|
Greenville Fire
Department’s “Quint 2” tested for service
By Bob Rhoades, Senior Scribe
The early years, Part 2
It’s here! The newest addition to the Greenville Fire Department Roster
will be known as Quint 2. Traditionally fire apparatus is named
by what it does, Engine, Ladder, Heavy Rescue, Medic, etc. In
this case this apparatus does 5 different things. It carries a 75-foot
aerial ladder, a full complement of ground ladders, water (500)
gallons, a pump, and equipment. So it’s called a Quint and it
replaces Engine 2 so it will be known as Quint 2. The last
apparatus to carry a non-traditional name was the 1939 Quad, which was
also No. 2. You all know it as the Green Wave Wagon. It
last saw service in 1973 when Engine 2 went into service.
On Friday, February 4, 2011, Quint 2 was put through the fire
department acceptance test. The test is comparable to the test run in
the factory but this one is run by the fire department to make sure it
will do all that the company says it will do and performs up to the
specifications written in the contract to build it.
The acceptance is looking to see that first it can pump at its rated
capacity, which in this case is 1500 Gallons Per Minute. This
must be done under load with all lights and appliances operating.
It has to do the 1500 GPM for 2 hours, with measurements taken every 15
minutes on the flow, oil pressure, water temp in the radiator,
etc. The next test is 80% of the rated capacity, then 50% and an
over run of test at the end.
The next three weeks will be spent mounting equipment, some new and
some from Engine 2 as well as training on the new equipment, with the
target date at the end of the month to put it into front line
service. The cost of the new apparatus is $638,362. The new
apparatus was funded by a $475,000 federal grant and $163,362 from City
of Greenville funds. The federal funding is from the Assistance
to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program established in 2001. This is
the third AFG awarded to the City of Greenville from the federal
government. Total AFG funds awarded to the City of Greenville now
stands at $618,980.
Through the competitive bid process, the department now has all
firefighting equipment built by the same manufacturer, Pierce
Manufacturing, Appleton, Wisconsin. This is good because they are
all basically built the same and the training time is cut in half.
This truck will have some added training time because of the ladder and
the waterway on the ladder. The nozzle on the end of the ladder
can be operated from the ground by remote control. This does a
couple of things; first, in a very dangerous situation; it keeps a
firefighter out of harm’s way. Second in limited manpower
situation, it allows the ladder pipe to be put into service without
committing a fire fighter to be on the end of it at all times.
There are many enhancements to this piece because of the day that we
live in. These are things that will make all of us safer,
especially the guys riding on it.
More to come about response and how it will differ from the current way
the department responds.
|
