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Janesville Fire Department welcomes new engine

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Janesville Fire Station 1 has a new Pierce Quantum rescue pumper.

JANESVILLE — The Janesville Fire Department recently made progress toward updating its equipment, welcoming a new “rescue pumper” fire engine to its fleet Sept. 6.

The engine will reside at Station No. 2, 1545 S. Washington St.

Pierce Mfg. of Appleton built the vehicle, which is outfitted with an on-board foam system, a hydraulic generator and command light, said JFD Shift Commander Bill Ruchti.

According to Ruchti, the command light is especially useful as it offers firefighters the ability to cast light from the top down at the scene of an accident or fire.

In addition, the engine also provides large capacity storage for oil dry, which Ruchti says the department uses frequently at vehicle accidents.

“Our fleet is aging,” said acting JFD Lt. Ron Bomkamp. “This one (the new fire engine) is replacing a 1997 model.”

The 1997 model was a quintuple combination pumper, otherwise known as a “quint.” That truck comes equipped with an aerial ladder.

On the quint’s replacement, ladders will be attached to the sides of the truck on the engine.

“A vehicle with a ladder on it is much heavier, and it tends to be a bigger vehicle,” Ruchti said.

Ruchti added that the new engine cost about $594,000 while a new “quint” with an aerial ladder would run about $1.2 million.

“We go on a lot of EMS (Emergency Medical Service) runs,” Ruchti said. “Economically, driving these big vehicles up and down the road wasn’t as practical.

“Instead of beating up these million-dollar vehicles, we decided to go with a smaller, lighter-weight piece of equipment.”

Equipment will be mounted and personnel trained during the next several weeks before the new engine is placed into service, city officials said.