IN) Volunteer Fire Department has years of experience with buying Sutphen apparatus, so when it needed to replace a 1990 Sutphen aerial platform that it had purchased refurbished, the department turned once again to the company that had furnished it with two pumpers and a heavy rescue.
Andy Herb, owner of Herb Fire Equipment, says that Middlebury contacted him (he had sold the department the heavy rescue and two pumpers in the past), about replacing its aerial. "They were familiar with Sutphen's 100-foot platform, and had taken the time to look over one of them in their area," Herb says. "They liked the many advances that the new Sutphen platform had over the earlier version they then were running."
Herb says he sat down with the truck committee to find out their likes and dislikes. "They liked the aluminum aerial and how it was constructed by Sutphen," he points out, "and wanted a larger platform on the aerial than they had on their earlier truck."
Jeff Wogoman, chief of Middlebury, says a larger platform on the aerial was a big selling point for the department. "We wanted to be able to fit three firefighters comfortably on the platform, instead of the two firefighters that would fit on our older aerial," Wogoman says. "Sutphen's basic model platform gave us exactly what we needed."
Middlebury's new Sutphen is a SPH100 platform, with a 100-foot five-section aluminum ladder, on a Sutphen chassis with a 62-inch, four-door, six-firefighter cab with a 10-inch raised roof and a 304 stainless steel body. The rig has ROM painted roll-up doors, 293 cubic feet of compartment space, and an Alco-Lite aerial ladder compartment.
Wheelbase on the unit is 236 inches, overall length is 46 feet 7 inches, and overall height is 11 feet 8 inches. The vehicle has a 25,500-pound front axle and suspension, a 52,000-pound rear axle and suspension, a Cummins 500-horsepower, ISX diesel engine, an Allison GEN IV EVS 4000 automatic transmission, and a Leece Neville 320-amp alternator.
The SPH100 also carries a Hale QMax 1,500-gpm pump, a 300-gallon water tank, four 2½-inch discharges, one 3-inch discharge, and two Elkhart Brass monitors under the platform—one remote and the other manual. Herb says the platform, delivered early this year, cost $1,150,000.
Wogoman notes that the vehicle has two 1¾-inch crosslays, each holding 250 feet of hose, as well as 800 feet of 5-inch LDH in the hosebed. "Typically the platform is not first out the door, unless it's going to a structure fire," he points out.
Lighting on the vehicle includes a Whelen LED warning light package, a Command Light LED light tower, and FRC Spectra LED scene lights. The rig also has a Smart Power 10-kW generator, a Hannay electric cord reel with 200 feet of cord, and a Stokes bracket and parapet ladder at the platform.
Wogoman notes that his department uses the Sutphen more for rea