The two 2011 Pierce Velocity trucks, which cost $1.5 million combined, are considered more efficient and safer than the two 18-year-old trucks they are replacing, Fire Commission Cassanelli said. Watch video
SPRINGFIELD – The Springfield Fire Department unveiled its two newest pieces of equipment Thursday afternoon, a new ladder truck and pumper truck that were significantly improved in terms of performance and safety than the two 18-year-old trucks they are replacing.
In a demonstration for the press in front of the Raymond L. Sullivan Public Safety Complex on Carew Street, Fire Commissioner Gary S. Cassanelli said “These are incredible vehicles.”
The two vehicles, a 2011 Pierce Velocity 100-foot aerial platform, and a 2011 Pierce Velocity PUC Pumper, were repeatedly called “state of the art” by Cassanelli and Mayor Domenic J. Sarno.
“We feel these are the best trucks made in America,” Cassanelli said. “I’m sure they are going to give Springfield many, many years of good service and provide firefighters with a very, very safe environment with which to work,” he said.
The ladder truck cost $999,835, while the pumper cost $598, 954.
The city acquired them though a lease-to-own agreement, in which it will make payments spread out over a seven-year period and at that time will own them outright.
The ladder truck will be stationed at fire headquarters on Worthington Street. The pumper will be based at the North Main Street station.
Cassanelli said the two 1993 trucks that each will replace will be taken out of service after 18 years and close to 100,000 miles each. Each will be refurbished and then put back into service as back-up apparatus, he said.
Sarno said the two trucks are expensive but deemed a necessary capital purchase. The city anticipated their cost and came up with a plan for how to pay for them, he said.