Waukesha Fire Dept. HAZMAT team - Waukesha, Wisconsin


From Hackney:
Waukesha, a city of approximately 75,000 is located just west of Milwaukee between two busy interstate highways - I-43 to south and I-94 to the north. Due to the dense industrial plants located in the area, the region, its highways and railroads have a high concentration of hazardous material traffic. To handle the critical responses associated with these elements, the Waukesha Fire Department determined it was time to purchase a dedicated apparatus designed specifically to handle these calls, one with a storage capacity large enough to transport the vast amount of equipment, from small hand tools and sensitive monitoring equipment to bulky containment drums and containers. To complicate matters, it also was determined it would be nice if this same apparatus could serve confined space rescue operations.

A tall order for a single piece of apparatus, but after much research, it was found that Hackney was capable of supplying such a truck. They chose a DF1182, a 21 ft. body that featured an incredible 850 cu.ft. of storage space. In order to keep the overall wheelbase to a manageable length, a HME 1871 SFO custom cab and chassis was selected. Coupled with a 218" wheelbase and 50 degree cramp angle, the apparatus was capable of turning in the same space as conventional trucks with much shorter bodies.

For auxiliary power, an Onan 25kw PTO generator was installed in the left front compartment. Waukesha was pleased to learn that Hackney's mounting of the generator within the compartment would protect their investment from Wisconsin road salts. 1000 watt Fire Research Focus lights were mounted on the upper left and right roof rails. 1500 watt telescoping tripod flood lights were mounted between the cab and body.

The fire department spent a great deal of time with Hackney engineers meticulously laying out each compartment for specific equipment placement. With the vast amount of equipment to be carried, they couldn't afford to waste one single cubic foot of space. The rear drop compartment (over the step bumper) measured 82" high x 42" wide x 40" deep and was ideal for placement of four overpack drums and two stacks of traffic cones. Two shelves above the drums provided space for decon equipment. The low drop deck facilitated easy retrieval of the drums.

The huge 74" wide x 57" high wheelhouse compartment affords space for the following equipment: ten sheets of plywood; stokes basket stretcher; two long back boards; rescue tripod assembly; 24/36/48 cribbing; shoring rams and extensions; regulator and control devices for rams; Harp equipment bags; hardware bags; 150 ft. rope bag; 300 ft. rope bag; Class III rescue harnesses; ROC helmets; 6 ft. step ladder and plywood pool forms.

One of the 82" high x 40" wide x 40" deep compartments (six compartments of this size provided) was fitted with a 78" high x 36" deep two-sided slide-out tool board; space for a drum of TAC-1 with drum dolly; eight decon half chairs and hazard neutralizing system.

Another compartment feature a slide-out SCBA rack with four complete SCBA's for "back-up and go" donning. Adjacent to the SCBA rack is shelving for 100 ft. communication cables with SAR hose.

Another compartment has space at floor level for two ready-to-go in-line air carts. Above the carts are eight spare SCBA bottles; in-line air packs and harnesses with 5-min escape bottles and another for victim hood setup.

Other space is filled with equipment ranging from an outboard motor; Chlorine A, B and C kits; four 5-gallon buckets of foam; four 50 lb. bags each of ash and oil absorbent; assorted Rubbermaid containers; catch pools; absorbent booms; rescue vest; fan flex tubes and spill control containers.

The warning system is a combination of Federal Vector bar in the upper zone and Tomar strobes in the lower zones. A Federal Q2B with sound focuser, Federal PA300 electronic siren and two 100 watt speakers are mounted in the fron