FORESTERS FALLS — A temporary fire truck is now in the Foresters Falls fire hall.
It was discovered at the June 18 council meeting that the fire truck in the Foresters Falls fire hall not only failed the annual pump test, but it caught on fire and was out of commission.
Chief Wayne Heubner advised while there was no truck in the Falls, there was still fire protection by Cobden, Haley Station and Beachburg.
Mayor Hal Johnson said he was going to investigate why this happened, because it was not acceptable that there was no fire truck in Foresters Falls.
Last week, a pumper truck from Haley Station was relocated as a temporary measure to the Foresters Falls station.
“It’s a tanker not a pumper, it can only pump water,” Chief Heubner said.
However, it can fight the blaze until support help arrives from other fire halls, he explained.
Since there’s no money in the budget for a new fire truck in Foresters Falls, the decommissioned fire truck from Westmeath will be re-instated, Chief Heubner said.
It was decommissioned as a fire tuck when the new one arrived, he said.
“We didn’t need it,” he said. “We want to get the older trucks out of the fleet.”
The Foresters Falls fire truck, while it’s a year newer than the 1989 fire truck in Westmeath, it’s in worse shape, he said.
The former Westmeath truck will be safetied, have a pump test and equipment will be put on it, he said.
Before it can be put back into use, Westmeath firefighters will train the Foresters Falls firefighters on how to use the truck.
“I expect it’ll be ready within a week,” Chief Heubner said.
When the truck and firefighters are ready to go, the tanker will return to Haley Station.
Chief Heubner noted the township has an agreement with the Township of Admaston-Bromley for fire protection and must respond with a tanker and a pumper. This is not new, he said, as the contract has been renewed for many years.
As for a new fire truck in Foresters Falls, Chief Heubner is hopeful it will have one by 2017/18. What usually happens is a fire truck is ordered one year, arrives the next year and is paid off in two more years.
The current fleet includes a 2014 truck in Westmeath, which was custom built, Cobden’s is a 2009, Haley Station’s is a 2006 and Beachburg’s is a 2004.
With Westmeath being in such a remote location, and having to cover La Passe and Lacroix Bay, it’s a special pumper/tanker, he said. It is also the only one in the fleet that is not a demo from a fire company, he added. It’s expected when it’s time to buy the new fire truck for Foresters Falls, it will also be a demo.
