Department leadership had sought to buy a new pumper truck and replace a leaking tank on a water truck the department has owned since the 1990s. The two new trucks would have been built by Custom Fab and Body, an apparatus supplier located in Shawano County, for slightly more than $523,000 for the pair.

 

Last month, the fire board proposed taking $323,000 from the department's truck replacement fund to pay for the work, leaving a balance in the fund of around $60,000. The three towns' boards would then be asked to borrow the $200,000 difference to pay for completing the trucks.

While the old truck featured a boom with a bucket, the new truck has a boom, bucket and a ladder. The truck also has room for additional equipment, including the hydraulic rescue tool known as the Jaws of Life, hoses, tarps, extinguishers, fans and extra “ground ladders.”

“Typically, whenever we’re responding to a fire at a two-story house, we go around and ladder all the windows,” Flynn said. “It gives firefighters another way to exit the building if they have to get out in a hurry.”

Having the increased reach of the new truck’s boom also allows for tactics such as vertical ventilation, where firefighters can be deployed on a structure’s roof. The firefighters can then open vents or cut holes in the roof, which allows heat and smoke to escape, Flynn said.