Indiana Fire Trucks: Indianapolis Fire Department

	Indianapolis Fire Department Support Services - "The Shops" IFD's Maintenance and Support Facility has always been referred to as "The Shops." The Shops have served as the silent backbone of the Fire Department since its inception. IFD's Support Services has a long tradition of exceptional service and offering creative ideas to enhance and maintain the city's modern frontline and reserve apparatus fleet.


IFD Support Service - "The Shops" - 2551 Belmont Avenue Completed in 1993, the shops are located on the city's near southwest side and Belmont and Raymond Streets. This building provides fleet service and support to IFD's entire fleet. Engines, Rescues, Ladder Trucks, Squads, Ambulances and administration vehicles are all serviced on the building's west side. The City of Indianapolis services their Waste Removal and Street Department vehicles on the building's east side. IFD moved to this location from the old DPW building on Sanders Street. Support Services encompasses two divisions: Fleet Services, led by Capt. Mark Harvey and Buildings & Grounds led by Capt. Julius Stovall. These Captains report to Division Chief of Human Resources, Dudley Taylor. The Shops employs 6 full-time IFD personnel and 11 civilian mechanics dedicated to working on IFD apparatus. Prior to 1984, everyone at the Shops was an employee of IFD. Now the 6 members oversee various IFD-related mainenance, records and civilian personnel.


Building 1 Repair Bays Building 1 includes 6 maintenance bays dedicated to IFD apparatus. Some of the these bays include heavy-duty hydraulic lifts that can support the whole rig up in the air. IFD's shops have also been known for their creativity in searching for ways to make their equipment more durable. The Indianapolis Fire Department is using a process known as cryogenics to help cut the cost of maintaining the braking systems on its trucks. Cryogenics, the science of freezing objects to favorably alter their molecular structure, is often used by the racing industry to enhance performance and increase the life of mechanical parts. Now applied to all of the trucks in operation, the process saves the department more than $50,000 each year. This process involves using liquid nitrogen to freeze objects (like brake pads) to temperatures of -240 to -300 degrees.


Complete Maintenance and Repairs About the only repairs not performed by the Shops are chassis fabrication, suspension and alignment. Unless an apparatus is still under it's original warranty, everything else is handled here. Pump maintenance, electrical wiring, aerial hydraulics, tires and brakes are all repaired and replaced here.Until 1993, IFD shop personnel even helped fabricate body panels and rebuilt damaged apparatus as needed. While most of the heavy-duty welding has gone away, the Shops perform all other maintenance to the entire IFD Fleet.


Building 1 includes 6 maintenance bays dedicated to IFD apparatus. Some of the these bays include heavy-duty hydraulic lifts that can support the whole rig up in the air.


While most of the apparatus ordered by IFD are customized to their specific needs, minor work is still required after the arrival of each new rig. Engine 1's new Ferrara is seen here having brackets installed by Shops personnel to custom-fit each individual company's hand-tools and equipment.


Oil, Filter and a quick Lube? Medic 6 is shown here in Building 1's drive-through oil-change bay. This large bay can accomodate apparatus of all sizes for their routine and regularly-scheduled fluids maintenance.


Reserve Engine 107 - 1995 Pierce Lance Pumper - 1500gpm/500gal/40gal foam This rig served it's entire frontline career as Engine 22 from 1995 through 2007. It was reassigned as a reserve engine in the fall of 2007 after the arrival if a Ferrara Inferno Pumper. While each apparatus is in for maintenance or repairs, a reserve apparatus is ready to take it's place. For short-term maintenance completed in one day, there are "Ready-Reserves" that carry a full compliment of firefighting tools and equipment. The crew simply drive up in their apparatus, switch over their medical gear and take off in the Ready Reserve.


Building 2 - Reserve Apparatus and Equipment Storage Building 2 houses some of the long-term reserves as well a few older apparatus that are kept to provide parts to in-service rigs. Seen here are several reserves including xE26, xE22, a brand new unasssigned Ferrara, the last two 1991 HME/Grumman Pumpers and Reserve 108 (xE447). In the foreground are two of the department's reserve rescue squad/battalion vehicles and the last City Service Truck - Reserve Ladder 112.


Reserve Apparatus Lot (Behind Building 2) Long-term reserves are used for apparatus undergoing more lengthy repairs. Long-term reserves can last from 2-days to several months. When these are used, the apparatus crew switches over all of their equipment and tools into the empty compartments of the reserve truck. Shown here are Reserve Engine 105 (xE32), Reserve Ladder 127 (xL1) and a Reserve Hazmat (xHM31). In the back are parked out-of-service apparatus that are no longer used as spares. That's xL31's tiller and xR7 shown in the background.


Adding the Graphics To avoid the weather, all striping, lettering and graphics are added inside of Building 2. All IFD apparatus are in the process of having safety chevrons added to the rear of each truck to meet NFPA standards. IFD continues it's tradition of a large gold stripe over a thinner white stripe and a classic badge on each door. Most apparatus have a large white number designation on each side's rear compartment with a large gold number on the back of each truck. Squad 29's brand new rig is shown getting it's final graphics in July 2009. A brand new Safety Officer truck awaits its stripes in the background.

A very special thanks to Fleet Analyst Carol Lukens, Norm and Battalion Chief Mark Harvey for providing the background and history of The IFD Shops and for allowing us access for these photos.


	Indianapolis Fire Department Indianapolis Metropolitan Professional Firefighters Local 416