MARINETTE – In an effort to maintain and improve the services that the City of Marinette Fire Department provides to over 11,000 residents, as well as those in neighboring mutual aid cities, the department has brought a new fire truck into their fleet in early January.
As Mayor Steve Genisot explained on his Facebook page, “This addition to our fleet will enhance our city’s safety and emergency response capabilities.”
The need for a new fire truck presented itself to the department as their reserve fire truck was reaching the end of its lifespan. A reserve fire truck is kept in a department as a back-up to a lead truck and is used when the primary truck needs repairs or if there is a large emergency.
The City of Marinette fire department is home to one lead fire truck, one reserve fire truck, one 100-foot aerial platform truck and a heavy-duty rescue truck.
While the reserve truck is usually of an older model, there are specifications for its age.
“The NFPA [National Fire Protection Agency] guideline is 30 years for a reserve engine,” Fire Chief Jay Heckel said.
While an updated model was a necessity, Chief Heckel kept functionality at the forefront when making the choice on a vehicle that will serve the city.
“We were able to eliminate a lot of stuff we felt we didn’t need, a lot of the extra bells and whistles. We were able to get it down to just what was going to function for us,” he stated.
Despite electing to forgo any frivolous extras, purchasing a fire truck is an expensive task for a city.
The cost of the new vehicle came in at $875,000. $250,000 was put towards the price of the truck from Midwest Expansion, a real estate company from Suring, Wisc., as part of a developmental agreement in Tax Incremental District (TID) No. 16, explained Kayden Rogers, City of Marinette administrative assistant.
Doug Otzinger added on his Marinette Alderman Facebook page that $500,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funded the “lion’s share” of the new firetruck cost.
This new firetruck was purchased from Pierce Manufacturing, an American company based in Appleton, Wisc., and was built in Bradenton, Fla. With the new fire truck now in Marinette, the fire department plans to sell the older model.
Currently, the City of Marinette Fire Department is getting their new truck ready for usage, but members of the public will get a chance to see the new addition in the coming weeks when the department hosts their Push-In Ceremony.
Chief Heckel said that this ceremony “dates back to the years of the old steamers and horsedrawn pumps. When they would get back to the station with the horses the firefighters would have to push the steamer back into the station, so it kinda became a tradition over the years.”
At the push-in ceremony, department members will push the new firetruck into the station, marking that it will officially be ready to respond to calls. The ceremony will also feature a show-and-tell portion where the vehicle will be opened up for everyone to see the new addition.
More information about the new fire truck, services the City of Marinette Fire Department provides and upcoming information on the push-in ceremony can be found on the City of Marinette Fire Department Facebook page.
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