NJ Forest Fire Service 2018 about engines deployed in western U.S.

On August 1st, I wrote about the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS) crews and engines that are deployed in the Western United States. To the best of my knowledge the NJFFS crew, aka NJS#2, is still working the Red Canyon Fire (5,766 acres burned). For those of you who are interested, here is a video update posted on Inciweb (August 3rd, midday). According to the latest Eastern Area Interagency Resources Representative (IARR) for the Eastern Area Coordination Center (link to current IARR on main page) the NJS#2 crew is doing "hotspotting, digging, securing, and holding control lines."

I want to write a little about the engines that NJFFS sent out west. Recall that two type 4 engines from the NJFSS arrived in California on July 30th and are currently assigned to the Carr Fire near Redding CA (131,896 acres burned at 39 percent containment, 1,067 residence destroyed, two firefighters and four civilians dead). The two NJFFS type 4 engines that left New Jersey on July 31st for Idaho to work the Sharps Fire near Bellevue Idaho (57,253 acres, 29 percent containment) arrived at the incident command past for the Sharpes Fire shortly after noon local time.

I asked a friend from the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for a little more information on the four engines sent out west and what is their usual assignment in New Jersey. For a little geography the New Jersey Forest Fire Service is divided in three divisions, you may see the map here.

Assigned to the Carr Fire: two type 4 engines: B45 from Division B (central NJ), and T9 from Division C (southern NJ). B-45 carries 900 gallons of water and T9 carries 1,000 gallons of water. For those that are interested, both have a 2011 Freightliner chassis.  There is a picture of T9 from NorCal Fire Weather shared by NJFFS Section A2 Fire Association on Facebook the other day that may be found here. In addition there is a support vehicle, probably a pick-up truck that traveled with B45 and T9, I don't have any further information.

Assigned to the Sharps Fire: two type 4 engines: A29 from Division A (northern NJ, I live in Division A), and T9 from Division C (southern NJ). Both are type 4 engines with 1,000 gallon tanks. Like the two type 4 engines assigned to the Carr Fire, they have a 2011 Freightliner chassis. The crews that traveled out west sent along photos to the NJFFS Section A2 Fire Association on Facebook, here is a nice photo shot at a the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument east of Laramie Wyoming on August 2nd of the two engines and their support vehicle, car 37 (2017 Chevy Pick-up, 4 door, 4x4).

Some of you may be interested in reading more about wildland fire engines such as the NJFFS Type 4 engines. I asked my friend from the NJFFS for some more information to share with you about their engines, and he sent me along a link to Chapter 14 from the latest (2018) Redbook (Interagency Standards for Fire and Fire Aviation Operations) on Firefighting Equipment, you may find a chart describing the different engine types on the third page of that chapter. You may read about other equipment in this nine-page chapter.

In addition, my friend sent along a second link (42 pages) from the USDA Forest Service of Apparatus Body Only Specifications for Type 4 Fire Apparatus, found here. This document may be more information than you want to know, but some of you might be interested in looking through this document. This link was current at the time I posted this article.