‘What we do matters because what they do matters’ Milan company serves communities by creating equipment for first responders
By Gretchen Teske – Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa (TNS)
When it comes to storing and moving water, firefighters around the world rely on products made by a company tucked away on 11th Street in Milan.
Based at 1275 W. 11th Street in Milan, FOL-DA-TANK has been a Quad-Cities-based business since 1954, Keith Niebur said. As the chief operating officer, he oversees the company’s 18 employees, making products designed to help fight fires in rural areas.
It’s a “pretty niche business,” he said, and it was started to help solve a niche problem.
In the early 1950s, the company’s founder, Giles Eldred, was working for a small bank in Rock Island when he met a customer applying for a loan to start a business repairing fire trucks. Through conversations, Eldred learned providing and maintaining water in rural areas where fire hydrants were not available was a big problem for local departments, according to the company’s website.
To get around it, firefighters resorted to assembling their ladders into a square then putting a tarp in the middle to create a reservoir to hold the water. The issue stuck in Eldred’s mind for a while until inspiration struck from an unusual source: his daughter’s playpen.
After folding it up one day he thought about the plight local firefighters were facing and thought a similar design could help them. He chose the name FOL-DA-TANK, a play on words to compliment the product, and the manufacturing process began.
“It’s disaster response. We’re here to support fire, rescue, EMS,” Niebur said of the 70-year-old business. “The products we make are intended to help people when they need help.”
That original product, the folding frame tank, is still made today and the product line ranges in size from holding 600 to 5,000 gallons of water at a time. It is the most popular product, with employees cranking out nearly 25 a week, Niebur said.
When they’re not in use, the metal frames around them fold in on one another, similar to a playpen, to make them portable.
“These tanks are engineered to go on fire trucks,” Niebur said, motioning to the brightly colored tanks being assembled on the floor. “They are all standard height across the industry or 29 inches and eight inches when fully collapsed. The only variation is length.”
FOL-DA-TANK has grown its inventory to include a large variety of products and accessories, ranging from flying water tanks to portable tanks to pillow tanks for drinking water. The products all have standard sizes, but can be made to fit the customer’s need if necessary.
Each product has its own specific use. For example, flying tanks are triangle shaped and used mainly by helicopter pilots to fill up tanks in remote locations. The U.S. Forest Service orders dozens of these, Niebur said, specifically for fighting wildfires.
Portable tanks are the original design and pillow tanks, also known as bladder tanks, resemble their name and are large, enclosed tanks with a spout, used for storing fresh drinking water. These are often used in disaster relief.
In late October, workers at the Milan manufacturing facility were hard at work making extra of each to be sent to the East Coast to aid in hurricane clean-up efforts. The company sent 70 pillow tanks capable of holding 3,000 gallons of fresh water each, along with folding frame tanks and other supplies.
Before they can be sent out, the tanks have to be assembled. They start as large pieces of vinyl that are cut down to the size of the order. Workers then use radio-frequency welding to heat and melt the thermodynamic plastics into place to keep them from separating and create a watertight seal.
Pillow tanks then move on to the finishing stage where couplings and a hose are attached to get them ready to hold water. Vinyl that will be turned into a tank goes through a similar process, except handles are fastened onto what will be the bottom of the tank to help make the folding process easier.
On the other side of the shop, workers carefully measure and weld the frames to fit the desired product. Once they have been painted and are ready for assembly, they meet their vinyl counterparts in the lacing department.
Workers loop cords through holes punched in the top of the vinyl and fasten them to the frame. Niebur said this to make it easier on customers who may need to buy a replacement liner, but not the tank. Or, if a frame is damaged, departments can order that replacement part and re-attach the vinyl.
While most metrics with FOL-DA-TANK products are standard, the company has adapted to fit the needs of customers. The foldable tanks, for example, are made to sit flush within a firetruck, so as to not take up extra room and be set up quickly.
For more rural situations, like wildfires, incident command vehicles or even pick-up trucks need to be able to carry tanks to destinations. In that case, FOL-DA-TANK offers a double fold — a tank with an extra set of hinges that makes the tank easier to be placed into a trunk of a vehicle.
With FOL-DA-TANK making universal products, they are meeting a global need, and beyond. Even NASA has purchased tanks to hold xenon gas in their facilities.
FOL-DA-TANK has regular customers in Europe, too, who use the tanks for fighting wildfires. With their roads being more narrow than in the United States, it’s harder to get full firetrucks, or large tanks, through to the site of the fire, Niebur said.
The tanks are also much more cost effective than tanker trucks, especially for countries that face yearly wildfires and will need to reuse them time and time again, he said.
“We’re sending tanks to Colombia, Chile, Mexico. All over the place,” he said. “We try to always level out the peaks and valleys, but there’s a little bit of the busier season in the summer. Right now, this is as busy as we’ve ever been.”
A few years ago the company became more busy when it acquired EVAC Systems and Fire Rescue. The company makes what Niebur calls “a backpack on steroids” for first responders.
The specialty bags and backpacks are designed to fit all the accessories one would need for search and rescue. The bags can fit 200 feet of rope, soft gear, hardware, carabiners and any other accessories needed.
Much like the tanks, the packs start as a role of fabric and are cut, sewn and assembled in-house. Niebur said acquiring the company, originally based in Moline, just felt right considering they are in the same field. FOL-DA-TANK’s mission is to assist communities by assisting first responders, and both of companies get the job done.
“We like to say what we do matters because what they do matters,” Niebur said. “Simply put, we’re here to help.”
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