NWCFD SUMMER 2023

Northwest Consolidated Fire District Community Report

The Northwest Consolidated Fire District (NWCFD) protects an area of 70 square miles with three NWCFD staffed stations. When it comes to fighting fires in rural areas, the challenges are significantly different from those faced in urban areas. One of the most significant challenges is the availability of water sources to combat fires. Due to the lack of a municipal water supply system in rural areas, firefighters must rely on alternative water sources such as ponds, streams, and water tanks. This is where the tender fire engine comes in–a specialized apparatus designed to transport water to the fire site.

Tender fire trucks, also known as water tenders, are critical components of rural firefighting. These vehicles are equipped with large water tanks that can hold thousands of gallons of water, as well as pumps and hoses to deliver water to the fire site. Tender fire trucks can be used to refill pumper trucks, which can then transport water to the fire. Even though the fire tender trucks bring a mobile water supply to scenes, the available water for fire flow conditions is still limited.

Multiple fire tender trucks respond to structure fires when fire hydrants are unavailable. On large fires, these tender trucks will create a tender shuttle operation. The tender trucks will dump water into portable tanks at the scene, travel to a water source to refill tanks, and respond back to the scene. NWCFD has automatic aid agreements with neighboring agencies, meaning we receive help and also give help.

At Northwest Consolidated Fire District, we have the Tender 11.

The Tender 11 is a 2022 Freightliner Truck 108SD Tender/Pumper with a 3,000 gallon water tank capacity, a Waterous 1,000 GPM pump, and a Cummins diesel engine with an automatic Allison Transmission. T11 carries as much water as three fire engines! We use water tenders to supply water to the fire engines when there are no fire hydrants available, or there is a water distribution problem. This truck is crucial to our risk management assessments and audits that factor into property owners’ insurance premiums. All shifts are thoroughly trained with this apparatus, which includes: truck familiarization, setting up the dump tank, pumping and drafting operations, and safely driving the Tender 11. Another rural challenge is driveway access. we ask property owners to keep driveways maintained and clear of low-hanging tree limbs. This gives our tender trucks the maneuvering space needed to shuttle water.

The mission of the Northwest Consolidated Fire District is to provide high-quality fire, rescue, and emergency medical services in a safe and caring manner to our community.

We take protecting our community seriously and strive to have our level of service reflect this.

–Fire Chief Todd Maxton, phone 913-583-3886