The Danbury Fire Department has a new fire apparatus that Chief Richard Thode called the swiss army knife of trucks. It not only carries rescue tools, but also is a pumper.
It was blessed yesterday.
The Danbury Fire Department, seeking to avoid supply chain issues and an expected double-digit manufacturers increase, bought a new rescue pumper that was the early stages of construction, with the parts purchased months earlier. The City Council signed off on $881,000 in November. Had the Council not agreed to the spending request, Thode said that would have set the Department back two years. Pierce Manufacturing is the largest fire apparatus manufacturer in the world and built all of the City's apparatus.
Danbury's oldest truck, a 2006, has over 12,000 engine hours and 110,000 miles. The estimate for repairs came in at between $35,000 and $40,000. The Department's 2007 Pierce Rescue truck did not see the severe service call volume the pumper did and is coming up for a complete refurbishment at a cost of $300,000. By purchasing this new truck, the 2007 can be placed in Special Call status, prolong its life.
Lt. Kevin Lunnie says each tool has a dedicated shelf and is mounted. The firefighters designed and personalized the truck to make it work efficiently for them. One feature is two seats in the back with air packs on them, so firefighters sitting there can put the straps on and just get out of the truck. The driver's pack is mounted inside so that firefighter doesn't have to climb up into the truck, get into the seat and strap an airpack on. He notes that this truck is significantly higher than some of the older engines so this was done from an ergonomic standpoint and as a time saver. This particular truck normally comes with two more seats, but they opted to remove them to have other items available in the cab.
Lunnie says all of the shelving, mounting, and boards were reconfigured and custom built for the City to suit their needs.
The truck carries tools such as the Jaws of Life, rope equipment, ice rescue gear and stabilization tools. The ropes and ice suits and other soft goods in cabinets inside the truck to protect them from the elements. There are also battery charges for the equipment. The hose lines are preconnected to the pump. A high rise pack can be brought to upper floors and hooked into a standpipe so they don't have to connect preconnected hose on the fire truck.
Lunnie says Engine 21 has a small medical district, but responds to all structure fires, technical rescues, machine accidents, trench rescues and boating accidents as part of the marine unit.
