http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.fire6may21,0,980880.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Matt Breslow
Staff Writer
May 21, 2005
NORWALK -- The hottest new truck to hit the streets of Norwalk has a 450 horsepower engine, a booming sound system and costs nearly $750,000.
The Norwalk Fire Department's newest ladder truck sports a number of new features and will be put into action next month.
The Sutphen aerial, mounted on a Sparten chassis, has a 450-horsepower engine and pumps 1,500 gallons of water per minute -- 250 gallons more than the 20-year-old truck it will replace at Charles A. Volk Central Fire Station.
Among the many other improvements is an aerial ladder stretching 15 feet higher.
"It's a true hundred feet from the turntable all the way to the bucket," said Capt. Scott Ready, who will be in charge of the vehicle when his platoon at Volk is on duty.
The fire department ordered the truck in July and it arrived in March, said Scott Plank, the department's master mechanic.
After its arrival, equipment was mounted on the truck and training for firefighters began. The vehicle will be placed in service in three to four weeks, after training is finished, Plank said.
The vehicle is being housed at the fire department's maintenance garage on Fairfield Avenue until it heads across Interstate 95 to Volk, when its predecessor will be placed in reserve.
The department purchased a new pumper in 2002 but hasn't bought an aerial truck since 1995, when the Broad River fire station received one, Plank said.
Besides extra length on the aerial ladder, other improvements include a larger bucket, which can hold three firefighters with self-contained breathing apparatus.
"We had a hard time getting all three of us in the bucket before with our air tanks on," Ready said.
He said the current aerial truck is used "an awful lot," estimating it plays a role at 85 percent of structure fires.
The aerial ladder isn't usually used for fire suppression, although it served that purpose when a spectacular March blaze destroyed a Harbor Avenue building containing two churches and a book publishing warehouse. Firefighters needed an "elevated stream" -- which an aerial ladder truck provides -- for about 48 hours in that blaze, Ready said.
The ladder truck is responsible for ventilating a building where a structure fire is occurring so heat will lift off the ground, the captain said. In a large blaze, a building is ventilated by cutting a hole in the roof; windows can simply be broken in smaller fires.
Unlike Volk's current ladder truck, the new vehicle features a cab that fully encloses all four crew members.
The back two seats of the 20-year-old truck are covered only by a partial canopy, making communication among crew members difficult en route to a fire, Ready said.
The new truck is categorized as a quintuplet because it has five features: the elevating platform; a fire pump; an on-board water tank; a full complement of ground ladders, including one that reaches 45 feet high and requires six firefighters to raise; and hose for fire attack and water supply.
At 400 gallons, the water tank is 100 gallons bigger than the current truck, Plank said. The new vehicle boasts more storage room for specialized equipment and far better exhaust emissions to meet federal standards. A hydraulically driven generator is more powerful and much quieter than its diesel-powered counterpart on the current truck.
The current truck has spring suspension in the rear, while the new one features air-ride suspension, which has the truck riding on air bags. That provides a softer ride to help prevent damage to the aerial ladder from road travel, Plank said.
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