The new truck is 35½ feet long and 10½ feet tall, making it three feet longer than the now-retired 2000 rescue truck. The new truck gives firefighters six more feet, or 50 percent more storage space for rope, building and confined space rescue equipment, which was being stored in a trailer.  

The new rescue truck was jointly purchased by the City of Kearney and the Suburban Fire Protection District No. 1 for $590,000. The old truck was sold to a fire truck broker in Pennsylvania for $75,000.

The truck can pump 1,500 gallons of water per minute, and can also dispense fire-suppressing foam through all three of its 1.5-inch nozzles. It has deck guns that can be operated remotely, more compartment space for a variety of equipment, and tire chains that can be deployed in bad road conditions with the touch of a button, among other features.  

It has a 1,500-watt light tower with its own built-in generator, which Batis said will increase safety at vehicle accident scenes, especially on the freeway. Whereas the lighting systems on the city’s other trucks use halogen bulbs, Rescue 31’s lights are state-of-the-art LEDs.

The E-One truck from First Connections Inc. is what Mayor Lee Berry calls the Swiss Army knife of fire trucks — a pumper, tanker and rescue vehicle in one. That’s just what Ellerbe needs, Berry and Fire Chief Will Barber said Wednesday.

 

Because Ellerbe firefighters are volunteers, only one or two firefighters may respond immediately to a call — most have other jobs — and would need access to an array of equipment before more help arrived, he said.

The new 17,150-square-foot station will include four bays with a “contemporary look to compliment the urban feel of Reston Town Center,” according to plans submitted to the county this month.  

The current 7,750-square-foot fire station is “grossly undersized” with only two-and-a-half bays, leaving little room for storing equipment and managing additional responders and units. Service demands are also expected to increase as construction and residential development rapidly expands in the immediate area, according to the plans.

The Herbert Wallace Memorial Volunteer Fire Department engine bore Spears and Lyons signs when it appeared in the NOMTOC parade Feb. 10 in Algiers, according to a photo on Spears' Facebook page. A Wallace truck bearing a Spears campaign sign also appeared in an earlier parade.  

Jefferson Parish outlaws parade displays that endorse political candidates. New Orleans bans "advertising of any kind" in parades and specifically forbids throws with a "political or religious message."  

Spears has a history of supporting NOMTOC, however, as well as the volunteer fire departments in his district. He sponsored a council resolution giving $50,000 to the krewe to put on a Christmas parade Dec. 9 in Marrero.