Gravette Fire Department receives new pumper/tanker

Gravette firefighters, from the left, Robert Douthit and Spencer Gillming, and Fire Chief David Smith stand in front of the new combo pumper/tanker the department received from the county last week. Transfer of hoses, tools, etc., from the two trucks the new rig is replacing has been completed.
Gravette firefighters, from the left, Robert Douthit and Spencer Gillming, and Fire Chief David Smith stand in front of the new combo pumper/tanker the department received from the county last week. Transfer of hoses, tools, etc., from the two trucks the new rig is replacing has been completed.

GRAVETTE - Firefighting capability for the Gravette Fire Department took a big step forward last week when a new combo pumper/tanker truck was delivered to the Gravette fi re station.

The new truck is one of two purchased by Benton County. It will replace two older county trucks, a 1991 tanker and a 2007pumper. NEBCO (Northeast Benton County) Fire Department received the other rig.

David Smith, Gravette fire chief, said the 1991 tanker went down at a fire recently. The 2007 pumper will go to another fire department in the county.

The new truck has a 3,000 gallon reservoir and is capable of delivering 1,250 gallons per minute at a fire. This is more than double the previous truck’s capacity and will be a big benefit, particularly for fighting rural fires.

The new rig is equipped with foam firefighting equipment and an LED lighting system, as well as other up-to-date features/ tools and storage capacity. It will allow departments to respond “with one truck instead of two,”said Marc Trollinger, Benton County Fire Marshal.

Cost of the truck, which was built on a Kenworth chassis at a factory in Mississippi, was $225,000, Smith said.

“It’s replacing a truck that’s been in service since 1991, that went down at a fire just the other day,” Smith said. “At some point, you just can’t keep them running. This will take the place of that truck and also replace a pumper. It will free up the pumper to go to another fire department in the county,” he said.

Benton County, which has been providing trucks for many years, will continue the process by upgrading to the combination pumper/tanker trucks, Trollinger said.

By going to the pumper/tanker combo, the county will be able to reduce the county-supplied fleet from 64 vehicles to 50. If the county is able to purchase two new trucks per year, the fleet can be entirely replaced on a 25-year cycle, the expected life of the trucks, Trollinger explained.

News, Pages 1 on 08/07/2013