Virginia’s Unusual Apparatus – Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department
by Mike Sanders

Although a fire trucks pump panel can be found just about anywhere on the truck, pump panels are usually placed in one of two places. Most commonly the pump panel is found on the drivers side of the truck in close proximately to the driver. However, especially during the 1930′s through the 1960′s, many fire departments had the pump panel placed on the officers side of the truck. Another option is top mounted pump panels, and many fire departments have found this placement beneficial. Better visibility of the overall scene and safety are often the reasons why departments prefer a top mounted pump panel.

It is uncommon to find a pump panel on the cab roof of a fire truck. This unique set up can be found on Tower 606 of the Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department in Loudoun County, Virginia. Tower 606 is a 2004 Spartan Gladiator that was built by Ferrara. It has a 100′ aerial and is equipped with a 1500 gallon per minute pump. A small pump panel, primarily used to operate the 1500 gallon per minute pump, is located to the rear of the Spartan cab roof. This unique design allows the driver/operator of Tower 606 to be in easy reach of both the controls to operate the 100′ aerial tower as well as the controls to operate the pump panel itself.

I have not seen this unique arrangement on any other Virginia fire truck – any others?

In addition to the Ferrara tower, Ashburn operates four Spartan Gladiator/Ferrara 1500/500 engines. Two are 2003 model’s and two are 2005 models.