This from Josh Boyajian:
River Forest in Division 11 will be purchasing a new quint this coming summer. The manufacturer is unknown at this time. Oakpark.com has an article about the Village of River Forest authorizing the purchase of a new quint.
The River Forest village board has elected to spend $650,000 to buy a new fire truck — the largest priced item in its Capital Improvement Program for the next four fiscal years.
The fire department recommended purchasing the fire apparatus, called a quint because it has five functions, so that the village would no longer have to rely on the ladder truck that they’ve been sharing with Oak Park’s fire department since 1998. Under an intergovernmental agreement that year between the two villages, each one paid half the cost for the truck that is housed in Oak Park, according to a presentation at the Jan. 22 meeting by Village Administrator Eric Palm.
River Forest continues to pay half of the annual maintenance costs, which are approximately $16,000. But the shared truck only comes to River Forest about five percent of the time it’s in use. So the board agreed to follow a recommendation to opt out of the agreement in the 2014 fiscal year, which begins May 1, and buy its own truck. Either village can opt out if they give 18 months notice to the other. Once that happens, the truck is either sold and the proceeds are equally shared, or the village keeping the truck pays the other village half of the truck’s value.
The article is HERE.
thanks
#1 by DMc77 on May 5, 2013 - 2:45 PM
A rear mount was chosen when it was determined that the new truck would not have a pump/tank, and we wanted the increased compartment cubic footage a rear mount would give us. When we found out that a few manufacturers could make a lower profile rear mount, that pointed us in that direction. Another issue is the lack of mid mount examples in the Chicago area to examine, and the fact that they are produced in smaller numbers means not many hanging around factories to visit or new deliveries to have stop by.
And I hear ya on the “R” factor – I’ve heard a lot of negatives about that lately….
#2 by Brian on May 4, 2013 - 12:34 AM
Ferrara builds a very nice aerial….see FDNY as a recent example of them
#3 by Scott on May 3, 2013 - 9:33 PM
Why not a midship? Hope they don’t pick the R, you’ll be sorry!
#4 by DMc77 on May 3, 2013 - 11:31 AM
Adam- you may be able to buy the old Seagrave from Oak Park for cheap – the idea of donating it to NIPSTA has been batted around, otherwise plans were to scrap it. The body is pretty well shot, the outriggers will probably need rebuilding, but the 100′ ladder is in good shape – it is not original, being added in the mid to late 90’s after the original ladder failed and could not be repaired.
If you or anybody else has a place to house it and some disposable income burning a hole in your pocket, she might make a good rainy day project.
As an update on Oak Park’s quest for a new truck, there are a few manufacturers that can build a rear mount to meet our height requirements – E-One, Rosenbauer and Ferrara so far. So plans right now are to go with a rear mount platform w/o a pump.
#5 by Adam on May 3, 2013 - 1:50 AM
Going to miss that 81 Seagrave. I have known that truck since I was a little kid when it was with Oak Park. That was one well built machine.
#6 by Scott on May 1, 2013 - 7:11 PM
Just a follow-up to what had been posted previously.
From Fire Apparatus & Emergency equipment:
River Forest IL Wins $600,000 Fire Apparatus Grant
04/24/2013
River Forest (IL) has announced that the village was awarded $608,000 from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The grant will fund 95 percent of the cost to purchase a Quint fire truck. The truck will carry hoses, water, ground ladders, a 1,500 gallon per minute pump and a 75-foot aerial ladder.
“A Quint will greatly enhance fire response in the village, and allow us to continue to provide the highest possible level of fire protection service to our residents, businesses and visitors,” River Forest Fire Chief Jim Eggert wrote in the release.
The vehicle to be purchased with the grant funds will replace a 1981 fire truck that was taken out of service in late 2012. The new truck will have a single rear axle which will allow the fire department to maneuver into tighter spaces typical of River Forest lots as well as Concordia and Dominican universities.
The truck will also be designed as an advanced life support non-transport vehicle that will enable firefighters/paramedics to respond to emergency medical calls and provide service to patients or victims of an accident prior to arrival of a transport ambulance. This feature allows the fire department to respond to simultaneous calls in the village without having to wait for assistance from a neighboring community.
River Forest is in the process of creating bid specifications for the truck and plans to take possession of the Quint in early 2014.
#7 by Bill on February 16, 2013 - 10:45 AM
Just saw the newspaper article about River Forest buy
ing the Truck. It protrays Oak Park as a poor little town that doesnt know how it will survive. Yet Oak Park is bigger and has more money than River Forest.
#8 by Scott on February 6, 2013 - 4:01 PM
Forest Park’s was a custom order also due to height restrictions of their firehouse. Still a great rig!
#9 by Grumpy grizzly on February 4, 2013 - 3:59 PM
Doesn’t Forest Park run a Pierce mid-mount aerial, maybe OP could have been an add-on to that order, I know many East Coast cities combine orders from Towns A, B, C, to get a better price. Just a thought
#10 by Scott on February 3, 2013 - 8:01 PM
DMC 77 thank you and very aware of all the problems your Dept has had with that since the day of delivery. Its a shame. Too bad they didn’t just stay with Seagrave. The former truck worked great. Not sure how long you have on, but that rig was always reliable and a work horse since delievery. Other than the refurb and replacment ladder minimal probs.
#11 by DMc77 on February 3, 2013 - 6:34 PM
Scott – the current truck for OKPK was the low bid from specs that included mid mount platforms (Sutphen and KME were bidders if memory serves) and the sole rearmount bid from Central States. This truck was not the ideal rig for us, as a mid mount was desired, but ultimately economics swayed the village’s decision.
The current Central States apparatus was built on an HME low profile chassis, and the ladder section height allowed Central States to build it in a rear mount configuration. However, this places the bottom of the platform well down and into the upper third of the windshield, obscuring forward vision more so than with other rearmount platforms. It also has had issues with the ride quality, as there simply isn’t enough room in the front chassis for adequate suspension. It has also suffered from numerous problems and breakdowns over the years.
#12 by Scott on February 3, 2013 - 1:22 PM
The River Forest firehouse was modified after the rebuild to the PD and the truck bay not only allows the length of an aerial (as it always did when they had the Mach/Pirsch) but the height as well. The height challenge comes with some of the RR Bridges, but they know what they can and can’t as there is a difference between the current Seagrave from OKPK (original 1984 I think) and the old Mack. Also, for the OKPK F/F, wasn’t the current OKPK tower ladder bought and built because of height restrictions?
Thanks!
#13 by Martin Nowak on February 1, 2013 - 6:06 PM
Thank you DMc77.
#14 by DMc77 on February 1, 2013 - 11:27 AM
Currently OPFD responds to RFFD with the tower ladder for stills and target fire alarms – especially to the two universities on the north side of RF. This would most likely change to an engine response as it looks like RF is planning to run the new quint first out. Oh, and it looks like its also going to only be a 75′, probably due to economic reasons, although I do believe a 100′ on a full size chassis should fit in their firehouse as they ran our old Seagrave 100′ for the last several years.
This will also most likely move up the replacement date of the current truck, but this is dependent on the economies of allocating $1 million plus for a new aerial apparatus.
To answer your question Martin, yes the next generation truck for OP will have to be a rear mount on a low profile chassis or more likely a mid mount. Our lowest viaduct is Oak Park avenue which is right around 11ft.
#15 by Martin Nowak on February 1, 2013 - 10:58 AM
But if Oak Park was to get a new Tower, they would have to get a low profile one right?
#16 by Adam on February 1, 2013 - 10:50 AM
I heard that Oak Park wanted to replace the tower ladder that’s currently in service. I take it this will now change with this new quint coming next year.
#17 by Josh B on February 1, 2013 - 10:21 AM
I believe on a still in River Forest, they get auto aid from Oak Park Tower Ladder, Forest Park Engine, Elmwood Park Engine. I may be wrong, when I’m at work tomorrow ill check the box card
#18 by Mike McAuliffe on February 1, 2013 - 10:10 AM
When the quint is received, will Oak Park provide an engine or squad on fire alarms instead of the tower ladder? I am assuming that the manpower that Oak Park provided is still needed.
Does anyone know who and what currently responds to structure fires in River Forest?
Thank you in advance for any replies.