The Mercury, Pottstown, Pa.
(MCT)
Nov. 2—Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue finalized the purchase of a $900,000 Pierce Enforcer pumper fire truck.
Jake Bachman, account manager from Glick Fire Equipment, met with the Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue Truck Committee (President Roger Lehmann, Vice President Mark Malizzi, Fire Chief Greg Deiterich and Fire Commissioner G. Jeffrey Bealer) on Oct. 17 to sign the contract.
The Pierce Enforcer pumper will be custom-built in Wisconsin over the next 27 months.
The truck will replace a 20-year-old engine that was obtained from Liberty Fire Company in the merger of three fire companies in 2014.
“The new truck was designed specifically for our service area,” said Bealer. “It will be equipped with a compressed air foam system which has worked for BAF&R at many fires. The benefit of foam causes less damage to the home and helps with keeping the fire from reigniting.”
A portion of the funds used for the down payment is from the sale of the rescue engine, originally funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA granted the company permission to sell the rescue engine and retain the funds for use towards the pumper. FEMA will retain an interest in the new pumper equal to the amount of $261,331.24.
Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue will be collecting donations and holding fundraisers to pay off $400,000, the balance owed to finalize the purchase of a $900,000 pierce enforcer pumper. In the planning stages currently is a Valentine’s Dance to be held at the Friendship Hook and Ladder Company. Details will be available on the Boyertown Area Fire and Rescue’s Facebook page closer to the event.
Bealer offers his thanks to the organization’s legacy companies.
“We would like to thank our legacy companies for all that they do for us financially as well as providing space for us to meet and food at times. We have a great relationship with all of our legacy companies — Friendship Hook & Ladder, Liberty, and Keystone Steam.”
The effort to merge three fire companies serving the Boyertown area came to fruition on July 1, 2014, when the new Boyertown Area Fire & Rescue began operations. Boyertown Area Fire & Rescue merged Friendship Hook & Ladder and Keystone Steam #1 Company, both located in Boyertown, and the Liberty Fire Company of New Berlinville.
According to Bealer, the three companies had been working together for several years to combine their firefighting operations, consolidate the volunteer force, share resources, and minimize financial obligations. The resulting Boyertown Area Fire & Rescue serves the borough along with Colebrookdale and a portion of Douglass (Berks) townships. Boyertown Area Fire & Rescue is also supported by the three municipalities financially to help cover the normal operating cost of the fire company.
Bealer said merging the companies addressed a number of problems the groups faced, including a lack of volunteers.
“They were all competing for volunteers and by combining them together, everybody gets to use the same resources,” he explained.
The approximately 100-member all-volunteer fire department is funded by donations, fundraisers and by each of the municipalities it serves. Each of the companies has continued to operate its social quarters in support of the new department.
Today, operations are conducted out of two stations under one administration; the Reading Avenue station located at North Reading Avenue and Rowell Road in Colebrookdale Township and the&