Kittanning Hose Company #4’s 2012 pumper truck went through a pump certification yesterday in the rear parking lot of the Richard G. Snyder YMCA. The pumper is rated at 1,500 gallons per minute but was pumping closer to 1,700 gallons per minute.
A special test was performed on the pumper truck owned by Kittanning Hose Company #4 yesterday morning.
Pump test certification is an annual event, according to #4 Fire Chief Earl “Buzz” Kline.
“Every year we go through this Kaza Fire Equipment from Ebensburg,” Kline said.
The truck was originally purchased new from Kaza in 2012. It is a Rosenbauer pumper built on a Spartan chassis at a price tag of $368,000. Money for the apparatus came from a grant from the Department of Homeland Security through Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for $348,000. The fire department came up with a required local match of $20,000 using a Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) grant from the State Fire Commissioner.
“They do a pump test, certify the pump to the manufacturer’s specs, and that helps to our ISO (Insurance Services Office) rating. When (an ISO representative) comes into the borough (for inspection), we have to present our (personnel) testing certifications, breathing apparatus certification, pump testing, etc. (A good ISO rating) helps out on everybody’s fire insurance (rates).
Kline said he was pleased with the performance of the pump.
“It’s a 1,500 gallons-per-minute pump. In a draft situation like this (pulling water from a pool or storage tank) it can run up to 1,700 gallons per minute. We fill the pool up with water, and they draft it out. It goes through a series of gauges, and it goes back into the storage tank to recycle the water. They have gauges hooked up (in every area of the line) to make sure it meets the manufacturer’s specifications.”
Each Kittanning fire department receives an allocation of $10,000 per year from Kittanning Borough taxes to maintain equipment. Kline said the cost to perform the pump certification is approximately $800 per year and will be funded through the $10,000 allocation.
Kline said its important for each fire department to keep its equipment properly operating.
“When it is needed, it is ready to go. By testing it annually, we are assured that it will work,” he said.
A technician checks connections into the pumper owned by Kittanning Hose Co. #4 during a pump certification test yesterday.