Firefighter Sean O’Rourke, 44, with 14 years on the job, had an arm detached in a truck accident at Westchester Avenue and Waters Place. O’Rourke was driving a truck from Queens to provide backup aid for the fire.

His left arm was nearly torn off as the truck hit the pole. Surgeonsoperated for long hours Tuesday night trying to save O’Rourke’s arm.

“To have a member come in – when I saw his arm and shoulder – it was very upsetting,” FDNY Chief of Department James Leonard said. “We deal with a lot of tough things, but it was a tough day for the Fire Department.”

This Global SuperTanker, AKA “The Spirit Of John Muir,” is a privately-owned rescue tool based in Colorado. Practically speaking that means it can be deployed just about anywhere around the country, or even the world.

With 14 first-class seats and two bunks on board, the SuperTanker is long-haul capable. The operators claim "almost anywhere in the U.S. in approximately 2.5 hours... almost anywhere in the world in 20 hours," which is its main value proposition over other firefighting tools: extreme speed.

Once called into action, the SuperTanker can make one massive drop of its fire-retardant fluid or eight individual attacks to pinpoint smaller fires.

"Our sales guy thinks we should be able to sell it to a smaller community for about $10,000," Sullivan said. "It's been a backup truck for us for years."

The department's fleet of pumper trucks is aging. Other fire trucks in service were built in 1996, 2002 and 2009.

Sullivan said the city bought an aerial platform pumper truck about 5 years ago that cost $965,000, but two-thirds of the cost was covered by a federal grant.

"Typically, our trucks will last from 10 to 20 years," said Ferndale Fire Marshal Brian Batten. "The average life of a fire truck (nationwide) is about seven years."

But there are usually small cities or towns -- and sometime collectors -- willing to buy fire engines that no longer meet the requirements for average size cities.

In a memo to City Council members this month, Sullivan said his department needs a fifth pumper truck to keep in reserve to guarantee a timely response in all fire and other emergencies, such as odors of natural gas and downed electrical lines. Ferndale also provides fire service to neighboring Royal Oak Township and Pleasant Ridge, which those communities pay for.

"Ferndale is unique in that we have a railway in our city causing duplicate efforts on both the east and west side of Ferndale," Sullivan said in the memo. "We strive to keep to keep two pumper (trucks) on either side of the tracks for service continuity."