Pierce Ascendant Class of Aerials

The Ascendant Class of Aerials is a line of aerial fire apparatus built by Pierce Manufacturing.

History & Production[]

The Ascendant was introduced in 2015 originally as a compact single-axle 107-foot rear-mounted steel aerial ladder on a Pierce Enforcer chassis. This original configuration was designed as a "quint".

In 2016, Pierce introduced new chassis options as well as new body configurations for the single-axle Ascendant. Chassis options now included the Arrow XT, Impel, and Velocity. Body configurations now included the Texas Chute Out; a quint configuration with side-stacked hosebed and a "truck" configuration, with no pump and no tank. Pierce also introduced the PUC pump with the quint or Texas Chute Out body styles.

In 2017, Pierce expanded the Ascendant brand by introducing the Ascendant Class of Aerials: a series of new configurations including a 107' tandem rear axle ladder, 107' tractor-drawn, and 110' rear-mount platform on either a single or tandem rear axle. The first 107' tractor-drawn Ascendant was produced for the West Covina Fire Department.

In 2018, Pierce introduced another addition to the Ascendant Class of Aerials: the Ascendant 100' Heavy-Duty Tower, a 100' mid-mounted 5-section aerial platform. The Ascendant tower boasts a shorter overall length than Pierce's traditional 100' rear-mount platform and the 95' mid-mount platform, allowing for increased maneuverability and reduced tail-swing. The Ascendant tower also features integrated ground pads on the stabilizer jacks for faster setup of the aerial.

Between 2018 and 2019, Pierce built several tractor-drawn aerials for the Philadelphia Fire Department. These custom tillers were built with 102' "Ascendant style" ladders that featured no fixed waterway and similar characteristics to the 107' tiller. Since 2019, the 102' ladder has also been used on tillers for various departments, including Long Beach Fire Department (California), Levittown Fire Department (New York), and San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.

In the years since its introduction, the Ascendant has become a very popular apparatus for fire departments, and a highly successful product for Pierce; with several hundred units currently in service across the United States and Canada.

Configurations & Specifications[]

Payload capacities are denoted by firefighter weight + equipment allowance

	100' Heavy-Duty Aerial Tower (100' AAT)	102' Heavy-Duty Tiller	107' Heavy-Duty Tiller	107' Heavy-Duty Ladder (107' ASL)	110' Heavy-Duty Platform
Production	2018-present	2018-present	2017-present	2015-present (single axle) 2017-present (tandem axle)	2017-present
Configuration Style	Mid-Mount Aerial	Tractor-Drawn Aerial		Rear-Mount Aerial
Custom Chassis	Arrow XT (2018-2023) Enforcer (2022-) Velocity (2018-)	Arrow XT (2018-2023) Enforcer (2022-) Velocity (2022-)	Arrow XT (2017-2023) Enforcer (2017-) Quantum (2017-2023) Velocity (2017-)	Arrow XT (2016-2023) Enforcer (2015-) Impel (2016-) Quantum (tandem axle, 2017-2023) Velocity (2016-)	Arrow XT (2017-2023) Enforcer (2017-) Impel (2017-) Quantum (tandem axle, 2017-2023) Velocity (2017-)
Aerial Extension Capacity	100' vertical 93' horizontal	102' vertical 95' horizontal	107' vertical 100' horizontal		110' vertical 90' horizontal
Operating Range	-20° to 77°	-10° to 77°
Payload Capacity	1000+150 lbs. dry 500+150 lbs. wet	750+100 lbs. dry 500+100 lbs. wet
Water Flow Capacity	2000 US GPM	1000 US GPM (ladder pipe only)	1500 US GPM		1250 US GPM
Stabilizers	1 pair of H-style outriggers + 2 pairs of downriggers	1 pair of H-style outriggers		1 pair of H-style outriggers + 1 downrigger (single axle) 1 pair of H-style outriggers + 1 pair of downriggers (tandem axle)
Outrigger Spread	18'	17'		18' (single axle) 16' (tandem axle)
Body Styles	Quint Truck			Quint Truck Texas Chute Out
Water Tank Capacity	Up to 300 US gallons			Up to 500 US gallons (single axle) Up to 750 US gallons (tandem axle)
PUC pump	N/A	Available

Gallery[]

External Links[]