APPARATUS OF THE MONTH

By John M. Malecky                                                                          May, 2026

FIRE & SAFETY SERVICES TO ADD NEW SHOP :

    Fire & Safety Services, one of our regular contributors to this column is in the process of opening a second shop. I have decided to let Dave Russell tell their story and here it is: The idea for a facility really started as trying to find a one bay location for our technicians in the southern part of the state to have a place to work on our larger projects and to have a place to have some parts that they could have centrally located. But once we started to look for the data we pivoted to looking for a larger facility and expansion of Fire & Safety Services. There are a few reasons for this- one of which is the changing demographics of the shore communities to more year-round permanent residential homes rather than just summer residences, with a handful of year-round residents. But a big factor has the success of our sales teams over the last 20 years or so. For many years our sales were focused in the Atlantic and Cape May areas where Sam Squire had been representing us since we took over the southern half of the state in 1984. We also had a very strong showing in Monmouth and Ocean Counties where Bill Russell’s ties to that area provided steady orders. In the early 2000’s, Ed Miller and John O’Keefe jointed our staff and really developed the Ocean County and southwestern part of the state and with Fred Hundt coming on board in 2018, provided us with sales in an area we always struggled in due to customers trust in what Fred told them. This led us to grow our sales in the southern part of the state at a rate we hadn’t been able to achieve before. Over the last five years we have sold 281 units, of which over a third (94 units) were sold in counties of Mercer and Monmouth or south. Now to the shop- We had looked at several places and I credit Sean O’Conner and John Thompson along with our four technicians who cover that area for doing a lot of the scouting work of possible locations from new construction to existing structures. At 27 Gladney Avenue in Bayville, we found a building that is on two acres and has eight bays that are 60 feet deep. It provided us with 11,000 square feet of service space and also there is 200 square feet of office/administrative/operation space. Initially we plan to slowly grow the operations at that facility and manage things to make sure we develop operational systems before getting too busy. We will start with a small staff at that location and we will initially focus on doing routine preventive maintenance and repairs taking the burden off our technicians in the area so they can focus on out of service units and other work. As we get settled we will be looking to grow our staff and the types of work that we can perform.

    In this month’s photos were feature two trucks from Elizabeth (Union County.) One is Truck 3, a Pierce 95 foot mid mount platform and the other is Tac 1A a Skeeter high water rescue which arrived after the trip to Elizabeth which was  featured in the January column. Other photos include a Spartan ER pumper to Bayonne (Hudson County), an AEV Type III ambulance from the Atlantic Health System (stationed in Hammonton in Atlantic County), two apparatus (a Pierce pumper and Freightliner/ E-ONE 4 x 4 pumper) from Martinsville FC in Bridgewater Township and a Kenworth/Sutphen pumper/tanker from the Community FC in Warren Township all in Somerset County. 

    In apparatus news the specs on the Englishtown (Monmouth County) delivery include a Spartan ER Metro Star MFD chassis, 177 inch wheelbase, Cummins L9, 450 hp diesel engine, Warterous CMU 1500 gpm pump, Tri Max aluminum body, ROM roll up compartment doors, 750 gallon Pro Poly water tank, low hose bed and Whelen scene lights.   The specs on the Bayonne (Hudson County) delivery include a Spartan ER Metro Star MFD chassis, Extreme Duty Pumper, 177 inch wheelbase, Cummins L9, 450 hp diesel engine, Waterous CMU 1500 gpm pump, Pro Poly 750 gallon water tank, Tri-Max aluminum body, ROM roll-up compartment doors, low hosebed and Whelen scene lighting. Both were sold by Campbell Supply Co., LLC.

    We have learned that the Daretown FC in Upper Pittsgrove Township (Salem County) has purchased from the Freewood Acres FC in Howell Township (Monmouth County) their tractor drawn pumper/’tanker. It is a 1989 Peterbilt 357 tractor with 4 Guys trailer redone in 1991 by Bar Bel Fabricators. The tractor has a 1500 gpm pump and the trailer holds 6500 gallons.

    Firefighter 1 has delivered the following: to West Keansburg FC in Hazlet Township (Monmouth County)  a Ferrara Inferno pumper. The Camden Fire Department (Camden County) has received a Ferrara mid mount platform for Ladder 3. It is an HD 85 on an Inferno chassis. Mendham (Morris County) has received an Inferno rescue pumper. They have also delivered a Fastlane rescue truck to Northvale (Bergen County) and a Type 1 Road Rescue ambulance to the Tewksbury Township First Aid & Rescue (Hunterdon County.)

    Haledon (Passaic County) has ordered an E-ONE HR-100 quint on a Typhoon chassis. It will have a 2,000 gpm pump and 500 gallon water tank. Also in Passaic County , the West Milford FC 4, Macopin received an E-ONE Typhoon stainless steel pumper/tanker. It has a 1500 gpm pump and 2530 gallon water tank. In Monmouth County, the Adelphia FC in Howell Township received their E-ONE HP 100.

    New Jersey Emergency Vehicles has made the following P.L. Custom ambulance deliveries: to the Rahway EMS, a Medallion on Ford E-450 chassis, with a gasoline engine (Union County), to the Jersey Shore Hatzolah (Monmouth County) a Medallion on a Ford E-450 chassis, to the Lakewood FAS (Ocean County) a Medallion on a Ford E-450 chassis, to the North Arlington EMS (Bergen County) a remount of a Ford E-450 chassis and to the Cranbury FAS (Middlesex County) a remount of a Ford F-550 chassis.

    Blaze Emergency Equipment has delivered to the Reliance FC, Mays Landing in Hamilton Township (Atlantic County) a Sutphen pumper/tanker. Specs include a Monarch Long Cab (72 inches) with 10 inch raised roof, eight seats (5 SCBA) 8 position Firecom 5100D wireless intercom system, Cummins X15, 605 hp diesel engine, top mount pump panel, Waterous CSU, 2,000 gpm pump, Trident auto pump primer, 2500 gallon poly water tank, 10 inch rear Newton dump valve, front intake, a total of 13 discharges, two 1 ½-inch speedlays, one 2 ½-inch crosslay, booster reel, pre-piped deck gun with Extend-A-Gun, ROM roll up compartment doors, seven SCBA cylinder storage compartments, Zico Quic-Lift electric ladder rack, FRC Spectra brow and scene lights, Smart Power 8 kw generator, Hannay electric cord reel and a Will Burt NS15-4000 light tower. 

    Fire & Safety Services reports the following Pierce orders: For Pennsauken) an Enforcer 100 foot mid mount tower (no pump or tank); For Cherry Hill District 13 an Enforcer pumper (both Camden County); for Long Branch an Enforcer 107 foot Ascendant ladder with tandem rear axle; for Ramtown FC in Howell Township an Enforcer 100 foot mid mount tower (both Monmouth County) and for the City of Wildwood (Cape May County) an Enforcer pumper. Pierce deliveries include to Glassboro (Gloucester County) an Enforcer pumper and to Moorestown District 1 an Enforcer pumper and an Enforcer 105 foot ladder.(Burlington County.)