New Edgartown fire truck rolls onto the Vineyard

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Edgartown’s new front-line pumper, Engine 2, rolled off the MV Katama Thursday morning after two years of planning and assembly. Fire captains Stephen Foster and Kevin Maciel were on hand at the Vineyard Haven terminal to greet the pumper. Foster will lead the crew of Engine 2 once it’s put into service at the end of next week, Fire Chief Alex Schaeffer said. Over the intervening days, firefighters will train on Engine 2 with representatives from Bulldog Fire Apparatus, the pumper’s manufacturer.

“They did a great job of mounting new equipment,” Chief Schaeffer said. Prior to Engine 2 entering service, fire personnel will mount some old equipment on the pumper. Engine 2 cost $615,000, Chief Schaeffer said, but the department was able to defray the cost by pulling in $175,000 from the sale of the old pumper.

Among the features of the pumper are a 720-gallon water tank and a 20-gallon Class A Foam tank. Engine 2’s pump rate is 1,500 gallons per minute.

Chief Schaeffer said his department wanted a short truck to navigate down tight Island roads, coupled with a large water capacity. This took some creative engineering, he said. While several manufacturers visited the department, Chief Schaeffer said his department went with Bulldog because they were extremely receptive to what Edgartown wanted built, as opposed to dictating what they should have. Bulldog used a chassis pioneered by L.A. County and built up from there, he said. Several folks saw the finished pumper at Bulldog and wanted to buy it, Chief Schaeffer said, because they found the short length and hefty water capacity attractive. In light of the interest, should Engine 2 become a model at Bulldog, Chief Schaeffer said, he asked the company’s owner to name that model “Edgartown.”

2 COMMENTS

    • Initial attack may involve search and rescue. You do not use massive amounts of water in that effort but need a supply to assist with search safely. Saving life is number one.

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