A KME pumper is a pumping fire engine built by Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp, the Pennsylvania manufacturer known as KME. Pumper is a body type rather than a single model: it describes an engine whose main job is to pump water, and KME built them on its own chassis and on chassis bought from other makers.
KME Pumper at a glance
| Maker | Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp (KME) |
|---|---|
| Type | pumping fire engine |
| Example shown | 2005 pumper/rescue, 1750/500 |
| Chassis | KME’s own, or Mack, Ford, Pierce, International, Kenworth |
| Parent company | REV Group |
| Founded | 1946, by John “Sonny” Kovatch, Jr. |
| Vehicles built | more than 10,000 |
| Factory | Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania |
| Factory closed | 2022 |
Pumper is a body type, not a single model, and has no Wikipedia article; this page is based on the single English Wikipedia article on the manufacturer and on the vehicle described in the film below.
History of the KME Pumper
Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp was founded in 1946 by John “Sonny” Kovatch, Jr. and worked from Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania. It describes itself as a builder of custom trucks for automotive, aviation, petro-chemical, industrial, energy, military, police and fire-rescue use, with more than 10,000 vehicles produced.
In the fire service the company’s custom apparatus is built on chassis of its own design — the Predator and the Panther are the two named in its Wikipedia entry — while apparatus can also be mounted on Mack, Ford, Pierce, International or Kenworth chassis. A pumper is one of the bodies that can go on either: the engine carries the pump and the hose, and the chassis underneath is a matter of the department’s choice.
The vehicle in the film below is a 2005 pumper/rescue, a type that combines the pumping engine’s role with rescue equipment. In 2022 the REV Group closed the Nesquehoning factory, and production of KME branded equipment moved to other REV Group facilities, so pumpers of this period come from the company’s original home town.
Design and features
- Pumping engine: the body type built around a fire pump and hose bed.
- Choice of chassis: KME’s own Predator or Panther chassis, or a bought-in Mack, Ford, Pierce, International or Kenworth chassis.
- Pumper/rescue: the example shown combines pumping with rescue equipment.
- Built to order: each vehicle was specified by the department that bought it.
KME Pumper versions
- Pumper: the standard pumping engine.
- Pumper/rescue: a pumper carrying rescue equipment as well, as in the 2005 vehicle filmed.
- Custom-chassis apparatus: pumpers on the Predator or Panther chassis.
- Commercial-chassis apparatus: pumpers on Mack, Ford, Pierce, International or Kenworth chassis.
The custom chassis were the Predator and the Panther; KME also built the Renegade. More of the marque is in the KME collection.
Video: 2005 KME pumper/rescue 1750/500 (R1133)
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp, English Wikipedia: founding, output, chassis, closure
