New Mini Pumpers, Quick Attacks Fill Multiple Roles for Fire Departments

By Alan M. Petrillo

Quick attack pumpers and mini pumpers continue to be a mainstay feature of many fire department fleets. Users cite their maneuverability and ability to quickly get water on a fire until larger fire units can arrive on scene as well as being able to more easily negotiate tight roads, accessways, and even parking garages.

W.S. Darley & Company has introduced a new version of its quick attack WASP and Max-WASP mini pumpers called the WS Tactical Pumper. “This is on a new model chassis, the Navistar CV chassis that has up to a 23,000 GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating),” says Jason Darley, North American sales manager for the pump division. “The WS Tactical Pumper carries a 400-gallon water tank, an integral 25-gallon foam tank, a Darley PSMC 1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, and a Darley AutoCAFS with a compressor rated at 120 cubic feet per minute (cfm) at 150 pounds per square inch (psi). We built a WS Tactical Pumper for an upstate New York volunteer fire department that has two 1¾-inch crosslays, one 2½-inch hoseline, and a 1-inch booster reel in the rear compartment, all preconnected for CAFS (compressed air foam system).”

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• Quick-Attack Pumpers Continue to Enjoy Resurgence in Popularity

Troy Carothers, Darley’s contract administrator and CAFS manager, notes the WS Tactical Pumper can also be built on the Ford F-550 chassis powered by the 6.7-liter diesel engine. “In the Ford WS Tactical Pumper, we still will offer the Super Single tire and wheel kit like we do on the Max-WASP,” Carothers says, “and we are redesigning for the Navistar CV chassis, which requires heavier GVWR tires rated for the additional weight the chassis can carry.”

Joe Messmer, president of Summit Fire Apparatus, says quick attack and mini pumpers fit well in a fire department’s apparatus arsenal, especially for rural and suburban departments with the kind of housing lots where the homes are hundreds of feet down a driveway away from the road. “Many departments will drop a 4-inch LDH (large-diameter hose) off their mini at the end of the driveway and use their 300 gallons of water to tamp down the fire until a second-due engine can supply water to the mini,” Messmer says.

He notes that Summit built a mini pumper for the Edgewood (KY) Fire/EMS on a Ford F-550 chassis with a 750-gpm pump, a 250-gallon water tank, a small foam tank and foam system, 800 feet of 4-inch LDH hose, and a small ladder complement. “In town, there are three parking garages at a local hospital with a maximum height of 7 feet 2 inches,” Messmer points out. “The mini has gotten in there and hit the standpipes in the garage to extinguish fires and save a bunch of cars.”

Rob Wilkey, product manager at Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says that some larger fire departments are purchasing mini pumpers for specific tactical reasons. “The San Antonio (TX) Fire Department is a large city with many exclusive homes that have narrow driveways winding through low tree cover,” Wilkey notes. “San Antonio had us build a mini with a 1,500-gpm pump and minimal equipment but lots of hose. The mini drops hose at the base of the driveway and lays uphill, then a full-size pumper picks up and pumps to the mini at the house.”

Wilkey adds that fire departments that have a high volume of emergency medical services (EMS) runs also like mini pumpers for that kind of task. “The minis are more maneuverable and get to a scene a lot faster,” he observes, “and the department puts the mileage and wear and tear on the smaller mini instead of a larger pumper.”

Alex Hobday, sales engineer at Spencer Manufacturing Inc., says while the Ford F-550 is still the most common quick attack chassis, Spencer recently built one on a Ford F-650 chassis with a 22,500-pound GVWR. “It’s a medic quick attack for the Fort Gratiot (MI) Fire Department that can be used as first due on a structure fire,” Hobday says. “It has a 1,250-gpm Hale DSD pump, a 400-gallon water tank, a Spencer 12-foot Solid-Poly rescue body, full ladder storage, a Stokes basket and backboard storage, and cribbing and air bag storage.”

Spencer built a quick attack mini pumper for the Grandville (MI) Fire Department on a Ford F-550 chassis carrying a Hale 1,250-gpm DSD pump, a 240-gallon water tank, two crosslays, and full ladder storage. “The department uses the rig as a first-out medical and rescue unit, with the ability to be able to be used as a traditional mini pumper as the need arises,” Hobday notes.

Tod Newlin, salesman at Unruh Fire, says Unruh has been building a lot of quick attack mini pumpers recently. “We make them in custom configurations including a concealed pump panel compartment, a 500-gpm to 1,500-gpm split shaft pump, and a rear-accessible reel,” Newlin says, “available in the extreme package for extra body protection and ground clearance, or the low-profile package for parking garages, tight spaces of operation, and maneuverability.”

Newlin adds that Unruh recently built a quick attack mini on a Ford F-550 chassis with Super Single wheels and tires, carrying a 250-gpm Hale HPX200 pump powered by an 18-hp Briggs & Stratton gasoline engine with a 300-gallon water tank, a 1¾-inch discharge, a 2½-inch suction inlet, and a 1-inch booster reel. “The majority of our mini pumpers have foam capability and, depending on the water tank size, carry from a 12-gallon to a 20-gallon foam cell,” he says. “Approximately 75% of our minis have some foam capability.”