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).”

• Darley Rebranding and Reinventing WASP Series Platform as WS Tactical Pumper
• Ringwood Borough (NJ) VFC No. 1 Has Darley Build WASP Quick-Attack Tactical Pumper
• Mini-Pumpers and Quick-Attack Rigs Remain Popular
• 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 win

Ferrara—Dickson (TN) Fire Department pumper. Cinder XMFD cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; Hale Qmax 1,500-gpm pump; 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank; Hendrickson Steertek front axle; AXIS smart truck technology; 102-inch-wide extruded aluminum body; ROM roll-up compartment doors. Dealer: Jeff Bagwell, American Emergency Response Training, Rockford, TN.

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For the first time, FDIC International 2023 will feature the “Fire Rescue Station of the Future,” an interactive showcase of cutting-edge design and products. Designed by H2M architects + engineers (H2M) and featuring more than 30 additional sponsors, this walk-through exhibit of a futuristic station will look at essential programmatic changes to the current fire station model.

The Fire Rescue Station of the Future is a full-scale fire station replica located in Lucas Oil Stadium and part of the Lucas Oil Experience (www.fdic.com/los-experience). The station incorporates modern design concepts with advanced technologies to improve safety and efficiency. Navigate through the futuristic station to explore the architecturally-designed building and room designs each with new equipment and products on display including electric apparatus, robots, drones, decontamination, command and dispatch, advanced training, well-being, and many more.

Visualize how spaces can be utilized, take an architect-guided tour, ride on an electric engine; reserve a spot to join us for breakfast and lunch in the training room, or relax in the outdoor wellness area.

H2M’s Architects and Station Designers will be offering tours of the Station for all attendees seeking firsthand answers to questions like “How will current fire/rescue station designs evolve to accommodate new needs? How can we charge a growing number of electric apparatus and support vehicles? How can we manage the electric service of a building while dealing with local codes and ordinances for proper fire separation and fire suppression systems? Can fire stations accommodate battery storage technology? Will drones and robots become common? Will biometrics become the new standard for measuring the health and well-being of responders? How can we retrofit existing stations with these ideas and equipment so that all battalions are prepared for the future? What does a truly futuristic station look like?”

Attendees will navigate through the exhibit, exploring exciting new building and room designs with new equipment/products in each.

Explorable spaces will include: bays with brand new electric apparatus, robots, drones, and the state-of-the-art apparatus support; decontamination and transition zones and laundering facilities that will bring visitors from the traditionally “dirty/red” side of the building to the “clean/green” side; cutting-edge training rooms where presentations will be offered throughout the conference; a top of the line command and dispatch center; modern living quarters and exercise room; and an outdoor/well-being area.

The Overall Station Sponsor is 3am/Microsoft.

The station is designed by: H2M Architects.

Room Sponsors are:

• American Red Cross
• Arctic Compression
• AT&T
• Autel
• Coach Me Plus
• Door Engineering
• Draeger
• Fire Fighter Cancer Registry
• Firecompanies.com
• First Arriving
• H2M Architects
• Howe & Howe Technologies – Textron
• IL Firefighters Association
• ImageTrend
• Innotex
• International Truck (Navistar)
• Meiko
• Nanotech Energies
• Polaris Industries
• Ready Rack by Groves
• Retreat Behavioral Health
• Rosenbauer
• Safety Components
• Shark Robotics
• Soot Soap
• Streamlite
• Stryker
• Tesla National
• TFT
• The Fire Academy
• Toxic Suppression
• USSC

Tours will be offered during exhibit hall hours on Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, April 29, 2023. Find out more about FDIC International and register to attend online at FDIC.com<

The legal action seeks to hold the NFPA liable for standard requiring “forever chemicals” in fire fighter gear 

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) filed a lawsuit today against the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for its role in imposing a testing standard that effectively requires the use of carcinogens in fire fighter protective gear. The case, International Association of Fire Fighters v. National Fire Protection Association, Inc., was filed in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Massachusetts. 

Toxic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found in fire fighter bunker gear and have been linked to cancer, the leading cause of fire fighter death. Nearly 75 percent of those honored at the 2022 Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial died of occupational cancer. 

• NFPA Rejects Appeal from IAFF on Firefighter PPE and PFAS
• Researcher Responds to Claims About PFAS, Firefighter PPE
• It’s Time for Firefighters to Demand PFAS-Free PPE
• Your Gear, Your Life: Firefighter PPE Toxins and What to Do About Them
• Hacking Your PFAS Exposure

The complaint seeks to hold the NFPA liable for its Standard on Protective Ensembles for Structural Fire Fighting and Proximity Fire Fighting (Standard 1971). The standard – which establishes minimum levels of protection from thermal, physical, environmental, and biological hazards faced during firefighting – calls for using PFAS in the middle moisture barrier of fire fighter bunker gear to satisfy the NFPA’s Ultraviolet Light Degradation Test. The standards committee deliberately chose the time of exposure to UV light. A shorter exposure time would allow numerous other materials to pass, but a longer exposure time would allow no materials to pass. The set 40 hours is the threshold where only PFAS passes, meaning all fire fighters must wear bunker gear laden with dangerous chemicals.  

“The very gear designed to protect fire fighters, to keep us safe, is killing us,” said IAFF General President Edward Kelly. “Standard 1971 needlessly requires the use of PFAS in fire fighter gear. Even when presented with independent science on the health and safety risks, the NFPA has refused to help save our lives. The IAFF has a duty to protect our members’ health and their families’ wellbeing.” 

The IAFF has retained three nationally recognized law firms, Motley Rice LLC; Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC; and Sullivan Papain Block McGrath Coffinas & Cannavo P.C., in its effort to combat cancer in the fire service. The firms, collectively known as the PFAS Law Firms, are available to assist IAFF members made sick by PFAS exposure at work.  

“The NFPA has a unique role in promulgating standards that eliminate fire-related deaths and personal injuries while also protecting fire firefighters. Our client alleges NFPA conspired with the PFAS industry and abdicated its solemn obligation to North American fire fighters and it seeks to stop this alleged conduct,” stated T. David Hoyle, Motley Rice attorney.

“Getting cancer i