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...

The Pacific Northwest is experiencing rapid changes in how crude oil is moved through rail corridors and over Washington waters for in-state refining and / or exportation to other West Coast refineries.  The Association of American Railroads reports that in 2008, 9,500 carloads of crude oil were moved by rail nationwide.  In 2012, nearly 234,000 carloads were moved, and estimated 400,000 carloads were moved by rail in 2013.  This traffic will continue to increase as long as crude oil production increases.

Moving crude oil by rail from North Dakota into Washington is creating a new risk environment.  In response, Governor Inslee directed the Department of Ecology conduct a Marine and Rail Oil Transportation Study.  The purpose of the study is to deliver risk mitigation recommendations that address potential safety gaps, which will feed into a larger report.  This report will inform the Spill Program, Governor Inslee, and Washington Legislature of the technical, legal, and administrative actions necessary to make Washington more resilient to oil by rail incidents. 

Alan M. Petrillo

The Augusta (MI) Charter Township Fire Department was looking to replace an old elliptical tanker (tender) with a more modern version but had concerns about the height and length of a new vehicle because of size limitations of the station where it would be housed.

It Was Time

Vic Chevrette, Augusta's chief, says Augusta had been running a 1985 Ford/4 Guys 2,500-gallon tanker with a 1,000-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, but the vehicle started breaking down; the department's mechanic couldn't get parts for it anymore. "We had refurbished the vehicle 10 years ago, but it still needed replacement," Chevrette says. "So, we put together an apparatus committee of myself, an assistant chief, our maintenance sergeant, and two firefighters and then got approval from the government that supports us to bid out a new tanker."

Chevrette says the committee checked out a command vehicle the sheriff's department had built on a Kenworth chassis with a Paccar engine and liked the performance. After developing the specs, the committee sent out 14 requests for proposals and received four bids in return. "We chose the Rosenbauer bid because it met our specs perfectly," Chevrette says.

The Augusta (MI) Charter Township Fire Department replaced an elliptical tanker with a pumper-tanker from Rosenbauer that carries 3,000 gallons of water and a Waterous CSC20 midship 1,250-gpm pump with an enclosed pump heater. [Photos courtesy of the Augusta (MI) Charter Township Fire Department.]

Special Concerns

Chevrette points out the department had several concerns it wanted addressed with its new pumper-tanker. Two issues were the overall height and length of the new vehicle, because the rig is housed in a station with height and length limitations. The chief also says that an electric portable tank rack was a must-have on the vehicle, as was a midship-mounted pump and a pump heater.

"It took a joint effort on everyone's part-the committee, the salesman, and Rosenbauer's engineers-to get the truck as low as it is," Chevrette says. The pumper-tanker's overall height came in at nine feet, 8½ inches so it could fit in a doorway with an opening of only 10 feet.

One of the department's concerns was fitting the vehicle into a station with a 10-foot-high door opening. The pumper-tanker Rosenbauer built came in at nine feet, 8½ inches in overall height.

Bob Colter, Emergency Vehicles Plus apparatus sales manager, who sold the apparatus, notes, "The height and length of the tanker was a big issue because of where the truck was going to be located, but they also wanted as much compartmentation as possible, space for ladders, and the electric portable tank rack. We were able to give all that to them by going from an elliptical tanker style to a fire body tanker."

Chevrette says that the department's previous tanker had a Hale 1,000-gpm front-mount pump on it that was always wet. "We were freezing up that front-mount quite a lot," he says. "There was always icing on it when we ran in the winter. We also had some issues with pressure pushing water from the water tank through the valves and causing a lot of leaks."

Meeting Demands

Donley Frederickson, Rosenbauer's national sale