Boston (MA) Fire Department Adds Three 109

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S P E CI A L DE L I V E RY A L A N
M. PE TRILLO
Boston (MA) Fire
Department Adds
Three 109-Foot
Aerials to Fleet
1 The Boston (MA) Fire Department’s Ladder
Boston, Massachusetts, has always presented challenging
terrain for Boston (MA) Fire Department vehicles, with tight
turns and hilly historic streets. So when the department’s
apparatus committee sat down to spec a new ladder truck,
size and maneuverability were key considerations.
1
17, a KME-built 109-foot AerialCat, operates
at the scene of a church fire using its Akron
1,500-gpm monitor. [Photo courtesy of the
Boston (MA) Fire Department.] 2 The KME
109-foot AerialCat ladders built for the Boston
(MA) Fire Department have 14-foot jack
spreads. But when short jacked, the vehicles’
jack footprints are eight inches narrower than
that of the department’s other aerial ladders.
(Photo courtesy of the Boston Fire Department.)
2
Peter Cakridas, the department’s director
of transportation, says, “Our biggest concern
was that aerials were getting bigger and bigger, but the guys in the field were having difficulty maneuvering the pieces in the streets.
We needed to do something different with
our new aerials.”
Maneuverability
The apparatus committee reached out
to a number of manufacturers. Ultimately,
the department decided to purchase three
109-foot AerialCat rear-mount ladders from
KME, Cakridas points out. “One of the big
selling points on the KME AerialCat was its
208-inch wheelbase,” he says. “We were running ladders on a 220-inch wheelbase and
some of the manufacturers wanted us to
increase to 230 inches.”
Jack spread was another issue for the
apparatus committee, he notes, because
of having to set up in some of Boston’s
notoriously narrow streets. “The full outrigger spread is 14 feet, but when the ladder is
short jacked, the footprint will be eight inches
narrower than our current ladders,” Cakridas
says. “If we get the fire side jacks fully out, we
can get a 180 degree rotation of the stick. The
aerial will not allow itself to be operated in an
unsafe position. But, being able to short jack
the truck means we can set up in places that
we couldn’t have before.”
In addition, the outriggers don’t have
Reprinted with revisions to format, from the April 2014 edition of FIRE APPARATUS
Copyright 2014 by PennWell Corporation
department
specs
decorative stainless steel or diamond plate
covers that don’t stand up to harsh Boston
street conditions, Cakridas notes. The Boston
specs call for 3⁄8-inch steel plates to be welded directly to the vertical stabilizer and
then painted with red “linex,” a coating that
doesn’t scratch or chip and often is found in
the beds of pickup trucks.
Jeff Mazza, owner of Bulldog Fire
Apparatus, which sold the AerialCats to the
Boston (MA) Fire Department
STRENGTH: 1,467 paid chiefs, captains, lieutenants, and
firefighters; two divisions; 11 districts with 35 stations.
SERVICE AREA: Provides fire protection, rescue, and emergency
medical services to a population of 574,283 in 473 square miles.
OTHER APPARATUS: 70 engine companies, 33 ladder companies, two
rescue companies, four tower companies, one marine unit, one fire
brigade, two tunnel/confined space units, two brush fire units, one
hazardous materials unit, one trench/structural collapse unit, one special
unit, one air supply unit, one rehabilitation unit, one mobile command
unit, one mobile decon unit, and one hydrant thawing unit.
KME 109-foot AerialCat
Rear-Mount Ladders
• K ME Predator Severe
Service chassis
• K ME custom six-person cabs
• 109-foot AerialCat steel rear-mount
ladders made of 100,000-psi steel
with 2.5:1 structural safety factors
• 208-inch wheelbases
• 41-foot, one-inch overall lengths
• 11-foot, six-inch overall heights
• 14-foot jack spreads
• Navistar MaxxForce 13
475-horsepower diesel engines
• A llison 4500 EVSR six-speed
automatic transmissions
with output retarders
• 1,500-gpm prepiped waterways
• 750-pound tip loads
• A kron 1,500-gpm monitors with
capability of 30-degree up angle
Boston Fire Department, says the apparatus
committee came up with an unusual solution
to improving the turning radius on the ladders by redesigning the rear end. “When they
were in our factory doing a preinspection on
pumpers, they started looking at the aerials on our assembly line,” Mazza says. “They
came up with the idea of eliminating the
90-degree corners at the rear of the aerial and
replacing them with 45-degree corners. That
allows for increased maneuverability and
decreased tail strikes on tight turns.”
New Approach to Ladders
Mazza says the 109-foot AerialCats have
ladders constructed with 100,000-pound-persquare-inch (psi) steel, have 2.5:1 safety factors, and are rated for a 750-pound tip loads.
“The KME aerial ladder sections are wider
and have taller handrails than any aerial ladders currently in service in the Boston Fire
Department,” Mazza says. He adds that the
fly section is 23½ inches wide by 21¼ inches high on the 109-foot AerialCat, compared
with 19¾ inches wide and 1715⁄16 inches high
on the current ladders the department has
in service.
Another new element for the Boston
Fire Department on the AerialCat ladders
is including prepiped waterways. “We never
had prepiped waterways before on our ladders,” Cakridas points out. “But because KME
was able to lower the overall ride height of the
trucks, they put it on our ladders.” The overall height of the AerialCats is 11 feet, six inches,
while their overall length is 41 feet, one inch.
At the tip of the each ladder is an Akron
1,500-gallon-per-minute (gpm) monitor,
3
• Electric pinning of monitors in
three positions: base, midway,
and tip of fly sections
• Code 3 TriCore LED warning lights
• A mdor Blue LED interior and
compartment lighting
• Eight FRC Spectra 12-volt LED
scene lights: two at brow, two
on sides of cabs, two on sides of
ladders, two at tip of ladders
• X RT Power Systems Powerhouse
transmission-mounted three-port
power systems for hydraulic tools
• A mkus rescue tools
Price without equipment:
$831,000
3 Ladder 29 is one of three identical ladders built for the Boston (MA) Fire Department.
The ladder is built with 100,000-psi steel that allows a 750-pound tip load and has a 2.5:1
safety factor. (Photo courtesy of Bulldog Fire Apparatus.)
pressure is applied to the bumper, the system
sets the parking brake and goes into a safety
mode. The driver would have to put the vehicle in park before starting off again. The system is designed to prevent damage to the
vehicles and prevent the vehicles from hurting anyone.”
Cakridas says the apparatus committee
requested another modification that makes
the job easier for firefighters on a scene. “We
took the saw box off the turntable and dropped
it down to the side of the truck where the
saws are reachable from both the ground and
also from the top by the turntable,” he says.
“Relocating the saw box eliminates the obstacle of dodging around it on a scene.”
4
Compartmentation and Cabs
4 The Boston Fire Department apparatus committee came up with the idea to cut the
rear corners of the three 109-foot AerialCats it purchased at 45 degree angles instead
of the traditionally squared-off 90 degrees. The 45-degree corners allow for increased
maneuverability on Boston’s tight streets. (Photo courtesy of Bulldog Fire Apparatus.)
Cakridas says, that can be angled 30 degrees
upward, allowing the ladder operator to
extend the aerial horizontally and shoot a
water stream upward into a room through
a window or up into the eaves area of
a structure.
The monitor’s position on the fly section
is controlled electronically, Mazza notes, and
can be pinned in any of three positions: at
Safety Features
Mazza says that the department had
Federal Signal backup and side-facing cameras installed on the AerialCats. The views
are visible on drivers’ displays in the cabs
of the trucks. If the directional is activated,
Mazza adds, the side view is displayed so
drivers can be sure there are no obstructions
in his intended path.
When the department’s apparatus
committee sat down to spec a new
ladder truck, size and maneuverability
were key considerations.
the base, midway, or at the tip of the fly section. The monitor and ladder can be operated
from either the tip or the turntable.
“We also installed a Croft rear bumper
safety system on the aerials,” Mazza says.
“When backing up, if less than 10 pounds of
The left side of the trucks, which don’t
carry pumps or water tanks, have high side
rescue style compartments that allow for
PTO-driven Amkus tool systems. Cakridas
says the Amkus systems each have three
hydraulic reels of 150 feet of hose that can
feed three tools operating simultaneously
without pressure loss.
All compartments on the vehicles, he
adds, are fitted with Amdor LED compartment lighting, and the entire lengths of the
aerial ladders are lit with LEDs.
The trucks’ cabs are set up for six firefighters: driver, officer, and four forward-facing seats along the back wall of the crew cabs.
Cakridas says EMS compartments and rearfacing seats were eliminated to allow firefighters to remain seated and belted while still
being able to get their self-contained breathing apparatus on and be ready to go to work as
soon as the trucks stop. ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-
based freelance writer and is a member of the
Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment editorial
advisory board. He served 22 years with the
Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the
position of chief.
CHOSEN
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