The Big Walnut Joint Fire District are now featuring two new additions to their emergency response fleet. BWJFD along with local residents, put the new engine and brush truck in service at the Marengo Station recently.
The need for the purchases became evident last year when the oldest trucks in the fleet began having structural issues that were beyond repair, leaving those units unavailable to respond to emergency calls. The remaining emergency vehicles had to be juggled between both stations in Marengo and Chesterville to accommodate the residents in our district.
To remedy the situation Big Walnut Joint Fire District Fire Chief Lauri Lovell approached the board with a truck replacement and purchase program.
Together, the BWJFD fireboard, Fire Chief and Truck Committee scheduled visits with multiple emergency apparatus manufacturers which included test driving demo vehicles, sorting through vehicle specifications and evaluating quotes.
The first purchase was a 2016 Sutphen Guardian Engine/Rescue from and manufactured by The Sutphen Corporation in Dublin, OH. Engine/Rescue 30 is equipped to transport six firefighters, 1000 gallons of water, fire suppression foam and compartments full of rescue and fire suppression equipment.