Kent's New Tanker

[Guest jblazing56]

acutally Kent doesn't use 5inch anymore. We find that we can get almost as must water with two 3 1/2 inch lines. 5 inch for the amount of man power we can't keep it supplied and clean up and test is a bother. Brewster has a reel truck with plenty or 5 inch or carmel fd has enough if we ever need it.

[SIGNMAN 4]

Exactly, we have only a limited amount of drivers for our new tanker as well; they are mostly drivers that operate larger type vehicles for a living and respect what they are driving.

The few an the proud !!!!

[helicopper 1,050]

Why shoudln't tankers have lights and sirens, they are emergency vehicles. In a rural area 4000 gals. are vital and should be able to tell vehicles it is coming up on to get the out of the way. If a driver is not smart enough to figure out what he is driving and what he can and cannot do with it he should not be a driver, plain and simple.

I wish it was that plain or that simple. As it is there is a tendency to overdrive the effectiveness of lights and sirens. Now do so in an extremely heavy vehicle with a driver who may or may not have adequate training and you have a recipe for disaster.

How many tanker rollover accidents do you hear about?

Drivers, smart or not, need training, SOP/SOG's, evaluation, and experience not just reliance on "figuring it out".

[texastom791 31]

I was out at Kent firehouse last night looking at this beast it was delivered on10/8 and man is this thing big the pictures do it no justice it is indeed LARGE I didn't take any pics though.

Edited October 11, 2008 by texastom791

[Guest chieftk]

That is one BIG TANKER good luck Kent we know you need it out there the water holes are few and far between.

Good luck getting it around.

[kvfd306 0]

Its a really nice truck its almost ready to be put into service just need the radios and were all set

with the engine and size of this truck we could just drive over whats in our way no need to worry about getting around

Edited October 14, 2008 by kvfd306

[texastom791 31]

20:59 Tones just went off for Kent the new 16-4-1 is officially in service as per 16-1-1

Edited October 15, 2008 by texastom791

[kvfd306 0]

20:59 Tones just went off for Kent the new 16-4-1 is officially in service as per 16-1-1

dam you beat me to it

[texastom791 31]

dam you beat me to it

Edited October 15, 2008 by texastom791

[x635 4,066]

The best Tankers are ones with the highest GPM rating not total tank size. The extra water is great if thats enough to handle the initial attack, but once you get into shuttles larger tanks that take longer to fill and longer to unload, also mess up the smooth flow at both the fill and dump sites. After calculating how much water can be driven 200 feet, dumped, driven 200 feet..... plus driven 200 feet refilled and driven another 200 feet. is used along with a milage chart to calculate how much water can be delivered per miute (GPM) per mile.

Maybe, but some times its better to spend the money on getting a more manuverable vehicle so it can go back for more water.

Great it can move and stop, can it stay on the road? Thats why most tankers roll.

The FDSOA (Fire Dept Safety Officers Assoc) and NFPA 1901 Committee are suggesting that tankers should not have lights and sirens since they can not e driven as an emergency vehicle safely.

What about top filling, its proven to greatly improve the tankers GPM and refuce the number of FF's needed at the fill site (so they can actually fight the fire).

4,000 gallons arriving initially or dumped. Regardless of fill time, that's a lot of water that's quickly available, and has the potential to allow more time for other tankers to arrive, allow them to slow their responses, or even reduce the need for other tankers. If for some reason, and I see this being a minor issue in a county that has some powerful pumping power, the filling of this tanker causes issues, then the water supply officer needs to plan accordingly.

You have heating oil trucks, dump trucks, garbage trucks that all travel along these roadways on a routine basis. There's no reason this tanker can't do the same. Most tankers roll because of driver error or inexperience, or because the tanker is top heavy.

There's a department down here that has two tractor-trailer tankers. I believe they are 10,000 gallons each. When they have a fire, they don't even need to call for M/A tankers- because if they do, it can take up to an hour to get one. It also saves them having to go back and forth to a water supply, which can sometimes be tricky to find down here.

The real key is though, using water more efficiently (*cough* CAFS* cough*)

[kvfd306 0]

what is good about the truck is that it dumps fast and can be dumped from 3 sides of the truck and it has a powerful pump to reduce fill time

[texastom791 31]

what is good about the truck is that it dumps fast and can be dumped from 3 sides of the truck and it has a powerful pump to reduce fill time

Steve you can only dump from one side at a time but the three chutes is a good idea though because then you don't have to worry about which side of the truck is by the folding tank.

[Tanker 10eng 140]

it has a powerful pump to reduce fill time

you guys actually use the tankers pump to fill the tank ? no source pumper or hydrant ?

[PVFD113 6]

you guys actually use the tankers pump to fill the tank ? no source pumper or hydrant ?

Hydrant--what is that--we don't need no stinking hydrant. We just have to teach our dogs to use a tree instead.

If you happen to find one--yes it may be easier to fill BUT the key is finding one. For extended water shuttle operations, a source truck is ideal. Especially when you have multiple tankers. Set up a manifold on the discharge of the source with different size hoses off it to accommodate what ever you are refilling. Saves time etc...

As far as the size and safety discussion--

Our tanker is 37' long and carries 2,500--there are some places that it just isn't a comfortable fit. Granted it is a custom cab not a commercial but still--that tanker at 4,000 gallons has gotta be massive. And I can see Seth's point about other trucks on the road but oil is -- I believe a tad lighter, I highly doubt that there is a tandem 4,000 gallon fuel truck running around Kent, and there is not a whole lot of other equipment on an oil truck. Actually, I believe it is Pidala Fuel that has a mini fuel truck for some of the roads on the West side. While having that amount of water on an initial response is not a bad thing--BUT you still have to be able to get it there. We carry 1,000 on each first due engine (A or B side of the district). Following that is 2,000 T/P, and 2,500 T/P.

That is a lot of water. If you need more than 1,000 gallons--you have decent fire, more than 3,000--you are developing a problem, more than 5,500--you are gonna be there for a while anyway. I am a firm believer in effective/properly applied hose streams and "water conservation".

Don't take this the wrong way--this is my opinion. If it works for them then great. My choice would be something a little more manageable that's all--just my opinion.

Please do not take this as a personal or department attack. Just trying to have a healthy discussion.

I wish all of the members of the Kent VFD the best of luck and wish many years of trouble free service with their newest addition.

[firesleuth 0]

Below is a link to U.S. Tanker with pics of Kent NY's new 4,000 gallon tanker a friend of mine who is in Kent said that he thought it was either coming today or tomorrow .

http://ustanker.com/apps/apparatusdetails....apparatusid=251

Wrong color!! Not ripe yet?

But seriously folks; THE BEST IDEA YET---The PUMP PANEL BEHIND TAMBOR DOORS!! Great!

It's murder scraping dirt and road salt of the controls and gauges. Nice going, guys. Best of luck with it.

PS: Stay off the little bridge off Rte 301 to Sedgewood Club.

[kvfd306 0]

why have a source pumper when its all on one truck and yes you can only dump one side at a time but is good because you dont have to back up to a pool and dump just pull along side it