On Monday, June 23, a Waynesville (MO) fire truck suffered a right front tire blowout, resulting in minor injuries. According to a news article, three firefighters headed back from a call around 11:20 a.m. on Interstate 44 where the incident occurred. 

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On a social media post, Waynesville Rural Fire Protection District confirmed that the heavy rescue exited the roadway and went up an embankment after the blowout where it struck an exit sign. This caused the windshield to shatter and resulted in significant damage to the fire apparatus, the post says.

According to KY3, driver of the vehicle was taken to the hospital for minor injuries, while the other two firefighters, thankfully, did not report any. The department did confirm that the apparatus appears to be a “total loss.”

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APPLETON, WI—Pierce Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corporation  business, announces the continued momentum of the 2025 Pierce Road Rally as it nears its midpoint visiting locations across the United States. Since beginning in April, the Road Rally has brought Pierce’s latest fire apparatus and technology to fire departments across the U.S. and now enters the summer stretch of events in the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast. 

The 2025 U.S. Road Rally features a rotating lineup of fire apparatus—including the Pierce Volterra™ electric pumper, heavy-duty Ascendant® aerial ladder and midmount tower trucks, a heavy-duty rescue, and PUC™ pumpers, along with direct access to Pierce product experts and dealer representatives. Participants have the opportunity to drive demonstration vehicles on their community streets, set up and operate aerial fire apparatus, flow water out of the Pierce Volterra electric fire truck, and more. The Road Rally will continue into August, concluding at  Fire-Rescue International 2025 . 

In May and June 2025, Pierce dealers Commercial Emergency Equipment and L’Arsenal completed a Canadian Road Rally, which featured demonstrations and product conversations to fire departments across 19 stops in Ontario and Quebec. The Canadian tour included a Pierce Ascendant 107-foot heavy-duty aerial ladder, an Ascendant 100-foot heavy-duty aerial tower with midmount configuration, and a PUC pumper. 

“We’re proud to see the momentum of the Road Rally grow as we reach more departments across North America,” said Bob Schulz, president of Pierce Manufacturing. “These events deliver more than just product displays. They offer real opportunities for education, collaboration, and innovation to support the fire service at every level.” 

Upcoming U.S. Road Rally Stops

The next U.S. Road Rally stops take place throughout July and August and include 12 locations from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, Maryland to Ohio, and Kentucky to the Carolinas. Events will feature demonstrations and opportunities to explore Pierce apparatus. 

To view the full tour schedule and learn which apparatus will be showcased at each stop, visit: www.piercemfg.com/road-rally.

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SPECIAL DELIVERY

BY ALAN M. PETRILLO

Union Gap Fire Rescue was looking to replace an older commercial chassis Type 1 engine and a mini pumper/ brush truck with a Type 1 pumper that could run as its first-out response unit and be able to handle structural fire calls and other fire suppression situations.

Union Gap had worked with KME in the past on the purchase of a Type 1/3 RidgeRunner engine that it was very satisfied with, so the department decided to have KME build a new Type 1 pumper.

Greg Cobb, public safety director for Union Gap Fire Rescue, said the city of Union Gap borders the city of Yakima on its south side and is home to a regional shopping center, large auto dealerships, light industrial complexes, fruit packing warehouses, and many retail shops and restaurants in the city’s 5½ squaremiles.

“We had been running paid staffing for one engine during the daytime and volunteer firefighters at night. But, things changed in 2015 when we contracted with Yakima Fire Department to provide the firefighters to staff our first-out engine,” Cobb points out. “Yakima has six staffed apparatus running out of five stations with their 130 paid full-time firefighters, and Yakima sends four engines and one truck to every structure fire in our district. Essentially, we have automatic mutual aid with them.”

While Yakima provides staffing for Union Gap’s rigs, it is Union Gap Fire Rescue that’s responsible for providing the station, apparatus, and equipment for those firefighters, Cobb notes.

When it came to specifying a new Type 1 engine, Cobb says that Union Gap had some concerns with the length of the bays in its station. “We wanted a top-mount pumper like our second-line engine,” Cobb says, “and wanted the new pumper to be as close as possible to the design of Yakima’s top-mount pumpers. To fit the new engine in the station, we had to shorten the cab and the catwalk and slim down the tailboard, but we kept the compartmentation as close as possible as those on Yakima’s pumpers.”

1 KME built this custom top-mount pumper on a Panther EMFD cab and chassis that is powered by a 450-hp Cummins L9 engine and an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission for Union Gap (WA) Fire Rescue. (Photos courtesy of SeaWestern Emergency Vehicles.)

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Union Gap (WA) Fire Rescue

STRENGTH: Contracts with the Yakima (WA) Fire Department to staff fire apparatus during daytime; Union Gap volunteer firefighters staff rigs at night, one station. Automatic mutual aid with Yakima Fire.

SERVICE AREA: Union Gap Fire Rescue provides fire protection and rescue services to the 5.5-square-mile city of Union Gap with a population of 6,500 residents.

OTHER APPARATUS: 2020 KME RidgeRunner 4×4 Type 1/3 pumper, 1,500-gpm pump, 500-gallon water tank, 20-gallon Class A foam tank; 2012 E-ONE Typhoon pumper, 1,500-gpm pump, 750-gallon water tank, 20-gallon Class A foam tank.

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2 Union Gap’s rig has a top-mount Hale Qmax 1,750-gpm pump and a 750-gallon polypropylene water tank.

Mark Merritt, director of emergency vehicles for SeaWestern Emergency Vehicles, who sold the KME top-mount pumper to Union Gap, says the

The Coopersville/Polkton (MI) Fire Department’s attenuator fire truck (Unit 433) was struck by a passing motorist. The rig sustained damage to its attenuator system, which is specifically designed to absorb the impact of such collisions. It will be out of service until repairs are completed, according to a social media release posted by the department.

The release explains that firefighters on scene responded immediately, rendering aid to the driver and calling for additional support.

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A FOX17 report says that Coopersville/Polkton Chief Travis Kroll said the collision could have been much worse without the truck in place.

The report goes on to say that the rig had been service for less than a month.

Another Fox17 report ays after two close calls during the winter, the Northeast Ottawa Firefighter Collaborative (NEOFC), of which Coopersville/Polkton is a part, recognized the need for better protection and developed an idea for a designated safety vehicle, which became Unit 433.

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