As far as fire trucks go, it is pretty sweet.
Engine 2, the shiny new fire engine, with a swath of black running across the top, was rolled out last Thursday at fire hall 2 on Tantalus Road.
The $577,000 truck was built primarily in Nebraska, but a committee of firefighters in Squamish designed it to their needs.
“We decide on absolutely everything to do with this truck starting from the engine,” said Squamish Fire Rescue Capt. Sean Sweeney. Each community has its own needs, Sweeney said, and there are practical restrictions such as the size of the fire hall, which determines how long and high the truck can be.
It took 18 months from the initial designs to when the truck was finally driven up to Squamish from the United States, Sweeney said.
“We go down and speak [to the manufacturer] about everything about the truck from the front bumper to the back: how high it would be, where do we want this, where do we want that light and all that.” It took three trips down before everything was signed off, Sweeney said.
The thick black strip down the topside of the red truck is for more than just looks, Sweeney said.
“What it does is, the emergency lights on black stand out better in the day, much better than they do on an all red vehicle,” he said. It also does look cool, he acknowledged. “And it looks like Chicago.”
The truck, which is designed to carry six firefighters, is equipped with three ladders: a 12, 14 and 35-foot ladder.
Asked if he would rather have more firefighters than a new truck, Sweeney explained the cost of almost everyone in the district’s insurance is related to the amount of pump capacity of the trucks, so it makes financial sense to get the truck.
“Our insurance policy is directly related to our pumping capacity, along with the number of firefighters and a multitude of other things,” he said.
“It is not every house, it is every person and their insurance. So you’ve got renters’ insurance, house insurance, business insurance, building insurance, a lot more insurance gets paid than taxes. So if we are to change our insurance rating, it affects everybody.”
The new truck can push 1,250 gallons of water per minute, equal to about 12 bathtubs full of water per minute, Sweeney said.
Sweeney said fire trucks generally are good for about 20 years.
A 1992 and a 1993 truck were traded in for the new truck. Both old trucks will be shipped down to Central America to aid fire services there.
“They will run [them] down there until they die, because it is better than what they have,” said Sweeney.
It will be a few weeks until Engine 2 sees any action. All of the components have to be added to it and the firefighters have to be trained to use it.
It should be put to work by the end of the month, according to Sweeney.
