A week after the City of Bridgeport announced it was looking to put together a list of qualified candidates to fill potential additions to the staff for the future, an addition was made. However, the addition made Tuesday was mechanical as opposed to human.

 

The Bridgeport Fire Department received delivery of a Sutphen, 75-foot Quint ladder and pumper truck combination. The new piece of equipment will serve as a replacement for a 1986 pumper truck that is currently out of service.

 

“This is something that was much needed,” said Fire Chief Phil Hart. “Once everyone is trained on it, it will find a home at the substation.”

 

As some may have realized, acquiring an apparatus of this level – and a brand new one as opposed to a retrofitted used one – is not cheap. Hart said it was in the range of $800,000 and Finance Director Monica Musgrave said that Hart is basically correct.

 

According to Musgrave, the truck cost $797,458. The purchase of the truck was funded through the City of Bridgeport’s General Fund funds that were set aside for future capital projects.

 

“It will be a very beneficial piece of equipment for the City of Bridgeport and the fire department,” said Hart. “With the larger homes in the area that continue to go up, if you have a fire showing through the roof and a person trapped above the first floor you can deploy this later and get water to it in roughly a minute. It’s really a good piece of equipment.”

 

For the next several days, the manufacturer will be on hand training each shift. The purpose is to go over its operation and how to properly set it up.

 

“We’re fortunate to have such a nice piece of equipment that can save lives and property,” said Hart. “I think, though, the best thing for everyone is if we never had to use it. With the area growing and with us seeing an increased demand for fire-related services, the odds are that it will see usage.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows fire staff being trained on the operation of the new truck by as Sutphen staff was on hand for three days this week to train all shifts. Second photo shows Chief Phil Hart going over some of the functions with Shawn Bourne. Third photo shows a remote control feature that allows the staff to operate the truck and ladder away from the immediate area, which is the first city track to have the feature. Bottom picture shows the ladder that is lit up for night time work; another unique feature.