What They Bought With the AFG Grant:

• Four wheel drive Mini-Pumper with 250 gallon tank, Compressed Air Foam System, 6000 W generator with panel box & 3 outlets, 3 inch deck gun, 120V auxiliary lights, ladders, safety light, and hose bed divider

How the Grant Has Helped:

Mini-pumper at an accident scene on Fox Run Road, Lewis, New York. Pictured left to right are Nate Gough, Steve Duso Jr., and Jamie Mitchell on truck.

The town of Lewis is a rural township with about 1200 residents within the town limit. The township is nestled in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. The VFD provides fire safety coverage for a very rural area that has miles of narrow back roads. During the winter months, ice and snow can create difficult driving, sometimes making the roads impassable for vehicles that do not have four wheel drive. With the new apparatus, the VFD is now able to respond to structure fires in the outlying areas of the township when roads are impassable due to snow and ice. Since the vehicle was placed into service in 2003, the department has seen a benefit in their ability to provide a better response time to fires and emergencies that required the use of a four wheel drive vehicle.

About half of the calls the VFD receives are for accidents and other emergencies on Interstate 87 that links Montreal and New York City and runs through the middle of the town of Lewis. As a number of these accidents result in spillage of hazardous materials and/or fire, having a quick attack mini-pumper with foam has been invaluable.

In addition, the grant-funded vehicle has increased the amount and effectiveness of mutual aid to nearby departments. This VFD is one of few that has the ability to provide foam and is often called for mutual aid due to the ability to provide foam.

Shortly after the vehicle was placed in service, the department received a call to respond to the general hospital located in an adjoining town for a report of a fire in a patient's room. The department responded with its vehicles, including the new mini-pumper. The mini-pumper was the first vehicle at the scene and immediately laid down lines and used foam to put out the fire. Unfortunately, a patient died, but the fire was contained to that room with little damage to the rest of the facility. Without the ability to use foam to smother this fire, more damage could have been the outcome, including casualties and additional structural damage to the hospital. Regarding this incident, Gerald Kline, a member of fire department stated, “Without the ability to put foam on the fire, we could have lost the entire hospital and the attached nursing home.”

The men and women of our department are more satisfied and reflect this when talking with residents. They have become more willing to respond to both training and live events as they see the VFD becoming more professional with the new apparatus. Not only have the members of the department enjoyed the benefits, but also the tax payers of the township know that the grant-funded vehicle has provided better protection at little cost to them. One member is quoted as saying, “With this new vehicle I feel so much better about being a member of this department.”

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