East Haven Puts New Fire Truck on the Road
After more than a year of planning, the East Haven Fire Department put a new engine out on the road on May 24. The new engine is built with state-of-the-art equipment that officials say will allow fire fighters to be properly prepared for any situation they might be called to while on the job.
The new fire truck, Squad 1, is manufactured by Spartan/Smeal and replaces the old 2005 Marion Quint engine. The department awarded the bid in early January for a total cost of $625,000, an amount planned for in the fiscal year 2017-’18 capital improvement plan.
Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli said because his department is considered an all-hazard fire company, this engine helps firefighters respond to not only fires, but EMS calls, motor vehicle accidents, hazardous spills, and any other incident the department might be called out for.
“It has all of the capability to any job that the Fire Department does,” he said. “The apparatus itself is not just a fire truck that carries hose and water, it is also equipped with all of the state-of-the-art rescue tools that are available in the industry today.”
The engine comes with lifting tools including air bags to lift motor vehicles or any other heavy objects off of people pinned beneath, fire fighting foam for incidents involving flammable liquids, and a tool known as the “jaws of life,” which is used to extricate people from vehicles after an accident.
The jaws of life upgrade is designed to address new vehicle technology.
“[O]ur old tools...have not kept up with technology and new materials and alloys that they’re using in cars were causing our older tools to fail,” he said. “A large potion of the purchase of this rig was also the extrication tools that are on it.”
Marcarelli said all personnel have trained with the truck to ensure everyone knows how to operate the engine and associated new equipment. He said this truck really modernizes the equipment in the firehouse.
“It’s going to be a big improvement for the Fire Department but also for the town,” he said.
As for the old truck, Marcarelli said there isn’t space at the firehouse to keep it. The engine was traded in to help offset the cost of this new vehicle. Marcarelli said the department kept an older truck as a reserve and managed to help out another department through the acquisition of this new engine.
“We also got another truck that as part of the bid,” he said. “We asked that the awardee give another used apparatus that could be used as a reserve and that went to Company Six Riverside. For the purchase of this truck we actually got two—one new and one reserve.”