With the continued growth in the East Montgomery County area, the need for additional fire services and a new fire apparatus became apparent for the East Montgomery County Fire Department.
“With all the growth on Gene Campbell Blvd. and the EMCID Industrial Park to name a few developments, brought the need for a new truck to the forefront,” said EMC Fire Department Chief Howard Rinewalt. “There has been an influx of huge warehouse-type buildings on Gene Campbell Blvd. and the waterpark and theme park on State 242 have attractions we would need to use a ladder truck for in the case of rescues or medical emergencies. Also, with the construction of elevated buildings such as hotels and business buildings, we need to make sure we can handle elevated building fires and emergencies.”
EMCID approved the funding agreement with MCESD 7 to purchase the 100-foot, aerial single-axle ladder truck for $1.2 million to assist with additional services in East Montgomery County as new developments arise around EMC and State 242, most notably, the Big Rivers Waterpark.
“Our annual EMCID grant was coming up for renewal and the EMCID board members asked what we would use the money for which we stated would be a new ladder truck,” said Rinewalt. “The EMCID board members agreed to fund the new truck. Without this agreement with EMCID, we would not have been able to purchase a truck for five years. In that time, the growth would have surpassed the need and we would need two trucks to handle calls for service.”
Rinewalt added that with the help of EMCID, they are catching the growth in EMC at the right time instead of after the fact.
“Industrial fires are tougher to fight than residential fires; this truck will help us keep our community safe and add more manpower,” said Rinewalt. “We are thankful for EMCID to agree to purchase this new truck. This will help us tremendously as we all continue to grow.”