Big Red - Alexis Fire Equipment

APPARATUS IDEAS
Big Red
Alexis’ new midi-rescue is built for a unique kind
of agency
D
uring this year’s Fire Department Instructors
Conference (FDIC) in Indianapolis, I made
my usual rounds of all the manufacturers,
seeking out the new and innovative products for
2006. Rounding a corner, I came across the Alexis
display, which featured what I originally thought
was a midi-pumper, with a federal-style emblem
on the door, lettered for the USA Disaster Relief
Corps (USADRC). Initially, I thought this was
some sort of new vehicle built for FEMA or a
newly created government bureaucracy. I couldn’t
have been more wrong.
Greg Landon, Alexis sales representative,
informed me that the vehicle actually belonged to
a privately owned and funded agency headed by
By Bob Vaccaro
WHAT IS THE USADRC?
Galloway, the USADRC’s president, explains that
he founded the Lake Bluff, Ill.-based organization
because of a personal desire to help mitigate the
effects of natural disasters. “Back in the early
1970s, I was living in the Oklahoma area,” he
says. “I experienced firsthand the devastation of
what tornadoes could do to an area. Wanting to
provide disaster relief, three of my friends and I
volunteered our time helping local communities
when disasters struck. We operated at the time out
of four 4 x 4 pickup trucks, traveling to areas
stricken by tornadoes and storms wherever we
could help.
“I never really got over the feeling of wanting
▲
Initially, I thought this was some sort of new vehicle
built for FEMA or a newly created government
bureaucracy. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Dean Galloway, who was present at FDIC.
Further, the vehicle that I thought was a midipumper was in fact a midi-rescue response vehicle
built by Alexis on an International 7400 chassis—
with an interesting story behind it.
PHOTO COURTESY ALEXIS
Big Red, specially designed for the
USA Disaster Relief Corps, was built by
Alexis on a 2006 International 7400
4 x 4 chassis with a stainless-steel body.
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PHOTO COURTESY ALEXIS
APPARATUS IDEAS
The vehicle features a 16,500-lb. Warn winch mounted in the front bumper.
PHOTO COURTESY ALEXIS
to help people during a disaster,” he continues. “As I got older
and time passed, I decided to try to get back into helping with
disaster response. I was able to obtain private and individual
funding for this project with great success.”
Galloway was also successful in bringing together volunteers
to staff the organization. “We have gathered [more than] 34 volunteers from the local area [about 30 miles north of Chicago].
Our members come from all walks of life and their average age
is about 40,” he says. “I want people to know that I am only a
small part of this organization. It is my dedicated staff of volunteers that make this project work.” All USADRC volunteers
complete Red Cross Disaster Training; some are also qualified as
FCC radio operators, volunteer firefighters and EMTs. The
USADRC also purchased equipment for the vehicle from many
different vendors, all of which provide training on the use of
their equipment at the organization’s facility.
The organization’s Web site (www.usadrc.us) states its mission:
“The USA Disaster Relief Corps is organized exclusively for the
purpose of providing disaster relief, assistance and education to
Big Red was built with a steel-reinforced cab roof to hold the 6,000-watt Will-Burt
light tower and antennas.
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Big Red’s Technical Specs
✓ International 7400 4 x 4 chassis with crew cab
✓ International DT570 310-hp diesel engine
✓ 185-gallon fuel tank
✓ Allison 3000RDS automatic transmission
✓ Stainless-steel body
✓ Dropdown tailgate
✓ Custom shelving
✓ Painted ROM roll-up doors
✓ Onan 15-kW hydraulic generator
✓ Will-Burt NightScan 6,000-watt light tower
✓ Kussmaul 1200 pump with battery conditioner
✓ 600-watt inverter
✓ Class 1 multiplex electrical system
✓ Navigator DVD-based GPS system
✓ Color back-up camera
✓ 13" color TV; satellite and regional TV antennas
✓ Ham, CB, aircraft and marine radios and scanner
✓ Whelen Amber LED light package
✓ 16,500-lb. Warn front-bumper winch
✓ 175" wheelbase
✓ 11', 6" H x 24', 10" L
the public in conjunction with federal, state and local government emergency management authorities. The USADRC is fully
funded and does not accept any donations from the public.” In
addition, the organization doesn’t receive any compensation for
the services it provides—a pretty noble means of operation.
Despite his enthusiasm for disaster response, Galloway understands the importance of working within accepted deployment
systems. “I want to make one thing perfectly clear: We will not
self-deploy this vehicle to any emergency,” he says. “We are
developing memorandums of agreement with the Lake County
[Ill.] Sheriff ’s Department and have begun discussions with
Lake County and Cook County [Ill.] emergency management.
We are also looking to get into MABAS [the Mutual-Aid BoxAlarm System], a major mutual-aid organization in the
Chicagoland area.”
BUILDING BIG RED
The process of designing and constructing the midi-rescue,
which was soon termed “Big Red,” was a long one. “Our group
met with several manufacturers during the process, and [they]
all told us that we would need a great deal of engineering work
to develop exactly what we needed,” Galloway says. “Alexis,
however, under the engineering expertise of Doug Gau, produced the first blueprints in two weeks. Doug and his crew were
great to work with. We were pretty much lay people in this
whole process, and they explain[ed] everything to us. The factory was only four hours away, so traveling to do inspections on
the vehicle while it was being built was convenient.”
The USADRC designed Big Red to meet some of the challenges rescue agencies experienced during Hurricane Katrina
operations, specifically the need for interoperability and selfsufficiency. “We wanted a heavy-duty 4 x 4 chassis and began
talks about one to one-and-a-half years ago with International
Trucks. It took four months to work out the specs with them,”
Galloway says. The chassis the USADRC chose: a Severe Service
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APPARATUS IDEAS
PHOTO COURTESY ALEXIS
“We wanted a vehicle that could work at
a disaster scene for a long period of time
& be able to travel without refueling—
1,800 miles to be exact.”
The rear of the vehicle features two domes. The dome on the right houses the
regional TV antenna; the dome on the left houses the gyroscopic satellite TV
antenna. The vehicle also sports a ROM electric horizontal shutter over its bed,
a dropdown tailgate and a Whelen LED lighting package.
7400 4 x 4 with a double frame and a 180-gallon fuel tank. “We
wanted a vehicle that could work at a disaster scene for a long
period of time and be able to travel without refueling—1,800
miles to be exact,” Galloway says. “We also wanted a wider
front axle for off-road use and a short wheelbase for better
maneuverability.”
It took four months to get the chassis delivered and six
months to build the vehicle. To expedite the process, Alexis preordered all of the equipment, including Will-Burt light masts,
the generator and computer equipment.
“Mr. Galloway is the type of individual [who] makes things
happen,” Gau says. “He came to us with a great deal of knowledge and knew exactly what he wanted. He was also open to our
advice and input.” After Galloway inquired about the types of
materials used to build conventional fire apparatus, he and Gau
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settled on stainless steel for the vehicle’s body. “He wanted
something strong that would last a long time, [so] we used
stainless-steel tread plate instead of aluminum,” Gau says.
Also added to the rig: a trailer air-brake system, should the
unit need to tow a trailer. Circular saws, chainsaws, cutting and
spreading tools and lightweight hand tools are also mounted in
the various compartments. “The roof of the cab was reinforced
to hold the light mast and the array of antennas, and we
installed an amber screen in front of the radiator for protection
during off-road use,” Gau says. Even with all of these features,
the vehicle weighs less than 26,000 lbs., so operators don’t
require a commercial driver’s license to drive it.
Although it has yet to respond to a disaster with the vehicle, the
USADRC used Big Red at three drills in May, providing lighting
for a 200-mile run and a nighttime safety drill, as well as holding
a demonstration at the Great Lakes Naval Base. Galloway says the
group has been pleased with the vehicle’s performance.
“So far, so good,” he says. “The real test will be a disaster
response. But I feel this group will be ready for anything, no
matter where it responds.”
LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE
Galloway has big plans for the USADRC, and those plans
involve more rigs. “We plan on building an additional 20 vehicles to be stationed all over the country that respond to natural
disasters, [such as] hurricanes, floods and tornadoes,” he says. “I
have had several people contact me about wanting to start this
type of program in their area. We will provide them with the
vehicle and equipment as long as they follow our standard operating procedures and protocols.”
In addition, the organization continues to refine Big Red.
“Some changes that we already decided on for this vehicle,
[which will be made] after hurricane season, and for future
vehicles, [include] adding more masts for satellite dishes, WiFi
and radios,” Galloway says. “Alexis will mount all of the equipment and will work on this project with us for a long time
because of the great relationship we have built with them.”
SMALL MAY BE THE WAY TO GO
When considering an apparatus purchase, most of us in the fire
service seem to gravitate toward the bigger manufacturers when
we start the spec and bidding process. But many small fire apparatus manufacturers also provide high-quality products for their
customers, as Alexis has shown by designing and building a
unique vehicle like Big Red. A family-owned company that has
built different models of custom apparatus since 1947, Alexis’
service surpassed the USADRC’s expectations.
The bottom line: Your department should also consider the
smaller manufacturers before making its next apparatus purchase decision.
Bob Vaccaro has more than 30 years of fire-service experience. He is a former chief of the
Deer Park (N.Y.) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services
Office®, The New York Fire Patrol and several major commercial insurance companies as
a senior loss-control consultant.
Want more apparatus ideas? Check out
Bob Vaccaro’s apparatus column at
www.firerescue1.com/columnists.
PARTNERING WITH
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