From Josh Boyajian:
Found this on the Schaumburg Professional FF’s Facebook page today. Thier new engine 53 at the pierce plant awaiting delivery. Its a 2012 Pierce Impel 1500 / 500
Schaumburg Fire Department Engine 53, 2012 Pierce Impel. Schaumburg Professional Fire Fighters photo
#1 by Tyler T. on May 22, 2012 - 6:58 AM
Scott ill try to get some info on the first rigs
#2 by scott on May 21, 2012 - 9:38 PM
Prior to SCHM being E-one, they had Macks & Seagraves… prior to that not sure. Way back when they where formed, the original firehouse on Schaumburg Rd (Sta 4 at the time, housing Eng 1, Batt 1 & Sqd 1) was Sta 4, because it used to be part of the Roselle FPD before Schaumburg became their own city. Anyone have more history on their apparatus?
#3 by Tyler T. on May 21, 2012 - 6:06 PM
What i have heard they are getting it in a week or 2. Engine 53 will be coming
#4 by Bill Post on May 21, 2012 - 4:47 AM
On the subject of tower ladders versus straight aerials, it seems there are obvious pros and cons on behalf of both types of apparatus. Schaumburg for a while now has been running Truck 52 as their “straight” aerial and Truck 53 has been their tower ladder, so they are maintaining an even balance between the two types of rigs as many larger departments usually try to do. Actually in most of your larger fire departments that run with tower ladders, they usually have a higher ratio of straight aerials to tower ladders or platforms. Des Plaines Illinois seems to be an exception (as far as the suburbs go) as both of their truck companies have been running as tower ladders since at the 90s.
As of the last few years, the Kansas City Missouri fire department has been almost exclusively purchasing new Pierce tower ladder “quints” with built-in pumps, even though up until now they have been running them strictly as truck companies co-located with engines. Because of some painful budget cuts recently being imposed by their city administration, they may start running a few of their “outlying” tower ladders as “lone” quint units.
As a matter of interest and curiosity, there are a few large cities on the west coast that have never run with or even owned a tower ladder. Examples are the Los Angeles City Fire Department and the Seattle Fire Department. San Francisco has never owned one either however, but because of their hilly and narrow streets they are not physically practical because of maneuverability and clearance problems.
#5 by Martin on May 20, 2012 - 1:07 PM
Sebastian, Pierce may have had the better price for a rig. Another reason could be that the firefighters at Schaumburg like these units more.
#6 by Sebastian on May 18, 2012 - 9:17 PM
Funny that a department that was all e-one at one point!!!!! Switched to pierce!!
#7 by DMcInerney on May 17, 2012 - 2:49 PM
Nick- some reasons include cost, weight, complexity, overall length of the vehicle. Also, if you already have one tower ladder, and several of your neighbors have them as well, there can be a lot of duplication on the fire scene. And, as it pains me to say this, a particular chief might want a tower or straight stick depending on his own personal preference. So one person in an organization can make the difference in the choice. Or, a department’s overall experience in dealing with either type of truck can factor into the decision. Also, working from a platform can be difficult (particularly concerning roof operations), and I personally don’t buy the increased safety argument involved with that.
#8 by Nick N on May 17, 2012 - 1:50 PM
I have known about this for a while now. Anyways, that is nice they are going to be able to upgrade soon. Also, it is not exactly on topic here, but does anyone know the rational for getting a straight stick versus a bucket on a tower ladder, as Schaumburg is doing for their new truck? I really don’t know enough to make a good conclusion on the topic, but it seems like having a bucket is far more useful then not.