CARBONDALE — If you see a shiny new fire truck on the road in Carbondale, you’re not imagining things.

The Carbondale Fire Department held a dedication ceremony on Thursday afternoon for Fire Engine 6, a 2025 model rescue pumper truck that replaces a retiring engine.

“This is a very big moment, and something that we’re very proud of that’s going to serve the citizens of Carbondale for upwards of 20-25 years,” Carbondale Fire Chief Rob Miller said.

The new engine — replacing a 1996 model engine, as the department aims for a lifespan of a little over two decades with each vehicle — joins a fleet of three engines, two ladder trucks and one rescue truck.

Its role as a rescue pumper truck means that it will be able to carry out the duties of a traditional fire engine, while simultaneously carrying a variety of equipment that would typically be found on a rescue truck.

During the dedication ceremony, Carbondale residents helped push the truck into the station’s garage on College Street.

Miller said the practice is an homage to the early days of firefighting.

“Whenever the horse-drawn carriages would come back to the fire station, they would unhitch the horses and the firefighters would push their carriage back into the station,” Miller said. “The community would help push that stagecoach back into the firehouse.”

Additionally, residents rinsed off the engine with a provided commemorative towel. Pastor Bob Gray delivered a brief blessing.

As he invited the community to lend a hand in dedicating the fire engine, Miller emphasized the relationship between Carbondale and the fire department that serves the city.

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“The fire station is a part of your neighborhoods,” Miller said. “This firehouse is always open. It’s a very busy place. We have a lot of people going in and out just from the community, and it’s part of home.”

Miller thanked city staff in attendance, particularly Mayor Carolin Harvey and City Manager Stan Reno, for their help in getting the department a new truck.

Reno and Harvey joined several city employees and a few councilmembers in participating in the dedication ceremony.

“I know it’s well needed, and this is an important piece of equipment that will last a long time,” Reno said. “I hope that it brings more safety and resources and support to the fire department for the community at large.”

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The city of Peoria paid $3.2 million for a new 100-foot ladder truck, replacing Truck 1, and two new pumpers, 25newsnow.com reported.

The old ladder truck will be sold at auction, according to the report.

• Peoria (IL) Marks 150 Years as a Paid Career Fire Department

Pumper Specifications

Chassis	Impel®
Body	Pumper
Actual Overall Height	9′ 9″
Engine	Cummins L9
Horsepower	450 hp
Front Suspension	TAK-4® Independent Front Suspension
Rear Suspension	Spring
Electrical System	Command Zone™
Pump	Waterous Midship
Pump GPM	1250 gpm
Tank	Water
Tank Size	500 gallons

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At approximately 7:15 p.m. Thursday, May 22, Suisun City (CA) firefighters heard unusual noises and observed individuals inside the apparatus bay of the fire station, the Suisun City Fire Department said in a Facebook post. Upon investigation, one of the firefighters witnessed a male subject attempting to steal tools from the station’s maintenance shop.

The suspect, described as a Hispanic male, fled the scene with two additional individuals who appeared to be juvenile males. Firefighters were able to recover cordless power tools that had been placed in a bicycle basket before the trio fled the area.

The incident was immediately reported to the Suisun City Police Department. Officers responded promptly and conducted a search of the surrounding area. The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information related to this incident is urged to contact the Suisun City Police Department’s non-emergency line at (707) 421-7373.

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Oxygen-gasoline torches have been found to perform very well and cut faster than oxygen-acetylene/propane torches. They have been around for decades. They run on a several types of liquid fuel (most commonly gasoline) and oxygen. The fuel is delivered to the torch through hoses from a pressurized gas tank (hand pumped) and a cylinder of oxygen.

The fuel tank is pressurized by a built-in hand pump. Use only fresh fuel and flush the lines if liquid fuel is going to sit in the lines for even a few days. White gas or camp fuel is cleaner and lasts longer.

The fuel and oxygen are combined in a mixer in the head of the torch. The fuel mixture travels to the tip of the torch, where it is lit. After a few seconds of heating, the tip of the torch becomes hot enough to vaporize the gasoline in the tip. Unlike acetylene and propane, you purposely hold the flame tip against the metal to heat the tip. The rapid expansion results in a high-velocity stream of highly combustible oxygen/ gas vapor that fuels the cutting flame of the torch.

Vaporization of the fuel in the tip is an endothermic process that reduces overheating of the tip and extends its life. In this way, this torch is safer because the fuel is liquid all the way to the tip, making a flashback impossible. The torch doesn’t come with a flashback arrestor on the fuel line.

Gasoline vapors, like propane, are heavier than air. Vapors will settle to the ground and flow similar to a liquid. This is why gasoline vapors tend to find their way into drains, sewer lines, basements, and other low spots. Stay alert and monitor; keep the area ventilated.

1 To light this torch, turn the fuel valve and the oxygen valve both halfway on, and light the mist. Once lit, place the tip directly on the work piece. (Photos by author.)

2 Build pressure to deliver the fuel by pumping the black knob handle to the pressure corresponding to the installed tip according to a tip chart.

Gasoline is more efficient than equal amounts of acetylene (2U gallons gasoline = 250 cubic feet acetylene). It is also less expensive and cuts thicker metal. Cutting through rust, debris, stainless steel, concrete-caked rebar, some exotic metals, and across air gaps is not a problem, whereas an oxygen- acetylene/propane torch does not do as well in the same situations. There are even high-heat tips that allow it to burn several kinds of liquid fuels, including diesel, biodiesel, kerosene, and military jet propellant (JP) 8, 5, and 24.

LIGHTING AND CUTTING

The liquid fuel mist created by the mixing in the tip and pressure from the oxygen can be hard to ignite. Sometimes your striker will become wet with gasoline, making sparks impossible. Hold the striker a bit off to the side of the mist to ignite.

To light this torch, turn the fuel valve and the oxygen valve both halfway on, and light the mist. Once lit, place the tip directly on the work piece, something you should not do with an acetylene or a propane torch. Do this to heat the tip to help vaporize the liquid fuel. As the tip heats the flame, quality will improve. If needed, slowly add fuel to develop an orange star pattern flaring from the tip 2 to 3 inches round. As the tip is against the work piece, it should begin to reach kindling temperature. Readjust (only using the fuel valve) as needed to produce a dark blue inner flame of about ¼ inch long. Better too much fuel than too much oxygen. Once properly adjusted, this flame will sound loud and aggressive. If this torch doesn’t light and adjust

The ending to my three-part Homemade Fire Trucks series necessitates reiterating there is no recommendation that fire departments should build, repurpose, or recondition fire apparatus in-house. That is strictly their decision. It is also their decision if the finished product has to, or should, comply with any rules, regulations, or voluntary consensus standards that may be applicable in their jurisdictions. I’m not going there. Comments are personal observations on homemade apparatus and, in particular, of an interesting one in Cummington, Massachusetts.

• Cantankerous Wisdom: Homemade Fire Trucks, Part 2—Timeout!
• Cantankerous Wisdom: Homemade Fire Trucks, Part 1

Raisin Squad members at morning coffee capable of reading the first two parts continued unleashing unfounded comments from Hades about Cummington’s rig, the concept, yours truly, and most of my family members: “There ain’t any ladders – they can’t call it a ladder truck. It’s gotta have lights and sirens cause it’s got official license plates. They oughta buy a real one. Using a rig like that is a stupid idea.” 

A rational response could be: There are no rules for lettering fire trucks. They can call it whatever they want. If it’s not calling for the right of way, it doesn’t need lights and sirens (photo 1). Many fire departments have official license plates on vehicles that don’t respond to alarms in an emergency mode.  Included could be fleet maintenance and repair vehicles, station maintenance and resupply rigs, tow trucks, snow plows, and administrative vehicles. Perhaps they can’t afford a real ladder truck. And a real one might not be practical for their district. Raisins traveling to the Windy City shouldn’t offend the late Commissioner Quinn and the Chicago (IL) Fire Department by saying he had a stupid idea. Chicago started it all with the same type rig Cummington has, and Chicago still uses variations of it today.  

Cummington’s Start: Maintaining lighting on fields used for parking around the local fairgrounds is the Cummington Fire Association’s major source of income. In the late 1990s, it acquired a former military 1975 International Hi-Ranger 45-foot bucket truck to do so. Because many homes in the Berkshires have metal or slate roofs to shed snow, members considered using it for chimney fires. The intent was to reduce having to carry ground ladders through deep snow to big, old farm houses and using roof ladders on slippery roofs. After one winter, they found it lacked the necessary reach when contending with snow banks on narrow roads and snow piles in driveways. 

It was replaced with an all-wheel-drive 1995 International Altec 55-foot bucket truck formerly used by a municipal electric light department. Altec (https://www.altec.com/products/cranes) has been around since 1929. It is a worldwide provider of hydraulic devices such as lifts, derricks, booms, cranes, and bucket trucks for commercial markets. Included are telecommunications, utilities, and tree care. Their concept is the precursor for most platform-equipped aerial devices used by today’s fire departments. 

Cummington’s rig does triple-duty. Still used by the association to raise money, it also performs public relation missions, such as helping residents remove down trees from driveways and roofs, removing ice dams on roofs, and helping homeowners cover wind-caused damage. It’s been used to raise a heavy cast bell up and down into a church’s bell tower, and it performs the time-honored feline res