The firefighters at the Perrysville Volunteer Fire Company, Station 248, still are giddy about the new fire engine they commissioned into service Oct. 10.
“It's a beautiful apparatus all around,” said firefighter David Hollenberger, 23, of West View.
The custom-built 22-ton pumper holds six firefighters in its spacious crew cab, 750 gallons of water, 50 gallons of firefighting foam and 1,850 feet of fire hose. It can pump water at a rate of 2,000 gallons per minute.
The 450-horsepower motor has been tweaked to provide more muscle for climbing Pittsburgh-area hills.
And at 32 feet long and 9 feet, 10 inches tall, the vehicle is a foot higher than the previous fire engine.
“It just clears the beams coming in the door,” said firefighter Bob Hunt, 60, of Ross.
But what makes this fire engine truly unusual is its two ladder racks, said Hollenberger, adding that one rack is the standard for firetrucks.
“We added a second rack and set it up strictly for quick search-and-rescue operations for victims on the upper levels of a structure. It has a specific set of tools connected to the rack, including a Halligan bar (a forcible-entry tool) and New York roof hook (a tool used to ventilate rooftops).”
With a flip of the switch, the racks lower to shoulder height so firefighters do not have to reach overhead to access the equipment.
“This is the first time we designed a truck for a purpose. Before, we took something standard and made it work. This time, we made it for the types of buildings we have here in Ross, the topography of this area and senior high-rise structures. Every single tool that is mounted on it was planned,” said Assist-ant Chief Dave Snyder, who was chairman of the 12-member truck committee, composed of firefighters from the station, which helped choose all the specifications and features of the new truck.
“We had to consider 400 line items, each one an individual choice we had to make, ranging from paint color to type of headlight. It took a lot of planning,” said Snyder, 30, of Ross.
It took one and a half years of planning, to be exact.
The order was placed with Sutphen Corp. in Dublin, Ohio, in December.
The price tag was $532,000.
The fire engine was partially funded through three years worth of fundraising letters sent to residents and local businesses.
“A lot of it will be financed over the next 20 years,” Snyder said.
The new engine replaces a 1989 model that was beginning to require frequent repairs.
“It was nickel and diming us. We try to replace apparatus every 20 years for that reason,” Hollenberger said.
The other current pumper, a 1998 Pierce model, will not pass inspection this year until it receives $60,000 worth of repairs, he said.
The third vehicle at the station is a 2001 squad truck.
On Oct. 10, Hunt drove the new firetruck, Engine 1, on its five-hour journey from the manufacturer in Ohio to its new home in the Perrysville section of Ross.
As he approached the fire station, he blared the sirens and blasted the horns for the two dozen firefighters eagerly awaiting his arrival. The Rev. Christopher Mannerino from St. Teresa of Avila Parish was present to bless the truck and firefighters.
The firefighters then performed a traditional “push-in” ceremony — in which the vehicle was pushed into its stall — as a way to honor firefighters of the past and pay homage to the days when early hand-drawn fire engines, ladder wagons and hose carts had to be pushed back into the station manually.
“This truck is much better than the old one,” Hunt said. “It's nice and quiet. It has good visibility. It handles nicely, is easy to control and holds the road nice. It's basically a dream.”
Laurie Rees is a freelance writer for Trib Total Media.
