On Thursday, Duluth firefighters checked out the department's newest big purchase: a $449,000 fire engine that replaces a rig nearly 22 years old.
"It's a beautiful piece of equipment," said Duluth fire equipment operator Carmine Langlois, who helped design the new rig. "To have something like this is an advantage to the city's residents and to the department."
The new rig, designated Engine One, is stationed at the department's headquarters station downtown. The current Engine One is dispatched on about 1,300 runs a year.
The need for a new rig was demonstrated Thursday when the bumper fell off the old Engine One as it returned from a run. The department put the new rig into service Thursday, a day sooner than planned.
The old Engine One will go into reserve, available for use if needed. The department probably will retire a current reserve engine, passing it on to a volunteer fire department or to Lake Superior College's firefighter training program.
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CustomFIRE Apparatus Inc. of Osceola, Wis., won the bid to build the new rig. Langlois, who had experience in purchasing firefighting equipment for a Twin Cities community where he worked before, and others from the Duluth department met several times with the company to design and inspect the engine.
"A lot of these rigs start off as just two frame rails," Langlois said. "There's a reason for everything on the engine."
The finished rig -- 30 feet long,
10 high and weighing 17 tons -- has a shorter wheelbase than its predecessor for better maneuverability in alleys and around traffic. It has more lights and reflectors for safety, and better brakes and suspension. It's powered by a 425-horsepower Cummins diesel engine. That's about 100 more horses than the old rig had -- a big difference on Duluth's steep hills.
"We're going to be able to get places faster and safer," said fire equipment operator Gary Olson.
Fire equipment operators such as Langlois drive the department's vehicles and operate the water pumps on fire engines. The old Engine One could pump 1,250 gallons of water a minute. The new rig is rated at 1,500 gpm and probably can pump more. The rig was built to carry up to 1,000 feet of four-inch supply hose. The more powerful pump and extra supply hose are important considerations in areas of Duluth where new homes are being built far from hydrants, Langlois said.
Another new feature is a firefighting line stored in the rig's front bumper -- a safety feature that allows firefighters to attack a motor vehicle fire without having to step into traffic to reach hoses stored at the rear of the rig.
The new Engine One arrived in Duluth several days ago. Since then, firefighters on the department's three shifts have received classroom training and hands-on experience with it.
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"I think it's great," firefighter Dan Smith said Thursday as colleagues examined the rig, peering into compartments and flipping lights on and off. "It's giving us new equipment we haven't had in the past. It will allow us to do our jobs quicker and safer."
