county news online
text
Quint 2 inside the factory.
 
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.

text
Quint 2 before it left the factory in Wisconsin.
text
Acceptance test in Greenville Park.
text
Pump panel on the driver’s side of the apparatus.
text
This is what 1500 gallons per minute looks like.

 
senior scribes

County News Online

is a Fundraiser for the Senior Scribes Scholarship Committee. All net profits go into a fund for Darke County Senior Scholarships
contact
Copyright © 2011 and design by cigs.kometweb.com