Sumter, South Carolina is now home to three new Toyne Pumpers after receiving the identical trucks from the premier Iowa-based fire apparatus manufacturer. The pumpers will bolster the firefighting strength of the Sumter Fire Department, which serves approximately 628 square miles in central South Carolina.
Pumper Characteristics
Toyne built Sumter’s pumpers on Spartan Metro Star chassis with 10-inch raised roofs, powered by Cummins ISL9 380 horsepower engines. The apparatus is driven by 3000 Allison EVS transmissions and is equipped with top-of-the-line firefighting power.
The Hale Qflo pumps are supplied by 1,000-gallon UPF tanks and are able to output water at up to 1,250 gallons per minute. The pumpers each include a Fire Research InControl 400 pressure governor, Elkhart Brass Stinger monitor with TFT XG-18, and an Elkhart foam system.
Pumper-Handling
“These three pumpers are built to handle any call, and will be a great addition to Sumter’s fleet,” said Michael Schwabe, president and CEO of Toyne, Inc. “We are honored that they trusted us to manufacture these apparatus, and we hope to work with them again in the future.”
The Sumter Fire Department, led by Fire Chief Karl Ford, is a unique combination of a city and volunteer department. The five-city stations and over 100 career firefighters work with the 15 rural volunteer stations and their more than 200 volunteers to serve Sumter and the surrounding area. The city’s population is just above 40,000 people.
In 2016, Sumter received an ISO 1 classification, recognizing it as one of the United States’ elite departments
In 2016, Sumter received an ISO 1 classification, recognizing it as one of the United States’ elite departments. Only a few hundred out of more than 47,000 fire protection areas countrywide receive this distinction.
Delivering Quality Pumpers
Chief Ford said that through trade shows and talking with Nashville firefighters about their experience, the department determined that Toyne was the right choice for their new pumpers.
“For the quality and craftsmanship of the trucks to turn out like this for the price we got them for was phenomenal,” said Ford. “We were very glad to deal with Toyne. They took us through the factory, showed us our apparatus, showed us how they were built…everybody here seems to know their job very well and they do a great job.”
These pumpers were the Sumter Fire Department’s first Toyne apparatus and were sold by Phoenix Fire Apparatus, a Toyne dealer located in Sumter.