Crime & Safety
Fire Truck Irony
To cut down on emissions, the Fire Department has to idle and rev two pumpers for 45 minutes for every 12 hours of use. The sound of the process has been described as screaming.
This is fire truck irony.
The two pumpers that Danbury bought for more than $1 million in 2010 have very high tech muffler systems designed to reduce emissions.
Each muffler includes a catalytic converter, Diesel Particulate Filter and a muffler, and the whole assembly has a replacement price of $5,000, plus or minus.
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The problem is that to make the environmental system work properly, the department has to park the truck every 12 hours and rev the engine for 45 minutes. Once the muffler, catalytic converter and filter are hot enough, the engine sprays it with diesel fuel to burn off the soot collected inside.
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"I was down at headquarters one night, and we're talking for like half an hour, and all I can hear is this screaming engine, so I said, 'Are we going to run that all night?' recalled Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton. "'Only another 15 minutes,' they told me."
The "Performance Active Regeneration Safely on a Detroit Series 60 Engine," comes with its own video instructions, said Joe Cavo, a mechanic in the Fire Department. The instructions show that a special engine light appears when it's time to run the cleaning operation.
If someone ignores the warning light?
The warning light starts to blink, the video said.
If someone continues to ignore it?
A "Check Engine" light comes on.
If someone continues to ignore it?
A red "Stop Engine" light comes on.
Cavo said he isn't sure how much fuel is burned by the pumpers running at 1,600 to 1,900 RPM without moving for 45 minutes. In addition to running the engine, additional diesel is shot through the muffler system during the clean-out. It is ironic that to clean the system, it has to burn 45 more minutes of fuel.
"What is going on with this," asked Boughton. "Have we not lost our minds?"
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