There are seat belts. It’s warm in the cab. The jump seats are enclosed.
Volunteer firefighters Callie Saulniers and Kelly Crosen excitedly ticked off benefits as they sat in the shiny red fire truck’s spacious cab.
North Whitefield Fire Chief Tim Pellerin and Capt. Bryan Ross drove the brand new 2010 E-1 pumper from Brunswick to the North Whitefield station late Friday afternoon. Sounding the air horns and siren, they were greeted by a dozen eager firefighters.
For Ross, the vehicle, awarded to the town through a federal grant, is “a big step up.” Town Chief Jim Brann commented, “It’s a big addition to the town’s fire department.”
Recalling the town’s acquisition of the 2005 E-1 pumper that is housed in and operated out of Kings Mills and an E-1 pumper Coopers Mills VFD owns, Brann added, “There were so many years of trying to make do with what you’ve got. Now we’ve got three very good engines.”
At March town meeting, voters approved an additional $20,000 from surplus to outfit the latest truck with new ladders, hose and other equipment.
Chief Pellerin pointed proudly to the pump-powered extrication device in the rear compartment and the scene lights atop the tall truck. “They’re the best you can put on, just like daylight,” he said. Describing response to a car accident, Pellerin explained. “You roll up, turn the scene lights on, get the ‘jaws of life’ rolling. No fooling with cords.”
The seatbacks behind the front seats have space for air packs so that fully equipped personnel can ride to an emergency, ready to go upon arrival.
And there are some ornamental features as well. Besides the gold leaf lettering, there is a more somber reminder of the firefighter’s mission. A decal shaped like a badge reads “We Will Never Forget,” commemorating the first call, rung from the Vesey Street and Church Street fire alarm box in lower Manhattan, when planes struck the World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001.
Pellerin focuses on “the benefits we can bring to the scene with this truck.” They add up, in his summation, to “a break for Whitefield taxpayers” – but they are also a boon to firefighters. No more struggling into air packs at the scene of a structure fire, no more riding exposed in wet, cold weather.
The suspense of watching Ross carefully back the engine into the station broke when the light bar atop the cab cleared the door opening by inches. Cheers went up. Pellerin had instructed the manufacturer to reduce the size of the bar to make the truck fit.
By midweek, after some driver training and transfer of equipment from the old truck, Pellerin expected “she’ll be ready to go on the first call.”