The Herculaneum Fire Department has a new pumper truck in its fleet.
Herculaneum Fire Chief Kevin Baker said the new Rosenbauer Commander firetruck was purchased to replace a 1988 fire engine that is no longer in service. He said that the truck had a series of mechanical failures and couldn’t be relied upon or fixed at a reasonable cost.
“The truck was deemed to be obsolete due to safety concerns, as well as needed repairs that were estimated at twice the value of the truck,” Baker said. “Our goal is to replace a truck every 20 years. The truck that this replaced was 36 years old and just couldn’t keep up.”
Baker said the new truck will be the primary vehicle for vehicle rescues, fires and all other 911 responses. He said the current primary vehicle is from 2012 and will become a backup vehicle. “The 2012 will serve this backup role and volunteer truck for another 10 years. Then we will keep cycling trucks out this way,” he said.
Baker said the new truck is red and blue with gold leaf lettering. It is nearly 34 feet long and can hold 750 gallons of water and 30 gallons of multipurpose foam, adding that the water pump on the truck can pump 1,500 gallons per minute.
He said the multipurpose foam, when mixed with water, can allow the water to penetrate into wood, textiles and building materials to extinguish fires more effectively and quickly. He said the foam also can be used in a more concentrated form to suppress flammable liquid fires, like those involving gasoline and diesel fuel, which the fire department often encounters during vehicle crashes.
The firetruck was ordered in December 2021 from Sentinel Emergency Solutions for $860,000, Baker said.
Herculaneum Fire celebrated the arrival of the new truck with a May 11 wet-down ceremony at its fire station, 151 Riverview Plaza Drive. The event was open to the public.
A wet-down ceremony is a traditional celebration fire departments hold when they get new vehicles. For the Herculaneum Fire ceremony, the truck was driven past firefighters who sprayed it with hoses, and then attendees were invited to help dry the new Engine 6310 with cloths.
The public also had the chance to look inside the new truck, take photos, meet the firefighters and tour the firehouse.
Also during the ceremony, Festus Fire Chaplain Kyle Castens, the pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Festus, gave a blessing and Bible reading. Baker and others spoke at the event.
Baker said in a speech that the department was grateful for the new pumper truck.
“We cannot stress enough how appreciative we are of our citizens, our Board of Aldermen, our mayors past and present, the city administrators past and present who have gotten us here today to bring this to reality. These aren’t small purchases. These are huge investments for communities.”
Baker also praised former Herculaneum Mayor and Fire Chief Bill Haggard (who died after the event on May 17) for his work on behalf of the Fire Department and the city.
“We appreciate all the service he has done for us along with all our past and present members. We could not do this without you guys, so everybody who is here from the Herculaneum Fire Department, thank you so much.”
Baker also commended Haggard for implementing the Fire Department’s motto of “a few serving many” and thanked the Fire Department employees and volunteers who have served the community over the years.
“It truly is a few serving many, so I really appreciate your hard work and dedication day in and day out.”
Brian Franz from Sentinel also spoke at the ceremony.
“All the citizens of Herculaneum, you guys should be proud of this Fire Department,” he said. “There’s a lot of passion that takes place here, a lot of love. I see (firefighters) who just go to work, they get their paycheck and they go home. And every time I come here, everyone is washing the trucks and keeping the place clean, so the pride factor is huge here. And everyone should be very proud of this Fire Department.”