BFR has changed quite a bit since
its inception in 1986. From hoses to
ladders and from stations to people BFR has changed and grown right along with
the community it serves. There are,
however, aspects of BFR that serve as a reminder of how the department started
out.
In the early days there were many
areas of the city that didn’t have something that we take for granted as being
on every corner: fire hydrants. Because
of this, firefighters would have to depend on the water they brought with them
on their fire truck. Since it wouldn’t
be practical for firefighters to lug around gallon jugs of water in the cab of
the fire engine, each fire apparatus had (and still does have) a tank built in
that carries anywhere from 300 to 1,000 gallons of water depending on what type
of fire truck it was. While this may
seem like plenty of water, at the scene of a fire sometimes thousands of
gallons may be needed to extinguish the fire completely.
In order to address this issue,
the newly formed Brentwood Fire Department purchased Tanker 512 in 1986. Tanker 512 (now known as Tanker 1) is a 1986
GMC Top Kick built by 4 Guys Fire Trucks and equipped with a 1,650 gallon water
tank and a 500 gallon per minute pump used to supply water to other fire
apparatus. The number 512 was assigned
to the tanker because in 1986 the fire department was the 5thcity
department, the tanker was located at station 1 and tanker trucks were
given the number 2. Once it was
put in service Tanker 512 was put to good use responding to calls all over
Brentwood.
Tanker 512 with Engine 510 and Engine 520 (now known as Engine 5) in
1986
BFR’s Tanker 1 is unique compared
to the other fire trucks in Brentwood not only in its function but also due to where
it has served. In early summer 1998
several large wildfires broke out in North Central Florida, burning almost half
a million acres across several counties.
Resources were called in from all over the United States in order to
help protect homes and keep the fire from spreading further. One of these resources was Tanker 1! Brentwood Fire Department sent 2 firefighters
and Tanker 1 to central Florida to assist in several tanker shuttles that were
used to supply the large amount of brush trucks combating the fire. A tanker shuttle is when several tanker
trucks operate in a relay to pick up water from a source, such as a hydrant or
a lake, and deliver it to the fire scene for other fire trucks to use in fire
suppression.
First Class! Tanker 1 is loaded
into a National Guard airplane enroute to Central Florida.
Tanker 1 supplies a brush truck on the front lines of the Florida
wildfire.
Not unlike an old firefighter, it will be a bittersweet moment as we see a
once valuable member of our department retire and move on. Time and technology marches on, and the fire
service here in Brentwood is no exception.
Tanker 1 as it appears today
Notice the large gray discharge on the back of Tanker 1. That’s part of the dump valve assembly. The dump valve is used to empty the tank
relatively quickly into large temporary water tanks on a fire scene.
This is the 2100 gallon Fol-Da Tank that is kept on Tanker 1. The tank is used on fire scenes so that a tanker
trucks can dump all of its water and go refill while the engines pump it from
the tank to the hose lines. After use
the Fol-Da-Tank is drained and simply folded up. When not in use it is kept on the side of
Tanker 1.
