Savannah Eller
The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
(TNS)

When a fire engulfed a house in the Black Forest neighborhood of Wissler’s Ranch in 2017, the development’s three 10,000-gallon water cisterns built in the 1990s were tested and failed in a real-world situation.

Rather than draw from the cisterns, which were unpressurized and would have required time and special equipment to pump water from, firefighters traveled five miles away to a pressurized fire hydrant. The 45-minute drive and fill up made fighting the blaze difficult and ultimately unsuccessful.

Firefighting Basics: Getting Water to and on the Fire, Part 1

“In the meantime, the house burned to the ground,” said Wissler’s Ranch Homeowner’s Association Vice President Peter Popp.

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Instead of leaving the vulnerability in place, the neighbors of the community of spacious ranch-style homes — which also were in danger during the Black Forest fire of 2013 — decided to fix the issue themselves. The HOA voted on a special assessment for the $350,000-plus cost of a new pressurized system, complete with a 35,000-gallon tank and a fire hydrant. Each of the 133 homeowners paid a share of about $2,800.

“They did it very quickly,” said Wissler’s Ranch President Harold Goldback. “I was shocked at the response.”

The construction process, which included connecting the new cistern to one of the old ones for a 45,000-gallon total capacity, took nine months.

Wissler Ranch cistern

The spring 2024 arrival of Wissler Ranch’s new 45,000-gallon cistern.

This week the neighborhood unveiled the project with a demonstration from the Monument Fire Department, which hooked an engine up to the new cistern and produced an arch of water for a crowd of neighbors. A community barbecue followed.

Jonathan Bradley, the division chief of community risk reduction at Monument Fire, said the hydrant will help firefighters protect Wissler Ranch and surrounding neighborhoods from single-home fires and wildfires.

“Rural firefighting is difficult,” he said. “It’s really, really difficult to save people’s property when we have a 10- to 15-minute response to get here, and if we run out of water, there’s not much we can do. So having something like this allows us to get ahead and stay ahead of a fire.”

Bradley said that some new housing developments in the area are building pressurized systems, but that the cost of replacement for outdated cisterns can be a tough sell for existing neighborhoods like Wissler Ranch.

Popp said that Wissler Ranch homeowners are looking into whether the new hydrant will help them keep or reduce the cost of home insurance. In the meantime, he said the hydrant was worth it for peace of mind.

“It just makes everybody sleep better,” he said.

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PRESS RELEASE

The Luray Fire Department has taken delivery of its new rescue-engine. Two years ago, the department began building a rescue-engine to replace its 1998 RD Murray heavy squad. Originally, the department worked with Atlantic Emergency Solutions and Pierce Manufacturing to spec a new unit. Inflation and rising costs of emergency equipment brought the cost of the truck in at a whopping $1.3 million new, with an approximate delivery time of 36 months.

Faced with a dilemma of needing to upgrade the squad and purchase new air-packs, it was decided to search for a used truck. After months of searching various truck brokers, the truck committee found a 2017 Pierce rescue-engine located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Except for a few items, the truck was nearly what the committee was planning to have built new. The department voted to purchase the truck for $540,000. After paint, lettering, and up fitting with equipment mounts specific to our equipment, it provided the department with a cost savings of well over $500,000.

The rescue-engine concept will allow the department to combine all the essential equipment of a heavy squad and integrate the capabilities of an engine for fighting fire when needed. This will also allow one piece of equipment to respond to certain calls, requiring only one driver, but having the tools and capabilities of two trucks. This will enhance our fire suppression and lifesaving capabilities for citizens of our community and visitors to our community alike.

The department’s heavy squad will be sold. It is currently listed on Govdeals.

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The city of Redmond, Washington made the following Facebook post recently:

The Redmond Fire Department is on track to receive the first electric fire apparatus in the state of Washington. As the city continues to improve its sustainability, the next step is transitioning heavy-duty vehicles from gas to electric. By going electric the city is reducing emissions, air pollution, and noise with no compromise to performance, functionality, or safety. The city is excited to lead the way with an electric fire apparatus.

Redmond Affirms Commitment to Sustainability with Purchase of Electric Fire Apparatus

On Feb. 7, 2023, Redmond City Council authorized the acceptance of a grant toward the purchase of the City’s first electric fire apparatus. The fire department applied for and received a grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology, which covers 25% of the costs of the electric engine program. Redmond will be the first agency in the state to receive the grant, and the engine will be the first electric fire engine in Washington, as well as one of the first few in the country.   

The Pierce Volterra electric fire engine is the first to enter service and has proven effective in its years of use. The project’s total costs, including charging infrastructure, are $2.3 million, of which the grant will pay for nearly $600,000. It is estimated to take about 25 months to receive the new unit now that it has been ordered, as each Volterra engine is built to order. 

Madison, Wisconsin, currently has an electric unit in service, and new electric units will enter service this year in Portland, Oregon, and Gilbert, Arizona. In preparation for this project, Redmond Fire Department personnel visited Madison, Wisconsin, where a Volterra engine has been in service since 2021. They met with Madison’s fire personnel to discuss their experience with the electric engine and its benefits.

“We’ve learned the benefits of these new electric engines reducing fuel costs, and with its backup diesel engine, it will be even more reliable than a traditional diesel engine,” said Redmond Mayor Angela Birney. “Quieter operations also help our first responders communicate at the scene of an incident and keep our Redmond community safe.” 

Redmond’s Environmental Sustainability Action Plan targets 2030 for city operations to achieve carbon neutrality. The electric fire engine will contribute towards this goal, and its location at Fire Station 12 will also reduce diesel emissions in the vicinity of the station. 

Redmond’s grant is from the Washington State Clean Diesel Program and Volkswagen Settlement Grant Program, in cooperation with the Diesel Emission Reduction Act (DERA) grants program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The DERA program funds state and local governments to replace or modernize old diesel vehicles with alternative technologies.

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TOYNE—Wayne Township (OH) Fire Rescue pumper-tanker. Freightliner 114SD four-door 6×4 cab and chassis; Cummins L9 450-hp engine; stainless steel body; Hale Qmax-XS 1,250-gpm pump; UPF Poly 3,000-gallon water tank; 25-gallon foam cell; FoamPro 1600 Class A foam system; Syntex 3,000-gallon portable tank; Zico hydraulic porta-tank rack. Dealer: Randy Smalley, Tri State Fire, Monongahela, PA.

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