By Megan A. Hepler
The Lavelle Volunteer Fire Company proudly announces the addition of their new fire engine number 4-12. The truck was purchased approximately three months ago and arrived at their station on Saturday, April 26th. They also said farewell to their former engine on the same day that the new truck arrived.
Fire Chief, Jason Reichwein, stated that they had raised the funds to purchase the new truck. Reichwein explained that they purchased the engine from a broker and it came “from another fire company.”
The Lavelle Volunteer Fire Company had a reason for buying a new fire engine. Russ Hummel the Assistant Fire Chief indicated that they needed something larger. “Something we could get more people in,” Hummel added.
The new fire engine has a ten-person seating capacity, more room for equipment, and has a 1,500-gallon pump. This was an upgrade from their previous engine, which only had room for three people and had a 1,000-gallon pump. With approximately twenty-five active volunteers more members would be able to ride along on calls.
The new engine will be an asset to the community, especially with an increase in calls since the beginning of the year. In 2017, the Lavelle Volunteer Fire Company had less than 200 calls for the year. Since the beginning of 2018, they had already been out for over eighty calls, according to Hummel. These included brush fires, house fires, accidents, and medical assists.
There is a lot of excitement about the new truck. The volunteers from the Lavelle Fire Company have already practiced pumping and taken the truck out on it's first call Wednesday morning.
Jeremy Smallwood, a member of the Lavelle Volunteer Fire Company, reported the mood of the Lavelle volunteers. “I think all the guys are pretty pumped,” he said.
