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.

Submitted by Scott Fritz
Regional Sales Manager
Singer Associates

Town of Bluefield, VA

Pierce Velocity 100’ Sky Arm Articulating Aerial Platform
TAK-4 Independent Front Suspension
Side Roll Protection
Frontal Air Bags
6-Man cab
5 Hands-Free SCBA Brackets
Cummins ISM 500 hp engine
Waterous S100 2000 gpm pump
Husky 12 Foam System to 6 discharges
Hercules 200 cfm CAFS system to 6 discharges
300 gallon water tank/30 gallon foam tank
Safety Vision Backup Camera System
20 kW Harrison hydraulic generator
Havis Shields 120V lights
Whelen LED lighting package
Akron 3578 electric platform monitor with 2.5” discharge
Pierce paint and graphics

By Mike Sanders mnsand@comcast.net

For this column, we go back in time a bit to profile an unusual fire truck that ran from the Mount Vernon Volunteer Fire Department in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mount Vernon VFD was Station 9 in Fairfax County. The volunteers turned over their operations to the county in the 1970’s. Today, Station 409 in Mount Vernon continues to provide fire and rescues services to the citizens in Fairfax County.

In 1960, the American LaFrance Fire Engine Company (ALF) delivered a 900 series engine to the San Francisco, California FD. ALF called this engine the “Turbo Chief” and it was a 1000 gallon per minute open cab pumper assigned to Engine 14. A year later, a second Turbo Chief was delivered to Seattle, Washington. This, however, was a 100’ tiller truck. These two trucks were powered by Boeing 325 horsepower gas turbines built by a division of the Boeing Airplane Company. Although they were similar in appearance to other ALF 900 series fire trucks, they had one very notable difference. There was a large stainless steel exhaust stack that came out of the top of the engine compartment.

In 1962, the Mount Vernon VFD also received a turbine powered ALF 900 series 1000 gpm engine. Mount Vernon’s Turbo Chief was very similar to the San Francisco ALF engine except for one major difference. Mount Vernon’s had the pump panel on the officer’s side of the truck.

All three of the jet propelled ALF’s built developed major problems and became costly to operate. Braking problems, slow acceleration, and a very loud engine were some of the major issues. Mount Vernon’s shot fire directly at the roof of the fire station and the brakes were no match for the turbine engine so it was very hard to stop. Within a few years, each of the ALF’s were converted to conventional gasoline engines and continued to serve their respective departments.

Although the first three Turbo Chiefs were unsuccessful, ALF built one final Turbo Chief in 1972 for the IAFC Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. A noticeable difference was that this ALF had dual exhaust stacks. Again, it did not prove to be popular.

Virginia’s Mount Vernon VFD purchased a variety of ALF fire trucks. None were as unusual as the Turbo Chief.

Photos: Mike Sanders collection

By Mike Sanders mnsand@comcast.net

Some fire departments that operate in cold climate conditions have had their engines built with the pump panel enclosed within the four door cab. The pump operator will hook up the hoses to the pump and then move into the cab for pump operations. The Alta Vista Volunteer Fire Department’s Engine 1 appears to have been designed for cold weather.

Altavista is in Campbell County and is located between Lynchburg and Danville. Their Engine 1 is a 1998 Pierce Lance equipped with a 1500 gallon per minute pump and a 1000 gallon water tank. The pump panel controls are located to the rear of the Lance cab.

Engine 1 is “unusual” – are there any similar engines in Virginia?

Virginia’s “Unusual” fire apparatus
by Mike Sanders mnsand@comcast.net

Welcome to a new feature of www.vafirenews.com. Everyone has their own definition of what “unusual” might be. Virginia has had some unusual fire and rescue trucks in its history. In addition, through my travels, I have come across some interesting fire and rescue trucks. These are trucks that have been built for a specific purpose and ones you just don’t find in many stations across the commonwealth.

We invite you to submit your photographs of Virginia’s “unusual”…..fire and rescue trucks that is.

I will kick off this column with one of the most interesting fire trucks I have photographed. While returning home from a business trip several years ago, I had to make a stop for gas and food in Bland, Virginia. I also thought I would find the local fire station to see the apparatus; however the doors were closed tight. I found a local business where a volunteer firefighter worked, and he asked me if I was there to see “24”. Now he really had my interest. He made arrangements for a driver to meet me at the station and I was able to photograph “24”.

Large is a good description for this truck. Much of Bland County is wooded, so the fire department needed a truck capable of going off road and taking water with it. In addition, Bland County is the only county in the United States that is entered and exited via Interstate Tunnels. There are two tunnels, Big Walker Mountain located a few hundred yards from the Wythe County line and East River Mountain, which forms the Virginia and West Virginia border. “24” was also designed to respond to tunnel emergencies.

“24” is a 2005 Oshkosh MTVR/Pierce Hawk Extreme fire truck. It is equipped with a 500 gallon per minute pump, holds 2400 gallons of water, and carries 60 gallons of foam. The truck sits 10 feet 2 inches high.

I am glad I made the stop at the Bland Volunteer Fire Department to find this one of a kind in Virginia.