FDNY Truck 30

grumpy grizzly · Nov 10, 2014

The town of Merrionette Park IL has decided to replace their aerial unit with a 2014 Pierce. Their current rig is a 1982 Mack Bulldog originally assigned to FDNY Ladder 30. The rig was later re-furbished by Pennsville NJ who added a pump which later failed tests. The rig can be found @ Chicagoareafire.com under a search for Merrionette Park.

firebuffkevin · Nov 10, 2014

Links:

http://chicagoareafire.com/index.html

Direct link

http://chicagoareafire.com/Div_22_MPRK_Sta.html

Bulldog · Nov 10, 2014

Unfortunately that old Mack was probably more dependable than the new Pierce will be! New trucks have so many electronic bells and whistles on them that they have constant problems. The old Macks like this were just basic trucks that ran and ran!

Nasibova · Nov 11, 2014

There was also 132... l`m sure you know that though.

1261Truckie · Nov 12, 2014

Yes, 132 had the second Mack CF rearmount and I understand the men really liked the rig.

Mack apparatus could take a beating and keep on performing. Look at the Mack "C" models which were followed by the "CF" models. The "C" rigs ushered in the war years and the "CF" rigs bore the brunt of that era and worked through it. You have to wonder if today's newer rigs could hold up to that abuse.

Nasibova · Nov 12, 2014

l`m wondering why they only got 2 of those units.

JOR176 · Nov 12, 2014

Nasibova said:
l`m wondering why they only got 2 of those units.

I had heard that they were going to test them because they had LTI ladders on them and the Rig's body was higher than the normal rigs.They were also very expensive. One Chauffer in L132 told me that the ladder was outstanding, quick and fast,very heavy and durable, on the other hand on the down side was the Truck itself was top heavy and anytime you made a turn you had to REALLY slow down. The two trucks were assigned to L30 & L132 because Dept. records showed that they had used their aerials the most the previous year.

nfd2004 · Nov 12, 2014

JOR176 said:
Nasibova said:

l`m wondering why they only got 2 of those units.

Click to expand...

I had heard that they were going to test them because they had LTI ladders on them and the Rig's body was higher than the normal rigs.They were also very expensive. One Chauffer in L132 told me that the ladder was outstanding, quick and fast,very heavy and durable, on the other hand on the down side was the Truck itself was top heavy and anytime you made a turn you had to REALLY slow down. The two trucks were assigned to L30 & L132 because Dept. records showed that they had used their aerials the most the previous year.

Thank you Jack. Some pretty interesting facts that I never realized. I also wondered why there were only two of these.

I saw Ladder 30 operate quite a bit in Harlem and I was always impressed with it. It just seemed to be a rugged, tough truck. Those Mack Pumpers were the same.

1261Truckie · Nov 13, 2014

Jack and Willy,
I was talking to Jack Lerch shortly after 132 & 30 received the Mack/LTI's and the qualifier was aerial use at occupied building fires for the year before the rigs were obtained. In 132's case, there were Brooklyn trucks that used their aerials more, but not at occupied buildings and in 30's case, they beat 26 Truck by one job.
132 has always been known for its aerial usage

nfd2004 · Nov 13, 2014

1261Truckie said:
Jack and Willy,
I was talking to Jack Lerch shortly after 132 & 30 received the Mack/LTI's and the qualifier was aerial use at occupied building fires for the year before the rigs were obtained. In 132's case, there were Brooklyn trucks that used their aerials more, but not at occupied buildings and in 30's case, they beat 26 Truck by one job.
132 has always been known for its aerial usage

Thanks Jim. Both 30 and 132 have always been busy trucks. I guess there's a lot more facts to it than what I was thinking. The FDNY doesn't just roll the dice to decide who gets what. Actually I guess when it comes to the "Who, What, Where and Why", they put those facts into play before they pick the lucky winner.

So after years and decades of trying to learn how the Major Leagues play the game, "I'm still learning".

Thank you both Jack O and Jimmy B for that interesting info.

JOR176 · Nov 13, 2014

[quote author=1261Truckie link
132 has always been known for its aerial usage
[/quote]

Jim you are correct and I can tell you that in the mid to late 50's if the Eng & Truck got a phone alarm with address, The Eng would hook up and stretch a line to the front door and the Truck would raise the aerial to the roof,it could have wound up being nothing but that was the practice. (280 & 132)

lucky · Nov 13, 2014

We continued this into the 70's except for the fact that we had to see something, no matter how small. It was good to get ahead of things in a wood row frame district and also a good drill. We did not want to stretch to the door of the given address with nothing showing because the fire could be on the rear street.

Atlas Aerial · Mar 13, 2015

Here she is while serving in Pennsville as Truck 5:

Nasibova · Mar 13, 2015

Nice, Thanks, How long serving Pennsville ?

Also enjoyed the previous posts info... So the probable reasons they never got more is top heavy & price , yes ?

Atlas Aerial · Mar 13, 2015

Nasibova said:
Nice, Thanks, How long serving Pennsville ?

Also enjoyed the previous posts info... So the probable reasons they never got more is top heavy & price , yes ?

Not sure. I saw it in Pennsville in the early 2000s but haven't been back there that much in the last 6-8 years.