INSIDE THE APPARATUS INDUSTRY
A company that’s both new & old introduced some great products & signed many new contracts in 2010
Story & Photos by Bob Vaccaro

Crimson Fire made quite a splash in 2010, announcing a significant number of orders for major cities around the country.

For those of you new to the fire service, Crimson made its brand debut in 2003; however, the company itself goes back about 100 years. To be specific, 2003 marks the year that two respected manufacturers, Luverne and Quality, joined forces to form Crimson Fire. Luverne began building fire apparatus in 1913, and Quality started operation 6 decades later, catering to the Southern United States.

Crimson has been building its standard line of apparatus since 2003, and it added an aerial line in 2007, which has really taken off in the past year.

One of the recent contracts Crimson signed is with the Chicago Fire Department. The CFD has been a Crimson customer for more than 18 years (starting with the Luverne brand) and has taken delivery of 131 heavy-duty Crimson pumpers during that time. In March 2010, the CFD signed another 3-year contract for nine pumpers initially, with the possibility of purchasing 50 over the life of the contract. It also signed a 3-year contract for 30 Crimson aerials. The aluminum-bodied aerials will be 103' rear-mounts built on low-profile Spartan Gladiator chassis with an overall travel height of 11 feet.

The Buffalo (N.Y.) Fire Department signed on for two new Crimson custom pumpers and one aerial; the department also purchased an aerial demonstrator to fill an immediate need. Crimson designed the custom 93' mid-mount aerial on a Spartan Gladiator chassis with an aluminum body that is shortened 28 inches in the rear to make it more maneuverable. The pumpers will feature 1,750-gpm pumps, 750-gallon water tanks and injection foam systems.

Some other big orders:
• Toronto has ordered 12 2,000-gpm pumpers.
• Jersey City (N.J.) has ordered three rear-mount aerials.
• San Francisco has ordered five Metro Star 1,500-gpm pumpers and three 100' tractor-drawn aerials.

In addition, in 2010, Crimson introduced the FRAC (First Response All Calls) vehicle, which I like to think of as the “do-all” of fire apparatus. FRAC is a configurable apparatus that your department can design to meet your community’s unique needs—needs which may include command/rehab, rescue, transport and/or fire suppression.

Also, Crimson introduced the Transformer pumper, which features extra-large compartments and hydraulically controlled valves that make it easy to place a pump panel anywhere on the vehicle.

And if all this isn’t enough, Crimson’s aerial division just moved into the former LTI aerial plant in Ephrata, Pa.—a facility designed and constructed to manufacture aerials. The new facility will give the company more space for manufacturing, service and refurbishing work, as well as room to expand in the future.

Keep an eye on Crimson. The future really looks bright for this company. Considering its innovations from the last 7 years, I can hardly wait to see what it will offer in 2011.

Bob Vaccaro has more than 30 years of fire-service experience. He is a former chief of the Deer Park (N.Y.) Fire Department. Vaccaro has also worked for the Insurance Services Office, the New York Fire Patrol and several major commercial insurance companies as a senior loss-control consultant. Vaccaro is a life member of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

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