The Sutphen truck replaces a 2000 model Ferrara, which Fire Chief John Detherage said was due for replacement.
“It was 22 years old and met its life expectancy. There have been problems with it the past few years. It was time to replace it,” Detherage said. “This one does things the previous engine did not do. This has considerably more storage space, with a total of 387 cubic feet. With a pumper and tank, it will do all the jobs a straight pumper will do.”
The cost of the new truck was $652,980, with Miami University paying a third of the costs, or $217,660. City Council recently approved selling the old truck in an online auction through GovDeals but Detherage said it will not be turned over until the new truck is in use and everyone is trained.
Miami has been assisting in purchase of new fire and EMS vehicles since 1995 since many of the calls for aid to Oxford take place on campus.
City Manager Doug Elliott told Council the online sale option is a good one, noting a previous sale of city property through the site brought in nearly the original cost of the item.
With nearly double the storage space on the new truck, Detherage said they will also be able to dispose of a support vehicle used to carry equipment with the added advantage of having it more organized.
“It’s a nice thing having the organization. Most of the stuff in the old truck was just thrown in there. It’s like a guy who works out of a toolbox rather than throwing his tools in a bucket,” the chief said. “We got rid of the bucket.”
That organization was on display when Detherage took the truck Uptown prior to the July 5 City Council meeting to show it off. Walking around the truck, he opened doors and showed off items neatly tucked away for easy access.
“It’s all a puzzle. It was originally in the plan to make things easier to get to. The dealer did a nice job of designing the compartments,” Detherage said, adding a tribute to Sutphen, a Columbus firm dealing in the design of emergency vehicles. “It was important to me to deal with an Ohio company and keep the dollars in the state. We are very lucky to have the Sutphen company in Columbus. If we need a part, I can jump in my truck and go up there and be back in four hours. It’s a quality product from a family-owned company in business since the 1800s, a very stable operation.”
The new truck has a host of features and additions the older one does not have which will make dealing with emergencies quicker and more convenient. To illustrate the point, Detherage pulled out a large file, three inches thick, with all the correspondence and specifications used in placing the order. He called that planning, “a long project, a big project.”
The new pumper has a remote-controlled deck gun to shoot water from the top of the vehicle at locations where flames are higher up. In the past, it needed to be operated by someone on the top deck but this can be operated remotely from the ground, which the chief said is helpful in a “limited personnel environment” leaving one more person available for other duties.
There is also a storage area for an additional 1,000 feet of five-inch hose.
The truck will carry a load of 750 gallons of water, which by itself will not last long as the truck has a capacity of unloading 1,750 gallons a minute. The deck gun mounted on top of the truck can put out 1,250 gallons a minute.
“That’s a lot of water,” the chief said.
The cab is bigger than that of the old truck and it has a storage compartment for tools firefighters might need immediately on arrival at a scene. Those heavy tools had to be stored elsewhere before because they could not be loose in the cab so they do not start flying around in the event of an accident.
This new truck has a winch to help stabilize or move vehicles at crash sites.
The truck also carries Hazmat equipment, water rescue equipment including an inflatable boat and ice rescue suits.
While most large vehicles have backup cameras to help the driver see behind, this one has cameras mounted on four sides to provide a view all the way around it to decrease the chances of a crash with a vehicle that large.
The truck will not only carry the breathing equipment firefighters can use to enter a smoke-filled building, but it also has a breathing air station to refill the tanks on-scene.
There are a host of other things the new truck will carry including a rack of cube-its which are used to stabilize a vehicle, Kodiak Rescue Struts to stabilize and lift things and an air-ride chassis to soften the ride so the truck will not get beaten up so easily while driving over rough ground, or the railroad tracks just outside the fire house. It’s the convenience of arriving at a scene with needed equipment close to hand and organized for quick access that make this new fire truck a great addition to their service to the community.
“We want to get as much stuff to a scene as we can. This engine helps with that,” Detherage said.
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