The new trucks will have the latest and safest equipment and better technology, "all of which will help us do our job better," Monroe Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Kevin Catalano said.

At a town meeting Monday, residents approved spending $3.8 million for the new trucks in a vote of 44-2. No one spoke against the plan, Catalano said.

“We are very thankful that the town supported this so we can get this moving,” he said in a telephone interview.

According to Catalano, the five trucks will be spread across the three fire departments in town -- two will go to Stepney, two to Stevenson and one to Monroe.

One is a ladder truck, one is a rescue truck, one is a tanker and two are engines.

“We will be upgrading the fleet,” Catalano said. “The new trucks will replace much older trucks -- some of them go back to the late 1980s and early 1990s."

These older trucks are still in operation, but they have started to feel their age, according to Catalano.

"Once the trucks get older, they become less reliable as maintenance and repair costs spike.

“The more we can try to fleet newer trucks, the less downtime there will be for maintenance and the safer the trucks are to ride,” he said.

The department then spent most of a year reviewing specifications for the truck it wanted and reviewing manufacturers. The order for the truck was placed in September 2015.

It took more than a year for the 39-foot pumper-tanker to be delivered, arriving last November and going into service on Dec. 28.

Firefighters have been training on the new truck, which replaced two other vehicles — a 1987 engine and a 1989 tanker.

The new truck is three-fourths the length of the department's aerial truck, Davis said. It is housed at the department's McPherson Highway fire station.

The truck has been outfitted with equipment that boosted its price tag to $602,000, which will be paid by the city. Once the pumper-tanker arrived, firefighters outfitted it with new hose and other equipment.

"We probably had another $12,000 we added," Davis said.

This new truck carries 2,500 gallons of water. Overall, it cost less or the same as replacing the two trucks that were retired. In looking at the need for this one truck, the department considered maintenance of one vehicle rather than two, as well as available manpower.

"I can get this truck to a fire with limited manpower," Davis pointed out. That was an important point in a volunteer fire department, he said.

The Rosenbauer AT appliance will be stationed at Blackburn and Burnley fire stations for six months each as part of the year-long trial.

A fire service spokesman said: “We have taken advantage of Rosenbauer’s technology used on aircraft firefighting ‘Panther’ fire engines to incorporate into the vehicle.

“This includes the ‘stinger’ piercing tool as part of the package and the fire service will carry out trials to evaluate its capability in domestic and commercial firefighting situations.

“The tool was designed to hammer its way through aircraft fuselages to pump water inside but we intend to use it to penetrate roofing materials to deliver water within a building’s roof.

The fire service have taken the vehicle on a commercial lease basis, with an option to purchase.

The vehicle’s inside space has been designed to accommodate crew, breathing apparatus sets and all the other equipment.

Before stepping out, glass doors give crew members a view of any possible obstruction outside.

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Fire engine struck by passing motorist while responding to crash in Riverside

Posted: Jan 26, 2017

Fire engine struck by passing motorist while responding to crash in Riverside

A Riverside Fire Department engine responding to a traffic collision in the city was involved in a crash itself when a passing motorist hit the engine Tuesday morning, Jan. 24. Firefighters responded to a rear-end crash reported at Columbia Avenue near Clark Street about 8:30 a.m., said Training Capt. Tim Odebralski.

While the crew was evaluating and treating the patients there, another vehicle drove up and struck engine.

Odebralski said he isn't sure why the driver hit the fire truck, adding that its lights were activated and traffic cones were set out. The Riverside Police Department is investigating the crash's cause.

The driver was evaluated by medical staff already at the scene, Odebralski said, and refused further treatment. Nobody else was injured from that crash, but one person was hospitalized from the initial rear-end collision.

The engine has some front-end damage. The department's maintenance crew will work on it while the crew that usually uses it will temporarily drive a reserve engine.

When firefighters respond to a traffic collision, they park their engine at an angle to block the incident from passing motorists.

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