City of Olmsted Falls, Ohio
Overview:
- City Class - 4th Class
- City Population - 9,200
- Fire Department - Paid, 28 Firefighters
- Coverage Area - 4.4 Square Miles
- Apparatus - 3 Vehicles
In July, 2002 the only front line engine for the City of Olmsted Fall's was involved in a rollover accident when the driver swerved to avoid an on-coming vehicle in its path. Firefighters now relied upon a 24 year old TeleSQRT and 30 year old engine borrowed from a neighboring department to protect their growing residential community near Cleveland. Chief Potts recalls that he was more worried than he had ever been in his 32 year career for the safety of his firefighters and the community.
Bob Malone from Warren Fire Equipment, KME's Ohio sales representative organization, stopped by the Department with a demonstration pumper, and offered their assistance. The City was fortunate to receive an Assistance to Firefighter's Grant for a new vehicle, but the project was still on a strict budget. The Department 
did not forget Warren Fire's offer and chose the KME as their first choice in a new vehicle. Working many hours with Bob Malone and Brian Connely, the assigned KME Sales Engineer, the Department was able to incorporate many of their cost saving ideas into the final design of their very first custom designed vehicle. Delivery of their 2004 KME Predator was only the beginning of their relationship with KME.
The Olmsted community had grown and with it, more multi-family, multi-story residential structures that required a new aerial device that had a greater reach than their now 30 year old ladder. Chief Potts and the other members of the truck committee decided early that the KME mid-mount aerial they had seen at several trade shows and in visits to the plant was the best design for their community. Once again, a limited budget meant that they had to work closely with their engineer and sales rep to get the truck they needed.
Ray Capezzuto and Bob Malone of Warren Fire worked with the committee originally to answer the initial questions the team had. At the 2008 FDIC conference in Indianapolis, the three members of the truck committee from Olmsted Falls were introduced to Jason Behler, a KME aerial sales engineer. The remaining two days of the show had the team and Jason working on an initial design of the vehicle.
After the purchase of the KME AerialCat, the pre-build meeting at the Nesquehoning plant convinced the team that KME knew what the Department wanted and together they developed a final set of specifications that resulted in only minor changes during the build process. During the construction process, KME kept the 
department well informed and addressed any concerns immediately. Progress pictures were sent to Chief Potts which allowed the rest of the department to feel a part of the project as well. When the vehicles were delivered, they quickly realized the pictures did not do justice to the actual rig.
Today, the Department has moved to a new centrally located fire station that improves their response time to all areas of the City. Firefighters now look out on the apparatus floor and see two new vehicles from KME that will protect their community for many years. The Department is very proud of the fact that, although they had a limited budget on both trucks, they have two rigs that are not only impressive in appearance, but are functionally well designed to make the firefighter's job safer and more efficient. Chief Potts credits the guidance of the dealers at Warren Fire, as well as the experience and dedication of the engineers at KME Fire Apparatus, and the perseverance of the firefighters on the committee with helping to restore the pride this 120 year Department has always valued in protecting their community.
With most truck manufacturers and dealers, the story would end there but not with KME and Warren Fire. Although Engine 4 is now almost five years old and the new mid-mount tower, a year old, Ray and Bob from Warren Fire keep in close contact with Chief Potts and his firefighters to make sure the trucks are properly serviced. A preventative maintenance program is in place and any service issue is addressed quickly by Warren Fire's fleet mechanics.
Chief Potts recently stated that "the one thing that has always impressed me about KME is the involvement of their staff..."
"During the pre-build meeting at the plant on both the engine and tower, there were questions that were best answered by going to look at a truck in progress. Each time we asked an employee on the floor about an item, they took the time to answer our questions and make suggestions."
"Jason Behler and Brian Connelly have remained in touch with us even though our projects crossed left their desks a long time ago. When we are adding equipment to the truck as we recently did with a new communications system, both engineers answered the technicians' questions so that the installs went smoothly"