Firetruck Gives Firefighters a Rolling Refuge

Just in time for this year’s brush fire season: a fireproof firetruck.

They rolled the first one out this week in the Santa Monica Mountains, where wildfires have killed three residents and badly burned several firefighters in recent years.

Built at the suggestion of Los Angeles County firefighters, the unusual pumper truck is designed to be a refuge for fire crews caught by sudden flare-ups.

Its cab has specially sealed doors to keep out smoke. Its windows have extra-thick glass and roll-down shutters to keep out heat and flames for up to five minutes--long enough for a firestorm to pass and firefighters to escape.

The prototype truck is also easier to drive on winding hillside lanes and carries 50% more water than current county engines. In addition, it can blast a compressed-air foam retardant onto houses 200 feet away while being driven--something existing engines cannot do.

So certain are officials that the truck will provide extra safety and a new level of confidence to crews fighting brush fires that the county has decided to buy up to seven for outlying fire stations before next summer.

Basic specifications for the new truck were sketched out by veteran firefighters Daryl Dutton and Mark Mihaljevich 2 1/2 years ago as they sat around the kitchen table at county Fire Station 33 in Lancaster.

Safety was on their minds. Dutton and Mihaljevich are both pumper-driving engineers who have responded to hundreds of brush fires and experienced their share of close calls.

They had been jarred by an October 1996 incident in which four Los Angeles firefighters were trapped in a firetruck and burned in a Malibu brush fire. Two Glendale firefighters were also hurt--one burned critically--in the same flare-up.

That tragedy was similar to an October 1993, firestorm in the Box Canyon area of Chatsworth that engulfed four Los Angeles firefighters. Crew members received serious burns when heat blew their rig’s windows out and flames swept inside.

Dutton, 48, and Mihaljevich, 33, are members of the county Fire Department’s apparatus committee, a panel that was asked by Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman and his chief deputy, Larry Miller, for ideas on better ways to fight brush fires.

“We started making a list” of what the ideal firetruck should be like, Mihaljevich said. The list grew quickly as colleagues recalled their own brushes with disaster.

The suggestions soon took the shape of a fire engine capable of handling both rural wildfires and urban structure blazes.

Pennsylvania-based KME Fire Apparatus Co., a major supplier of firetrucks to the county, built the prototype at its own expense. The truck can make sharp turns because its wheelbase is 15 inches shorter than those on regular county fire engines. Its water tank holds 750 gallons instead of the normal 500, and a simplified pumping system allows foam retardant to be sprayed while the truck is moving.

Its diesel engine uses a transmission system that has a special low gear for hill-climbing.

The window shutters can be deployed in seconds. They are made of a heat-reflecting fabric and aluminum slats. Tests suggest they can protect firefighters from 2,000-degree heat for five minutes.

The $280,000 prototype has been loaned to the county for a 60-day evaluation. Mihaljevich took it this week to one of the county’s brushiest, most fire-prone areas, Topanga Canyon, to try it out on mountain lanes and dirt fire roads.

County firefighters from Malibu and Agoura joined the Topanga fire crew for test drives. They were impressed with its maneuverability and large water supply as well as with its fire-safe four-seat cab.

“We could cram 20 people in there in a pinch,” said Malibu firefighter Michael Newman. “It would be tight, but we’d be breathing.”

Agoura engineer Tom Brady--who had to take cover beneath a fireproof blanket when his firetruck was overrun by flames in a massive 1993 Malibu fire--compared his current engine with the prototype. On a narrow road near the Topanga fire station, the new pumper easily made a tight turn that requires a slow, three-point maneuver in Brady’s regular rig.

“This makes a lot of sense for this area,” said Agoura fire Capt. Thomas Shoden.

Engineer Jim Core, who has driven firetrucks in Topanga for 12 years, tried to avoid scratching the prototype as he drove it through chaparral and low-hanging oak trees along a steep dirt road through Greenleaf Canyon. Homeowner Sue Sullivan was pleased when the rig rumbled past.

“It’s absolutely reassuring to see them test it up here,” said Sullivan--who has lived with her husband in their isolated, solar-powered canyon home 25 years.

Recommendations made by firefighters who are test-driving the prototype will be included in the final manufacturing specifications, according to Division Chief Gary Tepper, who is in charge of the county firetruck fleet.

Although KME built the prototype, it will have to compete with other manufacturers through a bidding process in order to win the contract to build the trucks for the county. So actual costs of the trucks are not known at this time.

Los Angeles Fire Department officials, meantime, are also looking into the fireproof firetruck.

“We’ve been concerned by the injuries,” said assistant city fire chief Dean Cathey. “We’re watching L.A. County with great interest.”

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Moving Fortress

The fireproof firetruck uses special insulation and extra-thick windows and shutters to protect firefighters. It can keep a crew alive inside its aluminum cab for five minutes in 2,000-degree flames. County firefighters will be evaluating the prototype vehicle in brushy fire-prone areas this fire season.

1. Thick glass

Extra-thick windshield glass and side windows will not break because of heat.

2. Fire shutters

Protective shutters of thick reflective fabric have heat-dissipating aluminum slats sewn inside and can be quickly lowered into place.

3. Water tank

Tank capacity is 750 gallons--250 more than current L.A. County trucks.

4. Sealed cab

Breathing apparatus for crew is mounted on brackets for easy access. Interior is fully sealed to keep smoke out.

5. Maneuverability

Truck’s wheelbase is 15 inches shorter than that of current engines, for increased maneuverability. Transmission has a special low gear for climbing hills.

6. Foam storage

Compressed fire-retardant foam can be sprayed to a distance of 200 feet while truck is moving.

Sources: KME Fire Apparatus; L.A. County Fire Dept.