Firefighters check out the new Rosenbauer Commander 4000 Rescue Engine delivered to Fire Hall No. 1 Wednesday morning.
It was an exciting Wednesday morning at East Ridge’s No. 1 Fire Hall as the city took delivery of its new fire engine.
The brand new Rosenbauer Commander 4000 rolled into the lot and about a dozen of East Ridge’s finest suddenly became like boys waking up to Christmas morning.
“It’s Awesome,” said Firefighter Travis Ezell, as he circled the $579,000 state of the art Rescue Engine.
Lt. Jeff Duncan, left, checks out the control panel of the city’s new fire engine as James Burkhart looks on.
Fire Chief Mike Williams said the new truck is replacing a 22-year-old engine that the city has used. That engine will be sold as surplus property, perhaps fetching as much as $35,000.
“This will be the first piece of equipment to roll out on calls in District 1,” Chief Williams said. “It will run on medical calls, Hazmat calls and vehicle wrecks.”
Chief Williams said the new engine will do everything the old one did, but with “a few modern changes.” He said much of the equipment is electronic. It is virtually the same engine that the Chattanooga Fire Department runs in its squads.
The chief pointed out a feature on the front of the Rescue Engine _ a three-armed twirling light called a Roto-Ray. He said if you look at pictures of old fire trucks, those engines had this feature. Only this Roto-Ray has LED lights on it.
Andy Blesch, the area Rosenbauer dealer, said the truck took about a year to build in its plants in Minnesota and South Dakota. Blesch said this is no off-the-shelf piece of equipment.
“Everything on it is custom to the specifications of the East Ridge Fire Department, he said. “From bumper to bumper it was built for East Ridge.”
The 48,500 pound Rescue Engine has a 750-gallon water tank. It can pump that water at 1,500 gallons per minute. It also has the capability to deliver foam to a fire that requires the agent.
Firefighters were climbing all over the truck. Ezell and James Burkhart were on the rear of the truck checking out where supply hoses are kept. The men said the truck can carry 1,200 feet of five-inch hose and 500 feet of two-and-a-half inch hose.
Commander Billy Quintrell was mesmerized by the control panel of the truck situated on the driver’s side. When asked if he could operate the engine he said, “Oh yeah, it will just take me a few minutes to figure some of this stuff out.”
Rosenbauer is the larges manufacturer of fire engines in the world and has been in business for 150 years.
Councilmen Jacky Cagle and Larry Sewell were on hand to check out the newest edition to the city’s fire department. Sewell was busy taking photos to post on Facebook, while Cagle concentrated on the various features that Chief Williams was pointing out.
Cagle said the money to pay for the Rosenbauer Commander 4000 came from the Capital Improvement budget from the 2014-15 fiscal year. Paying cash has its advantages, he said.
“With the city ordering this thing more than a year ago, we were able to save $27,000,” Councilman Cagle pointed out.
Fire Chief Mike Williams, right, shows Councilman Jacky Cagle a storage compartment under the Rosenbauer’s front bumper assembly.
