West End department builds its own truck to fight wildfires
From left, West End Volunteer Fire Department members Rod Byers, Frank Magee, Isaac Belzak, Joseph Belzak, Damian Belzak and Anthony Lower stand next to a Type 6 Fire Truck they built themselves that will be used as a revenue stream in the summer for fighting wildland fires. (Bill Mitchell photo)
“We want the taxpayers to see what they are getting for their money. What their tax dollars are going for,” said Frank Magee, West End Volunteer Fire Department Chief and chairman board of trustees. “That’s why we hold events at the station like the open houses, chili cookoffs, car shows and so on. It’s to get the people to see what we have and who we are.”
Magee has a roster of about 11 volunteer firefighters but would like to have 20, just in case. And for the first time in many years, every one of them is wildland fire trained -- firefighter II certified.
Wildland fire is a general term describing any nonstructure fire that occurs in vegetation such as trees, grasses and shrubs. Structure fires are composed of human-made objects like buildings or cars. This means that any West End firefighter can respond to a wildland fire when called which they did last summer for the first time in a decade.
The training is different and so are the tools and equipment for wildland firefighting. A Type 6 Fire Truck is required which is a powerful pickup that carries a water tank, pump, and hose on the back flatbed. It is designed to go where a full-size fire truck cannot and the WEVFD has one on loan from the DNRC.
However, they now have two of them after building their own since last summer.
“We’ve had a flatbed and a truck that came from DNRC and they’ve been in our shop in Saltese for a while,” Magee explained. “We said we needed to do something with them, so it went to the board of trustees where $32,000 was asked for, and approved, to build this new Type 6."
Bill Mitchell, who is a WEVFD team member and handles their insurance claims, was involved in the process.
“After the board appropriated the funds for the components (some new, some used), the volunteers did the mechanical, body and assembly work. Many of the specialty tools were provided from the volunteers' personal collections,” he said.
Much of the initial work was done at their shop in Saltese which is the old Department of Transportation building.
Magee said, “We started building it this summer. There was some body damage, and we took out most of the dents. It was tan to begin with and we painted it red to match the other vehicles we have. Once we put the bed on it, we bought the fully self-contained unit for the water, hoses and pump.”
This was a real morale boost for the team that came from the accomplishment of building it together. Magee doesn’t see any reason a Type 6 would be called out for a structure fire as they have a tender and pumper that are sufficient for their needs, so this was an investment for the fire department.
“This is for wildland fire fighting only. Having two will allow more resources during the summer to assist on wildland fires.”
But this is not only to be of help to their firefighting brethren, but to build up their coffers. Having a Type 6 vehicle with a firefighter II certified crew allows them to be on a fire and receive federal/state monetary compensation that goes into their coffers for other needs that the fire department deems necessary to their mission of protecting the community.
The $32,000.00 was an investment.
“That’s the real purpose; to make money for the fire department,” Magee said with a smile.
Case in point, when Steve Temple was the Superior Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief, they took all the money they made one summer on wildland fires to purchase a 40,000-gallon storage tank to hold water for the Tarkio Fire Department that will be required by the grant once the building project is completed.
On Thursday, Dec. 12 from 4 to 6:30 p.m., the annual Christmas tree lighting at the old DeBorgia School will take place along with caroling, hot cider and coffee with sugary treats for everyone to enjoy. The WEVFD essentially shares the tree that will be lit up so for those who would like to see the new Type 6 truck, there will be fire department volunteers that will open the doors to show off their new custom-built addition to their inventory.