By Jeff Himler
The Tribune-Review
DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The Derry Township Volunteer Fire Department is getting leaner and greener with the latest addition to its fleet of vehicles.
The department purchased a new combined engine and rescue truck that will perform the functions formerly handled by two older pieces of firefighting apparatus.
Members of the department spent several hours transferring saws, traffic cones and other equipment to the new vehicle from a 1992 Freightliner rescue truck. The new truck, a 2011 model made by Sutphen Corp. of Amlin, Ohio, also replaces a 1981 Ford Louisville engine.
“It’s a good move for us,” said Mark Piantine, department fire chief.
Replacing two trucks with one more versatile unit will result in costs savings in the long run, Piantine explained. “Our agent told us we’ll probably be saving $1,200 per year on insurance,” he said. “That’s not including lower maintenance costs.”
The savings in diesel fuel will be another benefit for the department. The new vehicle can transport six of the department’s 35 active firefighters on an emergency call. Piantine noted the older rescue truck and engine seated five and two, respectively.
“You see a lot of people combining trucks,” said Nate Scott, a sales representative for Sutphen who delivered the new truck to the local firefighters station in Bradenville this month. “It’s more economical that way. It serves a better purpose.”
Reduced fuel consumption is not the only way the new truck makes the department more environmentally friendly.
The new vehicle meets recently updated standards of the National Fire Protection Association and the Environmental Protection Agency, including a requirement for cleaner emissions.
The truck uses a filter to remove soot from the exhaust stream and diesel exhaust fluid -- a mixture of water and urea -- to convert nitrous oxides into water and harmless nitrogen, Scott explained.
“It’s a very green engine,” he said.
As an added benefit, emissions controls are said to allow the vehicle’s 450-horsepower engine to operate at peak performance, increasing fuel efficiency.
Other advanced features include a camera at the rear of the truck that will provide the engineer a better view when driving in reverse.
The truck also has a 20-kilowatt generator that can operate a light tower and Hurst Jaws of Life tools, which firefighters use to cut open wrecked vehicles and extricate passengers trapped inside.
The new truck allows firefighters to use three of those hydraulic tools simultaneously, Piantine said. “We have them pre-connected at all times.”
The new truck cost $427,000 but will be insured for $600,000, when including all the extra equipment it carries, Piantine said. The department is financing the purchase with a loan from Commercial Bank & Trust.
The truck will be the first of the department’s units to be dispatched to vehicle accidents, which account for about 60 percent of the roughly 450 calls for assistance it received last year, Piantine said.
With the 2011 truck ready to roll, the Derry Township firefighters have four vehicles in their fleet. They include a brush truck used to fight wildfires and a pickup truck used as a squad truck and to pull a boat when the department responds to a water rescue.
The department also anticipates the arrival in January of a new 2011 International tanker truck that will bring the squad’s complement of vehicles to five.
The bulk of that truck’s $275,000 purchase price will be covered by a $261,250 award the department received in January from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, Piantine said. The department will be responsible for a 5 percent matching amount.
The new tanker will replace a 1978 Mack model with 440,000 miles on the odometer that the department has sold to a local contractor.
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