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By Alan M. Petrillo

Bear Lake Township (MI) Fire Department had a 1978 front-mount pumper that badly needed to be replaced, so when the township put its vehicle replacement plan in action and the citizenry voted to approve it, Bear Lake Township’s chief quickly got started on deciding what the new rig should look like.

"We made a short specification list of what we definitely wanted on the new pumper," Sean Adams, Bear Lake's chief, says. "We put that short spec list out to 16 vendors and got 14 replies of interest. Then we drew up the full specs and narrowed the vendors down to six. We received four bids and went with Spencer Manufacturing for several reasons."

Adams notes the main reasons the Bear Lake truck committee chose Spencer are that "it's a Michigan-based company, and also the cab and chassis comes from a Michigan company. Second, they came in with the most reasonable price. And third, Spencer was very responsive to us on our questions, needs and clarifications."

The resulting fire truck is built on a Spartan Metro Star cab and chassis, with a Cummins 400-hp ISL9 engine, an Allison 3000 EVS automatic transmission, a Hale QFlo Plus 1,250-gallon-per-minute (gpm) pump, an APR 1,000-gallon polypropylene water tank, a 20-gallon foam cell, and a Hale Foam Logix 2.1 single-agent foam system.

The Bear Lake Township Fire Department operates out of one station with 16 volunteer firefighters, protecting approximately 60 square miles of mostly residential and some commercial properties on Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula. Adams says the department runs an average of 200 calls a year for fire protection, rescue, and first-response emergency medical services (EMS) for a population of approximately 2,400.

The department's other fire apparatus include a 2000 Darley pumper with a 1,500-gpm pump, 1,000-gallon water tank, and compressed air foam system (CAFS); a 1987 Ford commercial chassis water tender (tanker) with a 2,000-gallon water tank; a 1987 GMC wildland vehicle with a 200-gpm Darley skid unit pump, 200-gallon water tank, and five-gallon foam tank; a Kubota utility terrain vehicle (UTV) with a 100-gpm skid unit pump, a 75-gallon water tank, and a two-gallon foam tank; a 12-foot rescue boat; and a 1997 medium-duty non-transport light rescue-ambulance.

Steve Buckner, the salesman who sold the pumper to Bear Lake Township, said he brought the department a Spartan demo chassis that had on-the-floor heating in the cab, as well as electric and heated windows. "Those things are important in their area of the country," Buckner observes, "and the committee liked those options in the vehicle."

Buckner says the Spencer-built pumper has a wheelbase of 190 inches; an overall length of 32 feet, two inches; an overall height of nine feet, seven inches; and a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 40,000 pounds. Price on the pumper without equipment was $384,577.

Grant Spencer, general manager of Spencer Manufacturing, says the pumper has two 1¾-i

The Raritan Township Fire Company, in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, recently placed this 2015 Pierce Arrow XT 100-foot aerial in service as Tower 21.

Site studies are underway for the location of a new fire station in Clay County.

District One City Councilwoman Heather Hall says the project is important for what has become a quickly growing area in the far northern part of Kansas City.

"I think it's going to be a good project," Hall said. "This is the kind of thing people in my district want. They want the infrastructure so they can move here and raise their families in a nice safe community."

Hall has worked with a landowner willing to donate property to the project. Two sites off Missouri 291 are under consideration for the station.

At this stage in the project, Hall said she was not at liberty to identify either the land donor or the exact potential locations. Hall did say the sites are in District 1, which extends between Interstate 35 and Woodland Road in that part of the city. She points out that having the land donated, and locating the new station near existing sewer, electrical and road upgrades, is expected to save the city money on the project.

Deputy Chief James Garrett, public information office for the Kansas City Fire Department, says the department has been hoping to place a new fire station in that area to decrease response times. Currently, the fire station at North Brighton Road and Missouri 152 covers a large area north to south, which extends from Missouri 210 to the Kansas City limits, which is north of Missouri 291.

"This is absolutely a growing area. What we have to look at is that growing area and our ability to respond to the area," Garrett said.

While the plan is in the preliminary stages, City Architect Eric Bosch explains the new station will also be designed to help increase response times.

It is expected to have a similar interior floor plan as some other one-level stations in the department. The stations have common areas and bunk areas on the same floor as the bay where the firetrucks are stored.

"Wherever you're at in the station, you can easily get to the apparatus bay to get your gear on and get in the truck," Bosch said. The station is expected to be 14,000 to 18,000 square feet. It will have a bay large enough for two fire apparatuses to sit side by side.

For more information, view www.kansascity.com

Following news that plans for the center fire station project came in at $4 million more than what was appropriated at last year's annual Town Meeting, the Board of Selectmen has asked the Permanent Town Building Committee and architects from Dore & Whittier Inc., find ways to further cut costs and prove their credibility to taxpayers.

Upon realizing that the cost of the facility had risen to more than $16 million, the PTBC and Dore & Whittier presented a list of cost-saving measures to selectmen Tuesday night, identifying nearly 40 places to cut costs. Last year, voters appropriated $12.7 million for the project.

The high cost estimate was attributed to an addition to the size of the building, as well as an increase in construction costs, said Don Walter of Dore & Whittier.

In addition to those issues, about $200,000 in funds is needed for arsenic and lead abatement on the project site.

To help cut the price, reductions by Dore & Whittier include bringing the station back down to its original size of about 22,000 square feet, making some parts of the roof flat rather than sloped, and reducing by 30 percent the amount of brick exterior.

Reducing the square-footage of the building would save $650,000, making parts of the roof flat, about $200,000. However, even with the cuts proposed by Dore & Whittier, the project was still expected to cost more than $15 million.

For more information, view www.lowellsun.com