By Alan M. Petrillo
The ability to have a fire suppression system at the scene of a rescue, extrication, or motor vehicle accident is increasing the popularity of wet rescues or, more descriptively, rescue trucks carrying a pump, water tank, or compressed air foam system (CAFS).
Apparatus manufacturers are offering a wide array of wet rescues styles and a variety of fire suppression systems on them.
Mark Brenneman, assistant sales manager for 4 Guys Fire Trucks, says 4 Guys built a wet rescue for the West Bradford (PA) Fire Company on a Spartan Gladiator chassis with a 15-foot walk-around body carrying a Hale CBP 250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump and a 300-gallon UPF Poly® water tank. “The West Bradford wet rescue has two crosslays above the pump panel in the R1 compartment, a FRC InControl pressure governor, a Trident air primer, and four Akron Electric valve controllers,” Brenneman says.
1 4 Guys Fire Trucks built a wet rescue for the West Bradford (PA) Fire Company carrying a Hale CBP 250-gpm pump with two crosslays above the pump panel in the R1 compartment and a 300-gallon UPF Poly water tank. (Photo 1 courtesy of 4 Guys Fire Trucks.)
Bill Proft, business unit director of rescue products for Pierce Manufacturing Inc., says Pierce built a wet rescue for the Waldorf (MD) Fire Department on an Enforcer chassis with a two-door cab and a walk-in body that has seating for five firefighters. It’s equipped with a Hale 250-gpm PTO-driven pump set between the frame rails, with a 250-gallon water tank and a single discharge in the front bumper. At the other end of the scale, Pierce built a walk-around wet rescue for the Lakeside (NY) Fire Department on a Velocity chassis with an 84-inch-long cab, carrying a PUC 1,500-gpm pump, 500 gallons of water, 20 gallons of foam, and a Husky 3 foam proportioning system.
Proft notes that Pierce built an unusual wet rescue for the New Jersey Transit Fire Department on an Enforcer chassis with a Hale 500-gpm pump, a 300-gallon water tank, a 20-gallon foam tank, and a Husky 3 foam system. “The unusual part of the truck is that it has two sets of rail wheels on it so it can travel on railroad tracks,” Proft says. “The rail wheels at the front of the rescue swing down and raise the front of the truck up so the front tires are off the tracks, and the second set behind the rear axle go straight up and down and also side to side, while the rescue’s inner rear wheels propel the truck down the tracks.”
Brad Turk, regional sales manager for Rescue 1, points out, “When a customer asks about a wet rescue, they usually are on the fence about a rescue-pumper vs. a rescue with a PTO pump and a couple hundred gallons of water. We advise them that real estate on a rescue is very expensive, so they have to use it wisely. Some departments choose a wet rescue with a small pump, 300 gallons of water, and a si