Mount Horeb’s (Wis.) Engine 3 is a Pierce apparatus built on a Peterbilt chassis that took two years to plan and build. And like a debutant, it was introduced to the firefighting society at this year’s FDIC at Peterbilt’s booth.
“We’re excited to get our new pumper in service sometime in May,” said Mount Horeb Assistant Chief Eric Brinckmann.
The first thing that strikes you is that it’s all black. It’s the first rig in the country to sport this particular color, Brinckmann said.
The Mount Horeb fire district covers just more than 145 square miles in a rural setting with many country roads and narrow driveways. “In the wintertime it gets a little tricky,” Chief Brinckmann said.
This is why the department went with the four-wheel drive option. The custom diamond plate work on the sides of the cab cover both fuel tanks and visually off sets the black body.
Mount Horeb had the compartment door next to the pump panel hinged on the opposite side. This allows the engineer access to the compartment without having to walk away from the panel around the door.
One of the rear compartment doors was hinged to allow for tool mounting on three sides.
“That gives us lots of space for added equipment without having to increase the space [requirements] at all,” he said.
The truck comes with a 1,000-gallon tank, a 1,500 gpm pump and a Husky 12 foam system.
The rig should definitely turn some heads in Wisconsin.