Latham Fire Department, Town of Colonie

Organized in 1910 as the S.W. Pitts Hose Co. in honor of Sebastian W. Pitts, a prominent citizen who generously supported the establishment of organized fire protection in Latham, the department was later chartered as the Latham Fire Protection District upon the Town of Colonie’s incorporation in 1924. One of twelve volunteer departments serving the Town of Colonie, the Latham FD provides Fire, Rescue and EMS First Response services (in conjunction with career Colonie EMS) answering well over 1,500 alarms annually.

Due to covering several highly traveled, high speed roadways, Rescue 4 is equipped with a large complement of Hurst MOC series extrication tools. The front bumper is equipped with a pre-connected spreader & cutter while the rear pull-out tray holds six tools (two pre-connected) including two spreaders, a combi-tool and three cutters (including boron rated) along with a Hurst portable pump for remote operations.

Rescue 4 - 2005 KME

One of several “wet” rescues operating in Albany County, it is outfitted with a self contained 30 gallon CAFS with 1” straight bore nozzle. Seating eight (7 with SCBA), the cab is equipped with PFD’s, water rescue throw bags and rope rescue bags complete with rescuer PPE. The officer’s seat features an iPad with access to both I-Am-Responding® and extrication software.

The walk-around rescue body features dual roll-off awnings, a four bottle cascade system with two cylinder fill station, 100’ air/hydraulic/electric reels, an officer’s side mounted crane (used for a variety of rescue operations) and Hurst power plants supplying four pre-connected tools. It’s equipment complement includes an array of Hurst extrication tools (two spreaders, one combi-tool and three cutters including boron rated), a portable pump, air bags (low pressure-high lift & high pressure-low lift), Rescue Jacks, farm jacks, DeWalt cordless hand tools and a ParaTech airgun. For firefighting operations, it is outfitted with K-12 and Cutters Edge saws as well as FAST equipment.

Special thanks to Chief Neil Blanchard, FF/Paramedic Paul Todisco and FF/Paramedic John Monaghan for their assistance in arranging my visit and providing detailed information on Rescue 4’s impressive capabilities.

Engine 416 - 1998 Spartan/Ferrara 1750 gpm/650 gal/30 gal. foam