MANSFIELD: New rescue truck sought

By Charley Falkenburg, Special Writer
   MANSFIELD — Franklin Fire Co. No. 1 is need of a new rescue truck, and it is looking to Mansfield to pick up the tab.
   In a brief presentation, the town’s volunteer Fire Department outlined its updated 10-year plan for vehicle upgrades at the Dec. 12 committee meeting. Its most immediate need going into 2013 is a new $750,000 truck to replace its aging and cramped 1996 rescue vehicle.
   With duties to assist mutual neighbors throughout the county, protect major interstate highways and cater to nearly 16,000 residents and 150,000 vehicles during the day, the volunteer force thought it was time to upgrade its 17-year-old, narrow and squat rescue truck.
   Besides size, Station 331 has been having other issues such as fitting its men and equipment on board, electrical problems, mechanical upkeep costs, wear and tear on the truck frame and fluid leaks.
   ”This wasn’t just ‘hey, let’s go get a new toy,’ it was ‘well, we have some needs so let’s really do some honest work,’” Fire Captain Matt Konowicz said. “We’re all residents of the area, and we understand this economy — this isn’t just a wish list.”
   Instead, it focused on a sort of necessity list that zeroed in on a user-friendly design, all-around safety, enough space for both current and future personnel and equipment and meeting the updated standards of the National Fire Protection Agency.
   ”We realized we don’t need an absolute Cadillac,” Mr. Konowicz said. “We don’t necessarily need all the extra bells and whistles for the extra items.”
   However, the committee was looking for something that could better handle the various calls it responds to such as rescues, car accidents, structural issues and fires, hazardous materials and smoke issues, assisting police, alarm activations, wires down or car, trash and brush fires.
   In 2011, the rescue truck was used to respond to 72 emergency calls with 80 percent of those calls being car accidents. In 2010, it was used to respond to 77 emergency calls.
   ”We’re a fire department, but, really, over the past 10 years, we have been doing a lot more rescue than firefighting — we send that truck out at least once a week for real work,” Mr. Konowicz said. “This is one of our most-used resources in the Fire Department.”
   Which is why the committee thought replacing it first would pave the way to taking care of the rest of its aging fleet over the decade. To help fund the new rescue truck, the group plans on either selling the old rescue truck or using it to replace the old fire police vehicle, then selling the fire police car to offset costs.
   But Mayor Arthur Puglia appeared to have a hard time getting past the price tag.
   ”I think we did a fairly nice building (the renovated firehouse), but we’re talking $750,000 for one truck,” the mayor said.
   To finance the new rescue truck, Chief Financial Officer Joseph Monzo explained 5 percent, or $38,500, of the estimated truck’s cost would have to be put in the 2013 budget as down payment. Mr. Munzo estimated the town then would have to pay a debt service of about $50,000 for 15 years.
   ”It takes about nine months to build these things so if we got financially lucky we wouldn’t be taking ownership until 2014,” he added. “Then we wouldn’t start paying debt until later in 2014 or 2015.”
   During the fire company’s 10-year plan, it also aims to replace its fire police vehicle at about $35,000, the brush truck at about $115,000, one fire engine at about $625,000 and the other fire engine and tender truck at a combined value of $700,000.
   The fire company is trying to get the Federal Emergency Management Association to fund the tender truck via grants. However, if its grant applications are denied, the company will look to buy a tender pumper, or a combination of a water tender and firefighting engine, which would reduce its fleet and maintenance costs.
   The upgrades would be done in two-year increments, starting with the proposed new rescue truck in 2013. After considering the timeline and costs, Mr. Monzo estimated Mansfield would be spending about $100,000 annually in debt service for fire apparatus improvements.
   Committeeman Alfred Clark said the town was lucky to have a volunteer Fire Department, but questioned how much it would cost to have a paid fire company.
   ”I’d say bite your tongue,” responded Mr. Monzo, getting some laughter from the crowd.
   To compare, Mr. Konowicz said it runs on an $80,000 budget while surrounding paid departments have budgets in the $1 million range.
   ”To our north, they run on a $2 million budget, not even talking about buying new trucks,” he added. “Our neighbors to the west operate on a $1.5 million budget.”
   Mr. Clark told the Fire Department it would have to see what could be done for them.
   ”We have to sit and see how many pennies we have in our billfold, but I’d like to help you out,” he added.
   Mayor Puglia said the committee would take the proposed rescue truck into considering during the 2013-14 budget process.
   ”We have a lot of firemen, ambulances and police, and we appreciate all of our workers,” the mayor added. “We appreciate you coming, and we will have to see what we can do for you.”