The Paulding Fire Department and the Paulding Firefighter’s Association were able to purchase this used, “Heavy Rescue” style equipment truck, last month. The firefighters have been holding fund raisers, soliciting donations and saving back funds each year to purchase such an emergency response vehicle. This particular truck was built by Hackney & Sons of North Carolina, on a Spartan custom chassis.
The “walk around” style Heavy Rescue was originally built for and purchased by Creekside Vol. Fire Company in Creekside, PA. The apparatus comes with a six (6) man custom cab, 20+ foot pneumatic telescoping light tower with 7500 watts of lighting atop the mass. A 25 KW generator with two (2) 200 electric cord reels and numerous outlets as well as a 10,000 lbs. Ramsey electric winch built into the front bumper. The 20 foot box has five (5) compartments on each side, one in the rear.
Fire Chief Todd Weidenhamer, Asst. Fire Chief Brian Tope and firefighter Mark Wolfle, drove down to Columbus, Ohio last month to deliver the check and pick up the emergency vehicle from a private company that had purchased it for an equipment truck for it towing and recovery business. The truck did not suit their needs and they placed it up for sale. The truck was placed on eBay motors website for a month and Paulding Fire Department was the successful bidder.
The piece of fire apparatus will be a tremendous addition to the Paulding Fire Department, their residents they serve and other Paulding County fire departments with mutual aid. Some of the emergency response equipment is: rope rescue, grain rescue, water rescue, Haz-Mat, salvage/overhaul and additional extrication equipment in the future. This is the concept of this type of fire apparatus; having what you need and not having to have a firefighter bring it from the fire station in his personal vehicle.
Now comes the task of getting a list together of items to properly outfit the vehicle with emergency lights, warning devices, radios, lettering it to make it their own. Chief Weidenhamer is already looking into the costs of refurbishing the “Heavy Rescue” style equipment truck and seeking additional funds to put it in service as soon as they can.
If you have any questions about the vehicle or would like to make a donation to refurbish it, contact one of the Paulding firefighters.
