Firefighting authorities around the country are warning of a potential catastrophic fire season! Early warnings are based on the deepening El Nino effect and unseasonably high rainfall over summer that have put key east coast areas and southern states in danger of potentially the worst fires in decades!
Australian Pump Industries, one of Australia’s leading pump manufacturers and distributors, has fast tracked their seasonal bushfire survival programme with a view to ensuring that farmers and homeowners get the best protection. Called “Aussie Fire Safe”, the programme details a wide range of initiatives combined to defend property, crops, livestock and human lives.
The Aussie Fire Chief has been lauded internationally and is regarded as being the world’s best lightweight portable fire pump. It is the only product of its kind in the world that comes with a five year warranty, a sure sign to the user that the Company not only believes in the product but stands behind it 100%!
The Fire Chief was developed for Australian bushfire fighting conditions and is built to international ISO quality standards. “Buying a product that works is the first and most important fundamental in choosing a fire pump” said Aussie Pump’s Product Manager Brad Farrugia. “We hear horror stories about people who buy third world fire pumps and then find they don’t perform when the chips are down,” he said.
The first fundamental for a fire pump is its ability to self-prime fast and effectively. The Aussie Fire Chief will prime first time, every time and will draft water through a vertical lift of 7.6 metres. It produces a very impressive 450 litres per minute maximum flow and offers delivery heads in the standard version of up to 75 meters (100 psi)!
The Chief can be powered by either a petrol or diesel drive engine. The standard petrol drive is a 5.5hp genuine Honda engine with low oil protection. Those pumps come with an indispensable set of steel skids and anti-vibration mounts. The mounts are designed to extend engine life by dampening vibration whilst the skids provide a level and stable platform to operate the pump from.
“Some pumps don’t come with any kind of standard skid arrangement,” said Farrugia. “That means that if for some reason the pump is pulled off balance, say with a fire hose being tugged, the engine oil cut-out can activate, stopping the pump at a potentially crucial point in the firefighting process,” he said.
The heart of the Fire Chief is a huge 7” one piece closed style impeller. It is superbly balanced for maximum performance. The impeller runs in a heavy duty volute that produces outstanding hydraulic characteristics.
Both pump and engine are Honda approved and match tested to give consumers the very best outcome.
Big 2” suction flanges also standard equipment on the Aussie Fire Chief. The massive check valve can be easily serviced by removing the flanged suction port, a unique Aussie Pumps feature.
The pump also comes with metal caps and chains on the discharge ports, a feature found normally only on professional firefighting equipment.
“The Fire Chief is designed to out-perform and out-feature all others,” said Farrugia. “The secret of its high performance is the huge ‘big belly’ body that provides clear water passages to allow more water through the pump, providing excellent flow-pressure characteristics,” he said.
“The whole concept of the Aussie Fire Chief comes out of dialogue with farmers and homeowners” said Farrugia. “Our motivations are not cost reduction but rather performance,” he said.
Our machines will stand any test and will out-perform and outlast even competitor’s twin impeller pumps of similar horsepower.
