Byram (Greenwich) VFD rolls out new $450K Pierce engine

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Byram VFD rolls out new $450K engine

 

By Martin B. Cassidy

Staff Writer, Greenwich Time

April 27, 2004

The Byram Volunteer Fire Department recently received a new, more versatile fire engine with technology that makes it easier to drive and operate the hoses and other equipment on board, the chief said.

"The big difference is it's state of the art, with a lot of new pieces of technology," Chief Aaron Stahl said.

Yesterday Stahl pointed out a dashboard monitor connected to a camera on the rear of the engine and explained how the setup will make it easier to back up and park the truck.

"It's hard to back one of these things into a driveway," he said.

The $450,000 Pierce Tek 4 truck was delivered to the station on Thursday and will become the station's first-response truck, Stahl said. The truck, purchased by the town, replaces the company's 1997 E-One engine, which will be used as a backup truck.

The machinery and equipment built into the truck, including a floodlight, water pump and air hoses for driving chisels and jackhammers, also have easier-to-use push-button electronic controls instead of hand-operated cranks and knobs, Stahl said.

Although the 1997 E-One vehicle is still dependable and functions well, the department automatically replaces its first-responding trucks before they are 10 years old to extend their useful life, Stahl said.

"This way we don't beat up on them and we can use them as a second-due vehicle," he said.

To make way for the new Pierce, the town sold Byram's old backup engine, a 1987 Pierce Arrow, to the Newtown Fire Department, Stahl said. The 1987 truck was reliable, he said.

"To tell the truth, that was one of the better trucks in town, but we needed something more up to date," Stahl said.

Several updated features on the new fire engine will increase firefighters' ability to deploy hoses and hydraulic rescue equipment, Stahl said.

Inside the driver-side rear panel is a motor attached to lengthy air hoses that can be connected directly to air-powered tools used to cut metal, Stahl said. In older trucks, connecting power chisels and other equipment was a more unwieldy process, requiring the vehicles to be plugged into air tanks that are connected to a motor that must be taken off the truck, he said. Unlike the 1997 truck, the new vehicle has hose connections on the front and rear, allowing firefighters to attach several lines to the truck's water pump during fires, Stahl said. The 1997 truck had only two discharge lines.

Pump connections on the driver and passenger side of the truck can be linked with other engines to allow water to be pumped over longer distances, which is often an issue in backcountry firefighting, where engines often have to draw water from less accessible ponds or swimming pools, Stahl said.

"Byram is a hydrant district, but this will allow us to help Glenville and other companies who have to use ponds and tankers for water," Stahl said.

The two career firefighters stationed in Byram will drive the new truck, Stahl said, while the E-One truck will be manned primarily by volunteer firefighters.

Lt. Keith Millette, a career firefighter working out of the station, said the Pierce brand of truck is thought to have fewer mechanical problems than those manufactured by some other companies.

"Pierces have fewer problems and spend less time out of service," Millette said