special Delivery Alan M. Petrillo

The Maplewood (PA) Fire Department, deep in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, had a need for a tanker and a pumper that would combine a short wheelbase and overall length to allow the firefighters to negotiate tight rural roads.

After talking with Sutphen Inc. and Signal 1 Fire Equipment, Maplewood decided on a pumper-tanker that checked all the boxes on its requirements list.

Stan Pratt, apparatus salesperson for Signal 1, says, “Maplewood wanted to put a lot of firefighting potential in a small package. They wanted a quick-functioning and nimble apparatus that could carry a lot of water and function as a front-line attack engine, a pumper-tanker, or a tanker only.”

1 The Maplewood (PA) Fire Department had Sutphen build this pumper-tanker on a tandem rear axle with a short 192-inch wheelbase and 30-foot 10¼-inch overall length. (Photos courtesy of Sutphen Inc.)

2 The Sutphen pumper-tanker for Maplewood is powered by a Cummins 450-hp ISL9 diesel engine and an Allison EVS 3000 six-speed automatic transmission with a Jacobs compression engine brake.

Tight Dimensions

Darryl Rhyne, general manager of Sutphen East Corp., says the fact that Maplewood was willing to go with a tandem-rear-axle vehicle meant that Sutphen could put a 2,500-gallon water tank on the rig to satisfy the department’s water carrying requirements but still keep the vehicle short enough that it would be very maneuverable. “The pumper-tanker has a 192-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 30 feet 10¼ inches, and an overall height of 9 feet 8 inches,” Rhyne says. “We were able to put four compartments on the body, under a Zico QUIC-LIFT electric portable tank rack on the left side, and a Zico electric ground ladder rack on the right. But, there was no room for an extended front bumper, so we installed a standard six-inch bumper.”

Dave Corrazzi, Maplewood’s chief, says the department “wanted to get the most bang for our buck. Originally, we were going to buy a traditional tanker like our old one, which was on a Kenworth T600 chassis with tandem rear axle, had a small pump, and