CLICK ABOVE FOR MORE SHOTS OF THIS RIG >>

By Alan M. Petrillo

The Stamford (CT) Fire Department was in the market for a rear-mount aerial ladder to replace one of the three aerials in its fleet, so it put together a committee to develop the specs for the kind of rig it wanted. But before the department could award a bid, its 100-foot midmount aerial platform had to be taken out of service because of potential ladder failure issues, throwing the department's entire aerial purchasing process into limbo. "We couldn't be without a tower ladder," says Eric Lorenz, Stamford's deputy chief. "We hadn't awarded a bid for the rear-mount ladder we had spec’d, so the chief asked me to explore getting a new tower ladder, especially if we could get added onto another department's bid or get on a government buying program."

At the time, the Stamford Fire Department was running nine engines—six HME pumpers with 1,500-gallon-per minute (gpm) pumps and 750-gallon water tanks and three KME pumpers with 1,500-gpm pumps and 1,000-gallon water tanks. It also ran an HME 100-foot rear-mount aerial ladder, a Sutphen 100-foot midmount aerial ladder, and a Sutphen 100-foot aerial platform, as well as an HME heavy rescue truck.

Lorenz says he learned Stamford's sister department, the Stratford (CT) Fire Department, had awarded a bid for an aerial platform to Seagrave, so he contacted the Seagrave dealer, Hudson Valley Fire Equipment, and got added to the bid. "We were able to buy the aerial on the GSA federal pricing program," Lorenz says. "The government programs work sort of like a menu, where you start with the truck at the stripped price and then begin to add approved options."

In the end, Stamford purchased a Seagrave Marauder II 95-foot Aerialscope midmount platform on a tandem-axle chassis, powered by a 500-horsepower Cummins ISX 12 diesel engine, and an Allison 4000 EVS six-speed automatic transmission. Overall length of the vehicle is 45 feet, seven inches; overall height is 11 feet, two inches; and wheelbase is 247 inches. Price on the vehicle was $1.159 million.

"This is a true truck," says Santo Curro, president of Hudson Valley Fire Equipment, who sold the vehicle to the Stamford Fire Department. "It has no pump or water tank, but has a lot of other equipment that makes it special." Curro notes the aerial has

A firefighter is dead after falling off of the back of a fire truck during a house fire in Conway. Chris Ray was part of the Conway Fire Department responding to a house fire on Hickory Circle around 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Both Conway and Horry County Fire Departments were fighting the blaze. Ray fell off the back of the truck and was hit as it backed up, South Carolina Highway Patrol says.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: WIS-TV Columbia Channel 10

FDNY candidates will take an entry exam that quizzes them on topics like African killer bees and on math questions such as comparing veggie chips to pretzels, but little on firefighting. With the city planning to give the first FDNY entry exam in five years in 2017, critics say the test has been dumbed down since a judge ruled a former exam discriminated against minorities.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: new york post

The chief of the Hillcrest Fire Department in Hoke County was seriously burned in an explosion Friday. Chief Michael Scott sustained burns to his arms and face while fighting a woods fire on Lawrence McCollum Road. This is near the Raeford Municipal Airport, about halfway between Raeford and Fayetteville.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: Fayetteville Observer

Two West Hawaii battalion chiefs who said they were stripped of their badges after they publicly criticized their boss failed in their appeal for lost overtime pay and benefits. The Merit Appeals Board last week unanimously ruled Hawaii Fire Department battalion chiefs Ty Medeiros and Steve Loyola were not due overtime and vacation pay after being put on paid leave in late 2014.
- PUB DATE: 3/21/2016 12:00:00 AM - SOURCE: hawaii tribune-herald