Rockport seals deal for $374,360 fire truck

By Jonathan L'Ecuyer
Staff Writer

October 25, 2008 05:30 am

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ROCKPORT — A new, custom-made fire truck for Pigeon Cove Station has been ordered and should be ready for deployment by next fall, fire Chief Russell Anderson said yesterday.

Spring Town Meeting approved $400,000 through a debt-exclusion override to purchase a new truck, which will replace the department's 35-year-old Hahn truck.

Town Administrator Michael Racicot said the town received only one bid on the contract, from the Pennsylvania-based 4 Guys Stainless Steel Fire Trucks. Selectmen voted this week to approve the company's bid of $374,360.

Anderson said this is the first time Rockport has purchased a truck from 4 Guys, but that the company produces quality vehicles and was the only manufacturer willing to construct the truck at a below-normal height of 100 or 101 inches tall.

Fire trucks kept at Central Station on Broadway are the normal height of 9 feet, 6 inches tall — or 114 inches — but a truck that high would not fit at Pigeon Cove, Anderson said.

The new vehicle will have a pump, rescue equipment and the ability to shoot water and fire-suffocating foam simultaneously. With the new truck also comes the ability to pump water at an increased rate of 1,500 gallons per minute; the pumping capacity of the current apparatus is 1,000 gallons per minute.

Once the vehicle is constructed and ready for paint, a member of the Rockport Fire Department will visit the Pennsylvania company and examine the vehicle to ensure measurements and the overall appearance are correct. Once the truck is painted red and white, a member of the Fire Department will return for another inspection before driving the truck to its new home in Pigeon Cove.

As for the current truck, Anderson indicated it's overdue for some rest.

"It's more than fulfilled its duty over the years," he said.

The department will most likely advertise the 1973 vehicle for sale.

The leftover money allocated for the truck's purchase will be used to buy the truck's radio, ladders, valves and other equipment, which does not come standard with the truck, Anderson said.

Selectman Charles Clark said yesterday he believed any money left over from a capital allocation such as the fire truck is available for reappropriation at a subsequent Town Meeting.

The truck is expected to be ready for pickup within 300 calendar days of signing the contract.

Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.