Pumper truck finds its way to Hillsboro

Hillsboro Fire Chief Ben Steketee poses by the 2004 Pierce four-wheel drive pumper truck that arrived in Hillsboro Aug. 13. The truck primarily will serve the needs of the rural townships that are part of the city?s fire-protection agreement.Christmas Day arrived Aug. 13 evening for the Hillsboro Fire Depart?ment, as it finally received the gift it has been anticipating for more than five months.
The 2004 Pierce four-wheel-drive pumper truck the city purchased in late March from Brindlee Moun?tain Fire Apparatus in Union Grove, Ala., finally rolled into Hillsboro to officially join the local fleet.
?It?s an amazing feeling,? Fire Chief Ben Steketee said. ?When you?ve been anticipating it for a long time, and then it shows up?I felt like a kid at Christmas.?
He said the Pierce is a $200,000 ?gift? that should keep on giving for at least the next 25 years for residents of the city and especially for the surrounding townships.
?We?re confident that we?ll be able to put fires out better with this truck,? Steketee said.
City/rural cooperation
The acquisition of the truck was initiated under the provisions of a 2013 fire-protection contract between Hillsboro, the city of Lehigh and surrounding townships.
A budget of $250,000 was allocated to buy a new pum?per truck, and a committee within the fire depart?ment began to search for one.
?We started to learn pretty quickly that with the budget we were given?it was a generous budget for the city of Hillsboro?but when you talk about purchasing a (new) fire truck, it was coming up a little bit short.
?We would have been able to get a truck, but it would have been stripped down and not have the features that we felt we needed,? he added.
The committee began looking for used trucks and found this one through an Internet search. It had every feature the department wanted, including four-wheel-drive.
Four members of the committee, which included professional mechanics, traveled to Alabama to inspect the vehicle. Several mechanical issues were discovered, but all repairs would be covered within the agreed-upon price of $198,100.
Steketee said the Pierce has around 80,000 miles on it, but reasonably could be expected to last 25 years and 300,000 more miles.
For a variety of reasons, making the requested repairs to the truck took longer than either party expected.
?It?s been great working with the company,? Steketee said. ?We had some struggles. At one point they told us it was ready, and we went?and it wasn?t quite ready. A lot of it had to with the air conditioning. But they made it right and made sure it was done correctly.?
When the truck was ready, the company provided the driver to cover the 850 miles from Union Grove to Hillsboro
Rural protection
Technically, the township fire board will be paying for the truck?which came at a relative bargain price.
?We?re very lucky in Hillsboro,? Steketee said. ?Both the city government and rural government have supported us very, very well. In turn, we want to work hard to give them the best for their money. We feel this truck does that.?
Steketee said the Brindlee Mountain salesman told him the cost to buy a new truck with the same specifications as the used model would be $600,000.
?It?s 10 years old, but with 10 years you gain about $400,000,? Steketee said. ?It?s a Pierce fire truck, which means it?s got a lot of history behind it.
With four-wheel-drive, the new truck will enable firefighters to access areas they otherwise couldn?t reach.
?Our rural customers are the ones who need this truck?and four-wheel drive is important,? Steketee said.
?It?s not an off-road (truck). We?re not using it for brush fires or grass fires. But in the event there?s a fire that we wouldn?t be able to get to without four-wheel drive, then this is a great option to have.?
The newly acquired truck can pump considerably more water faster than the department?s old truck, Steketee said.
It also has numerous features that contribute to firefighter safety and health, including an extended air-conditioned cabin near the front of the truck.
?Now, firefighters can come into this cabin, take their coats off and cool down?and then be able to get back into the fire fight if need be,? Steketee said.
Other safety features include more ergonomically designed procedures to handle firefighter equipment such as hoses and ladders.
Transitions
The new pumper truck will be housed at the former AMPI building owned by the city. The old pumper truck has been given to Lehigh?s fire department.
?The other (pumper) truck still works?it still passes its pump test, it runs,? Steketee said. ?There?s nothing really wrong with it other than it?s getting old and it?s time to replace it.
?We?re happy to give it to Lehigh Fire so they?ll have something useful. Plus, it?s still in our area. If we need it, we can still call on it.?
In the meantime, the Hillsboro department is learning how to operate the various features on the Pierce. Volunteers met this past Saturday for training.
?We?re anxious to get it incorporated into our fleet,? Steketee of the Pierce.
The lower-than-expected price for the pumper truck has left enough money in the budget to replace the chassis on the department?s rescue truck.
During the transition, Steketee said the new pumper truck will serve as the city?s rescue truck.
?Once (the rescue truck project is) finished, we?ll have our fleet back to where it belongs,? Steketee said.
He said that should happen within the next month or two.

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