Apparatus Ideas Bob Vaccaro
The Tabernacle (NJ) Fire Department protects 49.12 square miles and a residential population of about 7,000. Tabernacle Township is located in the South Jersey pines region in a mostly residential area.
Tabernacle also has some industrial and commercial buildings, State Highway Route 206 and County Highway Route 532, three major school complexes, a large section of the Wharton State Forest, strip shopping centers, and a large nonhydranted area.
Deputy Chief John Gajderowicz says, “The fire department tries to have an apparatus replacement program of about 10 years, but it depends on funding, as most departments grapple with in this day and age. Our truck committee was formed three years ago but was pushed back eight months for various reasons. Committee cochairman Lieutenant Cuyler Vena and I worked on the specs with input from various department firefighters.”
He continues, “The department was replacing a 1993 [unit], and we wanted more water to be carried, so we designed a pumper-tender. The rig would respond first due in our response district and because of sometimes long responses (½ hour or more), we wanted to have sufficient water on hand to begin a sustained attack on a fire until additional resources arrived.”
“To make it stronger, we designed the vehicle with a stronger frame and a spring rear suspension instead of an air suspension. We looked at several manufacturers but went with Pierce because of previously purchased vehicles.”
“Commonality was a concern for training our firefighters, so this made things easier,” Gajderowicz says. “We purchased through the HGAC program, which really made things easier for us and quicker, especially in this day and age of long apparatus delivery times. Plus, we could purchase the type of vehicle and choose the manufacturer we wanted.”
Some other improvements were side and rear dump valves and high brow lights that provide brighter lighting on long, dark roads. The department gained 1,000 gallons of water, and a lower hosebed. The hose carried is as follows: 300 feet of 3-inch, 1,090 feet of 5-inch, and 200 feet of 2½-inch with 300 feet of 2½-inch dead load on top. Preconnects consist of two 200-foot lengths of 1¾-inch, two 250-foot lengths of 1¾-inch, with a dead load of 500 feet of 1¾-inch.
The department also gained compartment space. All compartments were designed to be well laid out with added tools and equipment carried. Equipment and storage include battery-powered hand tools, chainsaws and fans, a transverse compartment under the cab, two 15-foot lengths of hard suction, and two 10-foot sections of hard suction on the officer’s side. The driver’s side has pony sections of hose, tarps, forcible entry tools, extinguishers, 20-foot and 16-foot ladders, a RIT bag, and wildland equipment.
1 The Pierce Enforcer pumper-tender has a five-person cab, a 1,500-gpm pump, and a 2,000-gallon tank. (Photos 1-2 courtesy of Pierce.)
2 The side and rear dump valves.
3 The driver’s side compartments of the pumper-tender show pony lengths of hose, Fold-A-Tank storage, fittings, and tarps. [Photos 3-6 courtesy of the Tabernacle (NJ) Fire Department.