M978 - Wildland Tactical Water Tender Conversion

[EasternEmpire]

I've been meaning to post this thread about converting a M978 to a wildland tactical water tender for a few months now and am just getting to it. I work for the Idaho Dept. of Lands - one of our missions is wildland fire suppression. We acquired a M978 via the DoD Fire Fighter Program in 2013 and were finally able to get it in service for the 2015 season. I've posted photos of it - three are pics of it just after we got it ready for service. The 4th pic is of it on a fire near McCall, Idaho, this past summer - in this pic the crew is simultaneously filling their tank and two wildland engines. Here are the wildland specs:

Wildland Fire Capabilities
Tank – 2,500 gallons

Wildfire BB-4 Pressure Pump
· 425 psi/105 gpm free flow

Koshin KTH-80X Volume Pump
· 3” Discharge/354 gpm

Gorman-Rupp PTO Pump
· 3” Discharge/600 gpm

Other Features –
· Right/Left Hose Reels
· Right/Left 1 ½” Pressure Discharge with Engine Protection Lines
· Multiple Rear Pressure & Volume Discharge Points

I know red is not the preferred color for most of you, but it's the color we are required to paint our vehicles. ;^)

Over the past year IDL has acquired an additional 11 M978s for rural fire districts in Idaho. As those are placed in service I'll post photos of them. It will be interesting - every district has different needs and ideas.

EasternEmpire

 

[deuceman51]

Perfect truck for that! You guys did an amazing job with the conversion. Looks very professional!

 

[bikeman]

That's awesome! What a great use of those specific trucks. Looks great too!

 

[tbar123]

Awesome! Glad to see a used truck go back to work for a great cause!

 

[therooster2001]

In love the color on them, it looks really professional..

 

[simp5782]

Nice conversion. That truck could probably tow a trailer with another 3000 gallons on it!

 

[EasternEmpire]

Thanks for the compliments - we're pretty proud of it. I just wish I wasn't too old and fat to go out with it on a fire assignment. Here are a couple of additional photos - a close up of the front and of the pump compartment after dark so the arrangements show better.

 

[EasternEmpire]

Bonneville County Rural Fire District #1 is the first of our cooperators to get their M978 in Service - a pretty sharp looking truck. It has a diesel powered pump mounted on the right side where the tool box was and they removed the dog house and added 700 gallons to the tank. The monitor on the front is controlled by a joystick in the cab and the pump is started remotely in the cab - bottom line is this can be fully operated by a single person.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Nothing wrong with that colour. In fact if one of those came up for sale over here for £19.50! I would (PROBABLY!) buy one, That looks just like the all time wish list truck I would like to own.
Yep..definitely 'ave a bo beep at this...)
https://youtu.be/fFX5CnJi9d0

 

[Karl kostman]

That is one of the greatest uses for a 978 as i have ever seen! The RED looks beautiful on this truck and your conversion work looks as professional as the rest of the truck! Extremely well Done and you certainly have my congratulations!!
Karl

 

[EasternEmpire]

A number of fire districts/department have gotten their M978s into service over the past year:

Carey Rural Fire District


Salmon Tract Rural Fire District


Shelley Fire Department


Shoshone County Rural Fire District #3


Ucon Fire Department


And lastly, a shot of IDL's M978 on assignment in Wyoming this past summer.

 

[Tinstar]

How well do those trucks perform at altitude when loaded?
I've never even sat in one so I have no idea how these perform.

They do look good red.

 

[EasternEmpire]

Their performance is pretty amazing. We haven't noticed any difference in performance based on altitude. Some of the districts in northern Idaho, which is more mountainous and forested, were concerned about their size and maneuverability until they took one out in the woods and tried it - the feedback I got is that the only thing which would out perform these on the fireline environment is a skidgeon which is basically a skidder with a water tank on it as in the attached photo.

 

[someoldmoose]

Have been in firefighting over 35 years. Have loooooong advocated using MVs when possible. They are often overbuilt for fire service needs and what the heck, we already bought 'em once Seriously, great use of great equipment. Long may she serve.

 

[EasternEmpire]

A few more M978 HEMTT tankers put into service with Idaho fire service organizations.


Bonneville County Rural Fire District #1 second M978 in service. They have a third one undergoing conversion.


Midvale Rural Fire District

I
Idaho Falls Fire Department - not quite complete, but the yellow sure pops.

 

[EasternEmpire]

Here is the latest iteration of the M978 HEMTT tanker that IDL converted to use as a wildland fire tactical tender.


The trailer is an M989A1 HEMAT trailer designed for the HEMTT with a standard HEMTT tank mounted. The trailer has a diesel pump mounted so that the trailer can be dropped for engines to fill from while the HEMTT heads back on the two-tracks or even cross country to a support tender to refill. The really neat thing about this trailer we didn't realize got it is how well it tracks behind the truck - in a hard turn the rear tire on the trailer tracks 8-10 inches inside of the rear tire on the truck. This combination provides 5,000 gallons of water almost anywhere you want it and it gets there at 55 - 50 MPH even towing the trailer. The only negative is you have to be able to make a u-turn, you can't back it.


This is TT-8055 filling a large pumpkin to support helicopter bucket work on the Sheep Fire (116, 000 acres) on the Idaho National Laboratory a few weeks back. This was the first time out with the trailer. Later on this assignment the crew dropped the trailer in a safe location to be able to patrol the line more easily.


The Sheep Fire was large enough to show up on the NOAA weather satellite imagery. It was the perfect fire environment to try out the new combination.