By Alan M. Petrillo
The Stamford (CT) Fire Department was in the market for a rear-mount aerial ladder to replace one of the three aerials in its fleet, so it put together a committee to develop the specs for the kind of rig it wanted. But before the department could award a bid, its 100-foot midmount aerial platform had to be taken out of service because of potential ladder failure issues, throwing the department's entire aerial purchasing process into limbo. "We couldn't be without a tower ladder," says Eric Lorenz, Stamford's deputy chief. "We hadn't awarded a bid for the rear-mount ladder we had spec’d, so the chief asked me to explore getting a new tower ladder, especially if we could get added onto another department's bid or get on a government buying program."
At the time, the Stamford Fire Department was running nine engines—six HME pumpers with 1,500-gallon-per minute (gpm) pumps and 750-gallon water tanks and three KME pumpers with 1,500-gpm pumps and 1,000-gallon water tanks. It also ran an HME 100-foot rear-mount aerial ladder, a Sutphen 100-foot midmount aerial ladder, and a Sutphen 100-foot aerial platform, as well as an HME heavy rescue truck.
Lorenz says he learned Stamford's sister department, the Stratford (CT) Fire Department, had awarded a bid for an aerial platform to Seagrave, so he contacted the Seagrave dealer, Hudson Valley Fire Equipment, and got added to the bid. "We were able to buy the aerial on the GSA federal pricing program," Lorenz says. "The government programs work sort of like a menu, where you start with the truck at the stripped price and then begin to add approved options."
In the end, Stamford purchased a Seagrave Marauder II 95-foot Aerialscope midmount platform on a tandem-axle chassis, powered by a 500-horsepower Cummins ISX 12 diesel engine, and an Allison 4000 EVS six-speed automatic transmission. Overall length of the vehicle is 45 feet, seven inches; overall height is 11 feet, two inches; and wheelbase is 247 inches. Price on the vehicle was $1.159 million.
"This is a true truck," says Santo Curro, president of Hudson Valley Fire Equipment, who sold the vehicle to the Stamford Fire Department. "It has no pump or water tank, but has a lot of other equipment that makes it special." Curro notes the aerial has