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PLAINS TWP. — The holidays came almost a month early to the township fire department, as their new pumper truck arrived in December.
The new truck replaces a 1995 pumper, which was traded in to First Choice Fire Apparatus towards the cost of the new truck. Rob Sax, chairman of the township’s Board of Commissioners, said he hopes this new vehicle will last the township 20 years.
Sax said the township took out a $400,000 loan to purchase the new vehicle for the department. The township has also applied for a Local Share Account (gaming) grant to help defray the cost.
“We appreciate the commissioners,” said Mark Ritsick, deputy chief of the township’s fire department.
Ritsick and several other firefighters agreed to show off their newly acquired equipment one recent morning.
Plains Township Fire Department responds to approximately 1,500 calls a year, and officials estimate the new pumper truck will respond to about 90 percent of them. It took two after the truck was delivered from the factory to put it into service because the 16 full-time and six part-time crew members had to mount equipment and train on the vehicle.
The truck was ready to hit the township streets on Dec. 18.
“The ‘95 was like a tank, this (new pumper) is a Cadillac,” firefighter Jarrod Million said about driving the new truck, noting a backup camera was also installed on the vehicle.
Ritsick said members of the department knew for three years they were going to need a new truck, and they set up a commission whose members worked with the commissioners for the past year to design the truck to the township’s needs.
“We all have a wish list (of what we wanted to see),” township firefighter Larry Long said.
Million said new features on the department’s wish list that made the cut include a lower hose bed, lower attack lines, more scene lighting and a larger pump that can handle at least 2,000 gallons per minute.
“It’s new technology,” said Long, who is one of the newer department firefighters. “It’s ease of use.”
The township also bought the department some new tools, including a battery-powered Jaws of Life set — a device used to free drivers from their vehicles after crashes — and a new hose.
Because the dynamics of firefighting change rapidly, a new truck benefits everyone. Ritsick said that because of issues with transmission on the old pumper as well as everyday “wear and tear,” the reliability went down. And, Sax said, the purchase was important for the township and residents when an emergency situation arises.
While members trained, the truck was stationed at the Fox Hill station. But the pumper will normally be housed at the Main Street station, Ritsick said.
