Horton Emergency Vehicles built this Type 1 ambulance on a Ford F-550 4×4 chassis with a 173-inch-long patient module for the Franklin (MA) Fire Department. (Photos courtesy of Mike Boynton/Franklin Fire Department)
The Franklin (MA) Fire Department needed to replace one of its aging ambulances and chose to, again, go with a Type 1 4×4 rig made by Horton Emergency Vehicles.
The Franklin Fire Department protects a city about a half hour away from Boston, Massachusetts, and Providence, Rhode Island, employing 61 paid full-time firefighter/paramedics running four shifts from two stations using two front line advanced life support (ALS) ambulances and one impact (heavy use time) ALS ambulance, all Horton Emergency Vehicle rigs, as well as two Horton Type 1s in reserve. The department also runs two pumpers and a heavy rescue from its two stations.
The Horton Type 1 for Franklin has a wheelbase of 193 inches and 72 inches of headroom in the patient module.
Chris Cagnon, director of ambulance sales for Greenwood Emergency Vehicles, says Franklin Fire has been a Greenwood customer since the mid-1990s, replacing an ambulance about every four years or so. Cagnon says Franklin’s newest Horton purchase is a Type 1 623 module pass-through ambulance with a 173-inch-long box and 74 inches of headroom on a 4×4 Ford F-550 chassis with a wheelbase of 193 inches.
Dave Marshall, director of sales for Horton, points out that the Franklin Type 1 has a Liquid Spring rear suspension, six-inch drop skirts on both sides of the body to provide for additional compartment space, and a compartment on the left side of the rig for firefighter turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), as well as forcible entry tools.
The rig has a single seating position in the squad bench area.
Marshall notes that the Franklin Type 1 has a CoolTech II 100,000-British thermal unit (BTU) four-fan air conditioning system and a solar panel charging system, an ActivTec air purification system in the patient module, and an Indux 500 heat recovery ventilation unit with power vents that exhausts stale air from inside the box while introducing fresh air from the outside. He notes that the system has an option to create negative pressure inside the module to remove any airborne contaminants.
Other equipment on the Franklin Type 1 Horton includes a Vanner Lifesine inverter/battery charger, an IG4 Plus electrical system, an Otto Super Auto Eject, and power locks on all external compartments. Allen points out that the curbside rear compartment is designed with a pull-out pocket for a stair chair.
Lighting on the Horton rig includes Whelen LED warning and scene lights, a Whelen LED rear arrowstick, and LED chevron lighting.
Marshall says that the Type 1 Horton’s patient module has the Horton Occupant Protection System (HOPS); a USSC attendant seat with an integrated child safety seat, a CPR seat, and a single seat position on the squad bench, all protected by Per4Max® four-point harness systems; a digital clock above the rear doors; an intercom system; and an inside camera to allow the driver to observe the patient area.
The rig has a HAAS alert system mounted on the front of the box, and lighting includes Whelen M6 LED warning and scene lights, a Whelen LED rear arrowstick, and rear chevron lighting.
Franklin’s new rig has a Stryker PowerLOAD system and cot.
The cab in the new Franklin Horton Type 1.
ALAN M. PETRILLO is a Tucson, Arizona-based journalist who has served as a newspaper reporter, editor, and magazine writer and is a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Advisory Board. He served 22 years with the Verdoy (NY) Fire Department, including in the position of chief.
