New Quincy fire truck increases firefighting capability

QUINCY — Quincy public works maintenance supervisor Howard Van Baugh said the city got lucky when it went looking for a new aerial fire truck. The truck arrived in town Tuesday and was on display outside Quincy City Hall Tuesday afternoon.

A new fire truck, especially an aerial truck, is an expensive proposition.

“It’s $1.5 million the way it sits,” Van Baugh said. “And there’s about $150,000 worth of equipment going on it.”

Quincy City Council members approved the purchase in December 2021, he said.

“With the current price jumps, with supplies and everything, if we were to order this identical truck today, it would be 25% more,” Van Baugh said.

Van Baugh is a volunteer firefighter with Grant County Fire District 3 and a member of the district’s apparatus committee. The city contracts with the district for fire protection services.

The truck was built from the chassis up for the city, but there too Quincy got lucky, Van Baugh said.

“Pierce (the manufacturer) makes spec trucks each year,” Van Baugh said. “When we started looking for aerials, this one happened to fit what the city and the apparatus committee were looking for. Otherwise, if we ordered it today, and it wasn’t in queue to be made, we’re waiting two years from the date of order. We got lucky on it, Van Baugh said.

It took Pierce about 13 weeks to make the new fire apparatus - Firefighter jargon for a firetruck - which allowed for a relatively-quick delivery to Quincy, Van Baugh said.

Fire District 3 chief Tony Leibelt said the new truck has a 100-foot ladder with a platform. The existing aerial truck, dating from 1995, will remain in service, he said. The new truck will not only allow firefighters to tackle firesin buildings that have a larger overall footprint, Leibelt said.

“It’s not always tall buildings,” he said.

Quincy has a number of fruit and vegetable processing facilities as well as data centers, all buildings with substantial square footage. A larger truck helps raise water outlets higher to help firefighters hit the center of those larger structures, if necessary.

The new truck has a larger pump as well with the capacity to pump 2,000 gallons per minute, as opposed to 1,500 gallons per minute on the current truck.

“As it sits it weighs about 70,000 pounds,” Leibelt said. “That’s without water and equipment. They’re heavy. Lots of steel stuff to make them safe.”

“Weight is another factor when designing these things and specifying them out,” he said. “You try to not get too heavy.”

Despite the new apparatus’s weight, it can still respond to most fire scenes, Leibelt said, even with dirt roads and driveways.

“Your (firefighting) tactics may change a little bit,” he said.

The truck had to meet certain criteria.

“We had to have pump capacity, we wanted the height to meet certain insurance criteria. We asked for the platform because it’s the safest place for your firefighters - you can tether them in there,” Leibelt said.

The truck is not quite ready to enter service, and will go to the manufacturer’s Washington site for additional equipment to be mounted, Leibelt said.

“The main thing is, it needs radios and (self-contained breathing apparatus),” Leibelt said.

Once the truck is outfitted firefighters must be trained in its use before it enters service, he added.

“I think we’re still at least four if not six weeks out,” he said. “It depends on how we can get their training done, because it is different to us. It’s a complicated piece of equipment.”

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com. Schweizer covers the cities of Othello, Mattawa and Royal City in addition to Quincy and welcomes news tips from throughout the Columbia Basin.