The late Capt. Terrance Hatton of FDNY Rescue 1 who died while operating at the World Trade Center had a favorite word of praise: “outstanding.” Today the word is emblazoned on the front of the new Pierce heavy-rescue vehicle recently delivered to the FDNY. The tribute is fitting; Hatton helped design the department’s previous rescue vehicles. The word is also a good descriptor of the vehicle itself built on Pierce’s Arrow XT chassis.

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Midwest Beginnings

Several chiefs and members of FDNY’s apparatus committee were on a vehicle inspection trip in Wisconsin about 2 years ago. On a whim they called Peter Hanratty vice president of apparatus sales for Firematic the local Pierce dealer in the New York metro area to inquire about the possibility of touring the company’s Appleton plant.

“Firematic has a 30-year relationship with FDNY selling Hurst tools and related equipment ” Hanratty says. “The committee [explained they] would be in the market for heavy-rescue vehicles in the future and were interested in looking into Pierce’s manufacturing plant.”

Hanratty arranged the tour for them and met the committee in Wisconsin. “They were impressed with the overall operation of the facility ” he says. “They also tested an aerial ladder [with] TAK-4 suspension. They wanted the new heavy-rescue to have an independent suspension and the TAK-4 solved the problem.”

Pierce is no stranger to FDNY rescue companies having built the bodies on Mack R Model chassis for Rescue 1 3 and 4 delivered to FDNY in 1979.

FDNY Heavy-Rescue Ops

FDNY operates five heavy-rescue companies one assigned to each borough as part of Special Operations Command. The companies fill a great deal of responsibilities including confined space high-angle and collapse rescue (as well as rescue of civilians and trapped firefighters in unusual situations); extrication; hazmat; SCUBA; and firefighting.

The heavy-rescue companies staff one officer and five firefighters on each tour of duty. Usually the officer reports to the incident commander such as a battalion chief; however if the officer arrives first on the scene or before the first-due truck company they act on their own initiative.

In one sense the heavy-rescue vehicles operate as rolling toolboxes. Aside from the standard truck company tools the vehicles stock level-A personal protective gear and immersion suits; rigging gear; Arcair Slice MAPP and oxyacetylene cutting tools; lifting bags; 10- 20- and 30-ton jacks; Rocco rope systems; four types of stretchers; elevator kits; an air manifold cart with assorted tools; keys for pipelines (water and gas); pavement breakers; .45-caliber line guns; 2- and 3-ton grip hoists; rabbit tools; hydra rams; exothermic torches; subway equipment; generators; Hurst tools; metering equipment; thermal imaging cameras; hydraulic winches; four types of saws; 4.5 SCBA with masks and spare bottles; and assorted hand tools. Companies also carry two sets of rope bags with 660 feet of rope four sets of rope bags with 300 feet of rope and a large supply of wood shoring material.

Rescues 1 2 4 and 5 are also SCUBA-qualified water firefighting teams that carry SCUBA gear life vests life preservers underwater lights and underwater in-mask phones. Rescue 3 is the primary building collapse unit. FDNY also operates an apparatus specifically designed for collapse rescue.

Supporting the Load

All of this special equipment creates a lot of weight for one vehicle. Hanratty explains that to support the weight Pierce used an underbody support system that begins with 3/8-inch-thick steel and vertical-angle supports bolted to the chassis frame rails with 5/8 diameter bolts. Attached to the bottom of these steel angles are horizontal angles gusseted and welded to the vertical members. “A steel frame is then mounted on top of this to create a floating substructure which results in 500 lbs. of equipment support per lower compartment ” Hanratty says.

The frame is separated from the horizontal members with neoprene elastomer isolators. These isolators reduce the natural flex stresses of the chassis being transmitted to the body.

In addition to the underbody support system Pierce added more than 270 customized options for the FDNY including upgraded hinges and hardware 3/8″ steel plate shelving a 52 000-lb. rear air-ride suspension with a 48 000-lb. rear axle and a 22 800-lb. front axle stainless-steel compartment linings and a stainless-steel and diamond-plate interior for the rear rescue body. The compartments were designed with customized mounts to hold specific tools.

Air Power

The captain of Rescue 1 Robert Morris also wanted a larger air compressor installed on the vehicle to run the company’s pneumatic concrete breakers and drills. “The current vehicle didn’t have the required space for a larger compressor ” Morris says. “We decided to design a larger compartment to hold the compressor.” After researching possible systems the company chose a Vanair compressor. This model is a hydraulic PTO-driven rotary screw-type compressor the first of its kind on an FDNY apparatus. The unit provides 185 cfm enough to supply a large volume of air to pneumatic jackhammers air drills air shovels and knives used for trench-rescue operations. It can also run the company’s 18″ pneumatic Partner saw.

“Having this unit also allows us to use 1″ hose or even 2 àƒƒà‚ƒàƒ‚à‚ƒàƒƒà‚‚àƒ‚à‚ƒàƒƒà‚ƒàƒ‚à‚‚àƒƒà‚‚àƒ‚à‚‚àƒƒà‚ƒàƒ‚à‚ƒàƒƒà‚‚àƒ‚à‚‚àƒƒà‚ƒàƒ‚à‚‚àƒƒà‚‚àƒ‚à‚«” hose to supply our tools ” Morris says. “We found that most of the time our operations require us to be 125-150 feet or more away from a power unit. By using this type of hose with reducers at the tool we can stretch the hose a lot farther and push a lot more air than the usual vinyl hose connected to truck-mounted reels.”

As of press time the vehicle had been delivered and was being used on a daily basis responding to fires and emergencies throughout Manhattan without any noted major problems.

Filling a Need

With more than 8 million people living in its five boroughs not to mention the daily workforce the FDNY’s response area is one of the most unique in the world. It requires apparatus that can withstand the toll of responding to fires and emergencies on a daily basis. The FDNY’s apparatus committee along with the officers of Rescue 1 researched tools and equipment designed special compartments and with the help of Pierce engineers designed a suspension system to provide the needed endurance for this vehicle to perform.

Take the time to develop and design what is needed for your department.

Rescue 1

A look at the new heavy-rescue specs

Pierce Arrow XT chassis
26′ stainless-steel rescue body
455-hp Detroit Diesel Series 60 engine
Allison EVS 4000 automatic transmission
25 000-lb. hydraulic rear winch
12 000-lb. front Ramsey winch
20-kW Onan hydraulic PTO-driven generator
185-cfm Vanair PTO-driven air compressor
22 800-lb. TAK-4 front axle
48 000-lb. Meritor rear axle
52 000-lb. Raydan air-ride rear suspension
17″ Knorr/Bendix disc brakes
78″ interior walkway height in the rear
rescue body

FDNY Rescue Companies

Rescue 1: Manhattan
Rescue 2: Brooklyn
Rescue 3: Bronx
Rescue 4: Queens
Rescue 5: Staten Island

Note: Rescue 1 was organized on Jan. 18 1915; its first piece of motorized apparatus was a 1914 Cadillac modified by the FDNY shops.

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One Outstanding" Rig"