Who knew they made fire trucks in Sedgwick?
Not just fire trucks, but custom-built fire trucks that are in use at an oil refinery in Nigeria, an Army post in Hawaii and any number of fire departments in between, including Sedgwick County's.
Unruh Fire came into being in 2003, just down the street from Unruh Fab, which since the late 1970s has been making the trucks that carry glass. Both are in Sedgwick's industrial park, at the south end of the town on the Sedgwick-Harvey county line.
"We wanted to diversify into other markets," said Alex McDonald, who's president of both companies.
One of Unruh's welders called Tom Richardson, who had worked for Unruh Fab before going into the fire service, and asked whether he was interested in coming back to work to make fire trucks.
"We decided to make a go of it, and here we are," said Richardson, Unruh Fire's national sales manager as well as a lieutenant for the Sedgwick County Fire Department.
Richardson and other firefighters who also work for Unruh Fire give the company its slogan: "Built by firefighters for firefighters."
Unruh Fire builds 25 to 30 trucks a year, McDonald said, with brush and rescue trucks "the bread and butter of our fire line."
Brush trucks go for $60,000 to $125,000; rescue trucks are $100,000 to $175,000, he said. That makes them much more practical for smaller fire departments; large trucks can cost close to $1 million.
The Sedgwick County Fire Department has five Unruh Fire rescue trucks, sent to medical calls or small fires, said Deputy Chief Rick Brazill.
"We've been very happy with their product," he said. "They've worked very well for us."
Because some county firefighters work for the company, the department went out of its way to make sure there was no favoritism in the purchase, he said. Unruh Fire met or exceeded every specification in the request for proposal.
"That's kind of a plus that we've got a guy who works for our department up there, but in no way did we get any special favors or deals," Brazill said.
And having firefighter-built equipment is another plus.
"They've been there, they know what works and what doesn't work.... Those guys work with those trucks, and they know what it takes to make a good truck," he said.
Unruh Fire's first truck was built for Buffalo, Ill. Its second went to the U.S. Army in Hilo, Hawaii, which now has six Unruh Fire trucks. Trucks have since been sold as far afield as Florida, New York and Montana, and two were purchased by an oil refinery in Nigeria.
The company has about 25 employees, though several work for both companies. Four to a dozen at a time are at work in the fire truck plant. A truck takes eight to 12 weeks to complete, and the plant has trucks in all stages of completion.
Unruh Fire purchases chassis and pumps but otherwise makes the trucks on-site.
"We don't sub anything," McDonald said. "We don't just assemble it, we build it."
The trucks are made of aluminum to make them as light as possible while carrying a maximum amount of water. The aluminum is polished when the truck is finished.
"It's a mirror finish when we get done," Richardson said, noting that firefighters are particular about their trucks' appearance.
In addition to rescue and brush trucks, Unruh Fire makes quick attack trucks, skid units and specialty trailers. The trailers can haul specialty equipment for high-angle rescues such as at grain elevators, hazardous materials response or water rescues. A trailer and a tow vehicle are more economical for smaller departments than specialty equipment would be.
Newton recently ordered one of the trailers, which will be used in a 19-county area, McDonald said. It also could serve as a command center after something like the Greensburg tornado.
McDonald said Unruh Fire hopes to expand in the coming year. It has been marketing itself to dealers across the country, especially to those who already carry large trucks or fire equipment but don't have a smaller truck line.
Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/05/25/1328768/sedgwicks-fire-trucks-go-global.html#ixzz0pIP3Es5S
