ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. — The APG Fire & Emergency Services Division has received the latest line of the Army’s
Mobile Water Supply Fire Apparatus, which will restore a capability the department previously had.
The addition of a 2020 Pierce International 3000-gallon mobile water supply apparatus will provide the fire department with a source of water at downrange locations that do not have access to a public water system — areas the fire department refers to as rural water supply operations — according to FES Assistant Chief Mike Livezey. The vehicle will be utilized for mission support activities and airfield operations.
The fire department received the truck last month and Livezey hopes it will be in service in May, as the acquisition goes through the approval process. The plan is to have drivers trained to use the apparatus in April.
The role this truck would typically play during a fire situation would be one where it travels from a water supply to the scene of a fire, hauling water for the engines that are fighting the fire, Livezey said. The new vehicle is capable of pumping 1,250 gallons of water per minute, rapidly transferring the truck’s water capacity to a 3,500 gallon portable drop tank.
The fire department previously had a truck that performed the functions of the new apparatus, but it was turned in three to five years ago, Livezey said. In the meantime, the fire department has run engines with smaller tank sizes and taken advantage of a mutual aid agreement with Harford County if a specific truck was needed.
APG was one of four Army installations selected to receive the apparatus.
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