Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Department - 1970 Triple Combination Pumper

Bower Hill Volunteer Fire Department
Scott Township - Allegheny County Station 255

About BHVFD

Support BHVFD

Special Interest

Bower Hill VFD
161 Vanadium Road
Bridgeville PA 15017-3025

Emergency Dial 911

Business Phone 412-221-3497

Fax 412-221-3990

Hall Rentals 412-221-9073

e-Mail bhvfd255@yahoo.com

This Page Last Update:

December 15, 2007

Made with:

Best with:

Hosted by:

1970 Triple Combination Pumper (1970 - 1992)

In 1970, the 1957 American LaFrance pumper had an engine failure. Parts for the V-12 engine were no longer available. While looking for a replacement to power the old pumper, Bower Hill convened its apparatus committee to look for a new pumper. The chief criterion was, quick and inexpensive. American Fire Apparatus had a demonstrator for its new "Aqua Jet" water tower that had been shown at the 1970 IAFC Convention in Chicago. The Aqua Jet concept never proved successful, for two reasons. First, there was a patent issue with A-T-O, who marketed the very successful and very similar "Telesqurt," and second, the Aqua Jet really didn't work well. Porter Fire Apparatus in McKees Rocks was the local distributor for American Fire Apparatus. They arranged to have the problematic Aqua Jet boom removed and replaced with a conventional deluge gun, and sold the vehicle to Bower Hill for about 75% of the price of any new pumper at the time. Delivery time was a few weeks, when delivery time for a new pumper was usually measured in months.

When the engine was delivered, it was still painted in its demonstrator colors of metallic red, white and metallic blue. This seemed a little flashy for the department at the time, and the apparatus committee arranged to have it painted in the more traditional red. The pump panel was unique for the day. It was all electric and hydraulic, and it was top-mounted. This kept the operator out of traffic and gave a better view of the fireground. This was cutting-edge in 1970, but it's a universally available option today. In this photo, Chief Choura is going over the pump panel with an American Fire Apparatus engineer. The vehicle also had an automatic transmission, though some shifting was still required. The "Ford Transmatic" (Allison MT-42) transmission had range settings that shifted the transmission through the selected range, but the operator needed to move the shift lever to move between ranges. There was no clutch. It also had a hydraulic engine retarder that assisted in braking. This served the same purpose for gasoline-engine vehicles as the Jacobs Engine Brake found on diesels.

Now repainted in red, the vehicle entered service. It was not initially given a Station 4 call sign like the other vehicles. It was simply called "Ford Pumper." This sounded something like "4-D," which would have been the next available call sign. In 1973, when a new mini-pumper replaced both the 1960 GMC and the 1962 Jeep, the "Ford Pumper" became "Engine 4-C," though it was not lettered as such until 1978.

The vehicle sustained cab damage from a collision while responding to a call during a severe storm on June 30, 1981.

This prompted the department to rebuild the vehicle, since the cabinets were badly rusted. First, the old cabinets and other fixtures were stripped off

The remaining panels were sanded and primed.

A new body was fabricated and installed by Doerr Brothers of Pittburgh. Plumbing, electrical and hydraulic work was done by department members, led by Chief Bob Berdnik, Assistant Chief Don Ziegler, and Chief Engineer Ed Meyer. The booster reels were removed and replaced with two crosslays, and a new 500 gallon booster tank replaced the old 300 gallon tank.

The new body was painted by Hamlin's Auto Body of Kirwan Heights, who had done the collision repair work on the cab. The red paint color matched that on the 1977 American LaFrance engine and the 1978 ambulance: Dupont #94K-8610 with 24 grams of black per gallon. Later, the 1973 mini-pumper would be painted to match.

After less than a year, the unit retuned to full service. It even won a few trophies at local parades.

It served for another eleven years after the rebuild. About midway through that time, the emergency lights were updated to meet contemporary NFPA standards, and a mechanical siren augmented the original electronic model.

Year:

1970

Chassis Manufacturer:

Ford Motor Company

Chassis Model:

C850

Builder's Number:

C85LUF10567

Vehicle GVW Rating:

29,000 Pounds

Engine Type:

Ford 534 CID (8.8L) V8 gasoline, 227 HP

Vehicle Wheelbase:

180 inches

Transmission Type:

Ford Transmatic
(Allison MT-42)
six-speed automatic

Apparatus Type:

Triple Combination Pumper

Apparatus Manufacturer:

American Fire Apparatus

Apparatus Model:

Custom Demonstarator

Pump Type:

American Fire Pump two-stage (series-parallel) centrifugal

Flow Capacity:

1000GPM

Tank Capacity:

300 US Gallons

Hose Load:

1300' x 2.5" (supply)
(2) x 10' x 4.5" (hard suct.)
250' x 2.5" (attack)
250' x 1.5" (attack)
(2) x 250' x 1" (booster)

Date Delivered:

April 5, 1970

Purchase Price:

$31,500.00

Purchased From:

Porter Fire Apparatus Sales, McKees Rocks, PA

Current Status:

Retired, 1992

Dispostion:

Sold to fire apparatus dealer, March, 1992