Horton Emergency Vehicles built this Type 3 ambulance on a Ford E-450 cab and chassis for Delaware City (DE) Fire Company No. 1. (Photos courtesy of VCI Emergency Vehicle Specialists.)
By Alan M. Petrillo
Delaware City (DE) Fire Company No. 1 is a combination paid and volunteer fire department that provides fire, rescue and emergency medical services (EMS) to a 1.3-square mile city with nearly 2,000 residents. The department currently runs two E-ONE rescue-pumpers, an aerial ladder quint, a tactical service unit, three utility terrain vehicles (UTV), a Freightliner Type 2 ambulance, a Chevy Tahoe command vehicle, a chief’s vehicle, a Metalcraft Marine Firestorm 32-foot fireboat, and a Zodiac Hurricane 15-foot rescue boat. After the department responded to more than 2,500 calls of all types in 2023, it decided it needed a new ambulance to augment its fleet and went to Horton Emergency Vehicles for a new rig.
Dave Marshall, Horton’s director of sales, says Horton built a Type 3 ambulance for Delaware City on a Ford E-450 two-door cab and chassis with Horton’s Model 553B walk-through patient module that’s 169-inches long with 72-inches of headroom, powered by a 7.3-liter gasoline engine and an automatic transmission. Marshall points out the rig has a four-fan, 100,000-British thermal unit (btu) COOL-TECH® 1 condenser system, a Vanner 1,000-watt inverter and 55-amp battery conditioner, a Kussmaul 20-amp auto eject port, Horton electronic privacy glass, and an Opticom traffic light controller.
The L1 compartment on the Horton rig has a Zico electric oxygen bottle lift.
The rig’s L2 compartment has brackets for SCBA air packs, a Halligan tool and a fire axe, and space for two firefighters’ turnout gear.
The L3 compartment has outside access to an interior cabinet.
David DiGangi, regional sales manager for VCI Emergency Vehicle Specialists, who sold the Type 3 ambulance to Delaware City, notes that the Type 3’s streetside L1 compartment has a Zico electric oxygen bottle lift, while the L2 compartment is set up to hold two self contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) air packs in brackets, firefighter turnout gear, a Halligan tool, and a fire axe. “All the exterior compartments are made from flat aluminum stock and are covered with black Line-X material,” DiGangi observes.
The curbside rear compartment has a recessed area for a Stryker stair chair, he adds, as well as backboards and a head immobilizer. The front curbside compartment is full height featuring 110-volt outlets and USB ports and has access from both inside and outside. DiGangi notes that all door handles and interior grab rails are coated with anti-microbial surfaces and colored yellow for safety.
Horton built a two-drawer cabinet with a sharps container at the head of the squad bench.
All interior grab rails are coated with anti-microbial surfaces and are painted yellow for safety.
The rig has a walk-through from patient module into the cab.
The cab of the Type 3 has a backup alarm, a compartment and door-open alert system, seat belt indicators, a DVR recording system, an intercom, and a custom cab console, while the interior of the patient module has a Stryker PowerLOAD cot fastener, a Horton Occupant Protection System (HOPS) rollover airbag system with all seating protected by Per4Max four-point seating restraints, solid surface countertops, a patient-view camera, seven Whelen LED dome lights and three ROM LED utility lights.
The Delaware City Type 3 has Horton 12-inch LED chevron lighting at the rear that operate as warning lights, turn signals and brake lights.
Marshall says that the Delaware City Type 3 has Whelen LED M series warning and scene lighting, TecNiq LED underbody lighting, and Horton LED 12-inch Chevron lighting at the rear that operates with the warning lights and acts as turning signals and brake lights.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist, the author of three novels and five nonfiction books, and a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
