By Bill Adams

Fire pump manufacturers customarily ship pumps and loose accessories in a crate to fire apparatus builders.

They can also ship complete fabricated pump modules compliant with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1901, Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus. The modules, informally called pump houses, include the pump mounted on a contiguous subframe within an enclosure. Most are 100 percent finished with plumbing and controls installed, labeled, wired, tested, and ready for chassis mounting by the apparatus original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The process, while not new, can place OEMs and pump suppliers in unique, untested, and uncomfortable marketing relationships. It can also put apparatus vendors in equally precarious and unenviable positions. The intent of this article, focused only on midship pumps, is to explain the process and its advantages and disadvantages. It will address all sides of the spectrum. It will not take a side, indicate a preference, or make recommendations.

Although Mack delivered a custom pumper in 1911 with a Goulds pump mounted behind the driver's seat and ahead of the hose body, most early motorized rigs had midship pumps located beneath the driver's seat. Coinciding with the increased use of commercial chassis in the 1930s, OEMs started mounting pumps behind the cab at the front of, and sometimes even inside, the apparatus body. They installed pump enclosures, piping, and appurtenances after mounting the pump on the chassis. Many still are. Later designs featured removable pump panels and ultimately flex joints between the enclosure and the body. Eventually, most manufacturers mounted pumps inside separate free-standing enclosures, allowing the pump, plumbing, and controls to flex independently of the body. That principle is applicable today. Seagrave's Web site states that its pump house's "floating module design eliminates chassis stress transfer and provides long-term structural integrity."

Six prefabricated pump modules ready for shipment from the Darley factory. (Photo courtesy of W.S. Darley.)

OEMs-including Seagrave, Barton-American, American LaFrance, Darley, and Ahrens Fox-would only supply pumps they manufactured on their respective apparatus. Other OEMs purchased pumps from sole source suppliers, usually within restrictive contractual agreements. If you bought a Mack, you got a Waterous pump. If it was a Maxim, you got a Hale. There was no inbreeding. Civil litigation resulted in OEMs having access to all pumps available on the open market. When, where, and what parties were involved are irrelevant. Today, most pumps are purchased from Darley, Hale, and Waterous. An exception is Rosenbauer, which manufactures a pump that is only available through the Rosenbauer dealer network. This article does not address private-labeled pumps built by a pump manufacturer to a proprietary specification exclusive to and bearing an apparatus manufacturer's name.

Module Origins

Outsourcing and building pump modules didn't begin with the independent pump manufacturers. Apparatus manufacturers conceived it, albeit for varied reasons. The earliest is credited to W.S. Darley. Jason Darley of W.S. Darley's pump division says, "In the 1930s, we sold kits through our catalog to fire departments so they could build their own complete apparatus from the pump and plumbing to the body." Midship pumps in the Darley kits were, like all apparatus of that era, mounted directly to the chassis frame rails.

Four decades later, apparatus manufacturers started building their own free

Chris McLoone

In the beginning of 2014, I paid Performance Advantage Company (PAC), located in Lancaster, New York, a visit during what was one of the coldest winters on the East Coast in probably 20 years.

During my visit, Dick Young, PAC's founder, could not have been more hospitable. One of the highlights of my trip was a visit to the Greater Lancaster Museum of Firefighting connected to PAC's headquarters. Contained therein are various pieces of American fire service history, including an entire section dedicated to Scott SCBA. Looking around the museum, there were countless examples of firefighter ingenuity through the years.

As many know, PAC's specialty is equipment and tool mounting. And, Young is well qualified to run such a company, having been an apparatus manufacturer himself. Through the years, PAC and other companies like Ziamatic and GearGrid have come up with innovative ways to mount and store equipment and tools on fire apparatus. In recent times, as apparatus manufacturers have worked to meet the fire service's demands to fit more and more into packages that are remaining the same size or sometimes getting smaller, new ways of "fitting" everything on a truck have become the norm.

I asked Young where the ideas come from for the various PAC offerings. Specifically, I asked if fire departments contacted PAC in need of mounting solutions, and Young told me very few if any come from fire departments. "We sit and we dream," he told me.

I was pretty surprised when he said this because with the trend toward multipurpose apparatus gripping the industry right now, I figured the tool location challenges departments face would have tool mounting companies' phones ringing off the hook.

Looking at the bigger picture, though, I wonder if the fire service is doing enough to engage our suppliers and let them know the challenges we face for which we are looking for solutions. Although firefighters, in general, are problem solvers, we must not forget that there are myriad resources at our disposal to help us solve various problems. And, the folks who work for our suppliers are chomping at the bit to give us a hand. Engineers love problem solving. Also, many of our suppliers' employees are firefighters. These resources are tremendous assets for us, and we should be engaging them.

Apparatus Crashes

Speaking of sitting and dreaming, I've been wondering why so many private vehicles are hitting our apparatus lately at accident scenes. I'm hard pressed to come up with a solution for that one. I'm not sure what more we can do. We build the brightest, most reflective fire trucks we have ever built, and yet somehow people still fail to see us and crash into us. It reminds me of an expression we often hear in the fire service: You can't fix stupid.

Just recently, three people were injured-including two firefighters-and one killed when a driver struck the rear of a parked apparatus that was protecting an accident scene. That same week, a rescue vehicle that had pulled over to help a motorist was rear-ended. Talk about needing a solution. It looks to me like we've covered all bases and still Joe Q. Public is finding a way to remain oblivious to what's going on around him.

I've often said that I find line-of-duty deaths resulting from preventable apparatus accidents unacceptable. I still feel that way. The injured firefighters mentioned above were inside the parked apparatus when the private vehicle struck it. Firefighter injuries resulting from civilians striking apparatus are just as unacceptable to me-especially when we have worked as hard as we have to make our presence unmistakable at these incidents.

It is time for the fire service to demand that roads be closed well before the scene of an accident and that they remain closed for the entire duration of the incident. We cannot tolerate having "one

By William C. Peters

Back in the early 1990s, Pierce Manufacturing introduced its most popular custom chassis of all time in the "standard custom chassis category," the Pierce Saber.

The apparatus was extremely popular with both urban and suburban/rural departments as it provided the solid Pierce quality and dependability in a compact economic package.

The newly redesigned Pierce Saber has a full-width, wraparound windshield with three wipers for greater safety and visibility. (Photos courtesy of Pierce Manufacturing.)

The Enforcer model was developed a short time later and was a bit more customizable and could accommodate a larger engine. The Enforcer maintained its popular appeal until the 2007 emissions changes, which limited engine model availability.

This year, engineers at Pierce Manufacturing took into account what its fire service customers wanted in an affordable chassis and developed the newly redesigned Saber and Enforcer chassis. The new products were unveiled to the fire service in April at the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The redesigned Enforcer has the same cab configuration as the Saber but is available with an optional 500-horsepower engine, independent front suspension, and side impact air bags.

Prior to the public unveiling, I had the opportunity to travel to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, home of Pierce's parent company, Oshkosh Corporation, for a firsthand look at the features of the new Saber cab and chassis.

I was most interested to see the redesign as I had been a Pierce customer when I was the chief of apparatus for the Jersey City (NJ) Fire Department many years ago. Up to the time the original Saber chassis was developed, Pierce had not won a bid in my city. I can attest to the fact that Jersey City had many good years of service from the original Saber products that it purchased.

Lower engine tunnel and open space in the cab provide for a more ergonomically comfortable ride.

Listening to the Customers

Pierce has been known for developing customer "focus groups" to evaluate and suggest improvements to its products. Many of the cab changes came from this valuable resource.

Forward roof design increases roominess and visibility in the cab.

Both the Saber and Enforcer have the same cab configuration, with the Enforcer also offering an optional larger 500-horsepower engine/transmission combination, side roll protection, and the Pierce TAK-4 independent front suspension if specified.

Cab Configuration

The first thing you notice when you climb into the front of the cab is the wide view out of the single front windshield. The front A-pillar is smaller on each side, so the wraparound visibility o

WFM Meeting Minutes have been added to the document library.  Sign in with with your login (firstname.lastname) and your password (your WFC number) to view the minutes from 4/29/2014.

Complying with the new WAC standard is easy and affordable.  The Fire Mechanics Section of the WFC is presenting the 35^th annual Fire Mechanics Conference September 8^th – 12^th at the Yakima Convention Center.

The new WAC standard states “All repairs to the suppression components of emergency vehicles of the fire department shall be done by an Emergency Vehicle Technician (EVT), ASE certified technician or factory qualified individual[1]”.  At this year’s conference there is a class for EVT pump certification and also EVT testing.  There will also be factory training by pump manufacturers to meet the State standards.  In one place the training required to comply with the WAC standard is available...