Emergency Equipment On Display

The Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company hosted Atlantic Emergency Solutions and other vendors on Saturday.  The event featured a lot of new equipment from Atlantic Emergency Solutions including fire trucks and ambulances.  Other vendors displayed helmets, boots, hoses, cameras, and nozzles for hoses.

One vendor demonstrated their battery powered jaws of life and traditionally powered jaws of life. They used their equipment to cut a small car apart.  The extrication demonstration drew quite a crowd.  “Its amazing how quiet the battery powered ones are,” stated one teenager in the crowd.  The company representative claimed each battery can last eight hours.  The hydraulic equipment was much more powerful, but had to be tied to other equipment that made a lot of noise.

The big draw for many was Walkersville’s newest addition to its fleet.  The new Quint-11 draws a lot of attention.  The $1,200,000 piece of equipment features a 100′ ladder, blue light effects, and a lot of shiny new metal.  The truck boasts a 500 gallon tank for water, a 1500 gallon per minute pump, and 15 kW hydraulic generator.

The truck sits on a Pierce Velocity chassis with a 10″ raised roof and Pierce’s aluminum aerial platform body.  An Oshkosh TAK-4 independent front supension adds to the safety features which also include side roll and frontal impact protection. The 266″ wheelbase supports 84,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight rating with a 500 horse power Detroit DD13 engine.

The Pierce Command Zone, Advanced Electronics and Control System provides crews with a lot of control over the systems in Quint-11.  Its also an impressive looking control system.

The Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company provided visitors with food and drinks for folks visiting.  There were hand outs from vendors.  Everyone enjoyed the demonstrations and getting an up-close look at all of the equipment.