Joe Petrucelli (left), owner of Tri-County Sporting Goods, presenting check for $70,000 to Joshua Brennan and his family (center) with Anthony Imperato (right), president of Henry Repeating Arms.

Henry Repeating Arms of Bayonne, New Jersey, and Rice Lake, Wisconsin, designed 54 custom Henry Lever Action Octagon rifles to help raise funds for 14-year-old Joshua Brennan of New York. Brennan was diagnosed with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome before he was even born. 24 of these rifles were donated directly to the Firemen for Joshua Foundation, a 510(c)(3) organization, and the remaining 30 were purchased by Joe Petrucelli of Tri-County Sporting Goods, who organized further fundraising efforts to benefit the charitable foundation formed in Joshua’s name.

For the past few years Joshua has served the emergency service community by volunteering at the Pawling Fire Department in Dutchess County. Although he is too young to fight fires, he is a critical member of the department. Washing trucks, keeping the firehouse in good order, lending a helping hand in the kitchen, and attending special events are just some of the tasks that Joshua tends to, all stemming from his love for the department and the call to volunteerism instilled in him by his father, Tom, who is also a volunteer firefighter.

Joshua Brennan suffered heart failure last year and has a pacemaker and two valves keeping him alive. He now needs a heart transplant.

In 2014 a similar partnership between Henry Repeating Arms and Tri-County Sporting Goods raised over $60,000 for four-year-old Grayson Sutton of Sedan, Kansas, who was battling Primary Pulmonary Hypertension and facing a series of costly surgeries.

President of Henry Repeating Arms, Anthony Imperato explains, “Tri-County Sporting Goods has always stepped up to the plate to help Henry with any of our Guns for Great Causes initiatives. When they told me about this great young man Joshua, and his battle, we instantly decided to reciprocate.”

54 custom Henry rifles were created to help support the Firemen for Joshua Foundation, a non-profit 510(c)(3).The 54 special edition rifles are currently being sold through Tri-County Sporting Goods in Patterson, New York, and all proceeds are going to benefit the Firemen for Joshua Foundation, which goes directly to Joshua and his family.

Petrucelli organized Firemen for Joshua Day at Tri-County Sporting Goods on September 30, where over 200 people from the local community came together to show their support. Joshua was nominated for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and he and his family were presented with a $70,000 check from the proceeds of the rifles sold to date along with donations from local businesses. Proceeds are expected to raise over $100,000 before the end of the year.

Serial number “JOSHUA001,” the first of 54 made, is currently up for auction on GunBroker.com, item #705771173.

Tri-County Sporting Goods will continue to sell the Firemen for Joshua rifles while supplies last, as well as custom serial numbered Henry Heirloom rifles. Proceeds from these sales will continue to fund the Firemen for Joshua foundation. To purchase one of these rifles, contact Joe Petrucelli at (845) 878-6084. General donations are being accepted here: https:

Rendon (TX) Fire Department tanker-pumper. Metro Star cab and chassis; Cummins ISX 500-hp engine; Waterous CSU 1,250-gpm pump.

Rendon (TX) Fire Department tanker-pumper. Metro Star cab and chassis; Cummins ISX 500-hp engine; Waterous CSU 1,250-gpm pump.

CLICK THE PIC FOR A FULL GALLERY OF THIS RIG >>

By Alan M. Petrillo

Middlebury (IN) Volunteer Fire Department has years of experience with buying Sutphen apparatus, so when it needed to replace a 1990 Sutphen aerial platform that it had purchased refurbished, the department turned once again to the company that had furnished it with two pumpers and a heavy rescue.

Andy Herb, owner of Herb Fire Equipment, says that Middlebury contacted him (he had sold the department the heavy rescue and two pumpers in the past), about replacing its aerial. "They were familiar with Sutphen's 100-foot platform, and had taken the time to look over one of them in their area," Herb says. "They liked the many advances that the new Sutphen platform had over the earlier version they then were running."

Herb says he sat down with the truck committee to find out their likes and dislikes. "They liked the aluminum aerial and how it was constructed by Sutphen," he points out, "and wanted a larger platform on the aerial than they had on their earlier truck."

Jeff Wogoman, chief of Middlebury, says a larger platform on the aerial was a big selling point for the department. "We wanted to be able to fit three firefighters comfortably on the platform, instead of the two firefighters that would fit on our older aerial," Wogoman says. "Sutphen's basic model platform gave us exactly what we needed."

Middlebury's new Sutphen is a SPH100 platform, with a 100-foot five-section aluminum ladder, on a Sutphen chassis with a 62-inch, four-door, six-firefighter cab with a 10-inch raised roof and a 304 stainless steel body. The rig has ROM painted roll-up doors, 293 cubic feet of compartment space, and an Alco-Lite aerial ladder compartment. 

Wheelbase on the unit is 236 inches, overall length is 46 feet 7 inches, and overall height is 11 feet 8 inches. The vehicle has a 25,500-pound front axle and suspension, a 52,000-pound rear axle and suspension, a Cummins 500-horsepower, ISX diesel engine, an Allison GEN IV EVS 4000 automatic transmission, and a Leece Neville 320-amp alternator.

The SPH100 also carries a Hale QMax 1,500-gpm pump, a 300-gallon water tank, four 2½-inch discharges, one 3-inch discharge, and two Elkhart Brass monitors under the platform—one remote and the other manual. Herb says the platform, delivered early this year, cost $1,150,000.

Wogoman notes that the vehicle has two 1¾-inch crosslays, each holding 250 feet of hose, as well as 800 feet of 5-inch LDH in the hosebed. "Typically the platform is not first out the door, unless it's going to a structure fire," he points out.

Lighting on the vehicle includes a Whelen LED warning light package, a Command Light LED light tower, and FRC Spectra LED scene lights. The rig also has a Smart Power 10-kW generator, a Hannay electric cord reel with 200 feet of cord, and a Stokes bracket and parapet ladder at the platform.

Wogoman notes that his department uses the Sutphen more for rea