Norwalk Fire Dept. Unique Apparatus

[jcoppola 52]

NFD Crane 1. The chassis is old NFD Engine 4, a Sutphen/Pemfab. It was taken out of service about 5 years ago and the NFD shop outfitted the rig with a boom donated by Rings End Lumber. The boom served as a lumber hoist on a flatbed. It was used today to hoist new fire doors and shutters on the NFD training tower, which is currently undergoing a total renovation.

[JetPhoto 626]

Pretty neat! Is it used on any special calls?

[jcoppola 52]

One side note...The truck also serves as a backup apparatus to NFD's tractor-drawn hazmat unit. It is equipped with both a "fifth wheel" and a pintle hitch to pull Norwalk's State of CT Mass Decon Unit.

Enjoy...

JC

[sr71 1]

Scott plank never ceases to amaze me!!, he is the finest mechanic I have ever met. and a Natural Gear Head

[msm232 69]

It does not surprise me knowing those guys.....I firmly believe they can DO ANYTHING!! I would like to see a before and after picture of the boat. Thanks msm232

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Talk about ingenuity!

Kudos to those who think outside the box. Its good to see these trucks getting additional use, instead of just trying to get rid of them and get the newest shiniest toys like some departments.

Hope the best for this rig, and many more years of service!

[JM15 386]

that is a really cool it is amazing what some imagination can produce

[Guest]

Wow, What a rig. Its a nice use of older equipment that would otherwise be disposed of. The Norwalk Fire Department Shops are very resourceful, and have built some nice specialty rigs.

[capt2102 64]

Where is the Norwalk training tower? And by the way Great specialty rig. I have seen the work that comes out of this shop and I am alwalys impressed.

[jcoppola 52]

Our guys all know how lucky we are to have Scott Plank & his asst. Alan Dipietro. They really do a great job, they are known all over the state as great mechanics and even better fabricators of new and interesting equipment. They were even featured in a special edition of Fire Apparatus Journal. If you want a back-copy, go to our website under stations and click apparatus maintenance division and the link is there. For those who don't know, they made us a technical rescue rig from a pumper and put a box on the back of a 1980 ALF. We still use it today as an in-service tech rescue. Also, they took a donated rescue box from New Canaan and put it on a pump chassis similar to the crane (old E3) and now it is a backup rescue when our frontline rig goes for service.

Some guys from FDNY have been known to trek up the turnpike to see Scott and Al when they are in need of a little "extra" assistance with a broken tool or a new tool idea.

Stay safe all!

JC

[jcoppola 52]

Pretty neat! Is it used on any special calls?

Not as of yet, but is is a resource that we have available. Hopefully we can get some people trained on it so we can use it at trench calls or wrecks on the thru-way. It is equipped with a full compliment of rigging equipment so it has many, many applications. It is also listed as a resource to Fairfield County Hazmat, as the decal on the side indicates.

[jcoppola 52]

Where is the Norwalk training tower? And by the way Great specialty rig. I have seen the work that comes out of this shop and I am alwalys impressed.

Our training tower is located on South Smith Street, adjacent to the DPW garage and the Police Mechanical garage. The city earmarked some funds to replace all the concrete in the burn rooms and install fire shutters and doors. When complete, it will be one of the best Class-A burn towers in our area. It always had a reputation as getting extremely hot during live fire exercises, I learned this the hard way about 20 years ago in a FF2 class conducted by Captain Bob "Rex" Morris (FDNY R-1).

[lad45der 78]

Our guys all know how lucky we are to have Scott Plank & his asst. Alan Dipietro. They really do a great job, they are known all over the state as great mechanics and even better fabricators of new and interesting equipment. They were even featured in a special edition of Fire Apparatus Journal. If you want a back-copy, go to our website under stations and click apparatus maintenance division and the link is there. For those who don't know, they made us a technical rescue rig from a pumper and put a box on the back of a 1980 ALF. We still use it today as an in-service tech rescue. Also, they took a donated rescue box from New Canaan and put it on a pump chassis similar to the crane (old E3) and now it is a backup rescue when our frontline rig goes for service.

Some guys from FDNY have been known to trek up the turnpike to see Scott and Al when they are in need of a little "extra" assistance with a broken tool or a new tool idea.

Stay safe all!

JC

Man I wish we could hire Scott and Alan to help our mechnics.

[BKrois 0]

Was Richie Carlo Jr working there at the time this was built?

[umfd-330 8]

Scott is a fire apparatus genius. Who else in the country that you know of can pull off projects of the nature, magnitude, and succes, that Scott does? The extraordinary quality of the work he's done for Norwalk and Noroton Heights speaks for itself.

Nice work, Al & Scott.