Carteret, NJ – Mayor Dan Reiman was joined by Council President Randy Krum, and Carteret Fire Department Chief Mark Hruska in announcing that the department has secured both a 2015 Pierce Arrow Custom Ladder truck and a 2015 Pierce Arrow Custom Pumper truck. The Ladder Truck features a 75’ aluminum ladder and is capable of pumping over 2000 gallons of water or foam per minute. The Pumper Truck, capable of pumping over 3000 gallons per minute of foam or water, is specifically designed for special chemical and petroleum hazards that are protected by Carteret Fire Department, while working seamlessly as a municipal fire pumper. Both trucks are expected to be fully operational by late spring.
“The Carteret Fire Department is tasked with protecting not only residential and standard commercial units, but also with several industrial facilities that call Carteret home,” said Reiman. “This type of specialized and versatile firefighting equipment will prove especially valuable in protecting our community.”
Both trucks also contain special safety items, including full frontal air bags, side curtain air bags, rollover protection, rear view cameras, four wheel anti-lock brakes, and back stop bumpers designed to stop the vehicle when an object or person is contacted while backing up. While these safety items are common in our families’ vehicles, they are not normally found in fire apparatuses and, in fact, go above and beyond what is required by law.
“It is vitally important for our department to have the capability to fight fires with a variety of sources,” added Hruska. “The more specified our equipment is, the more capable it makes us.”
Acquisition costs, totaling approximately $787,000 for the pumper truck and $905,000 for the ladder truck, were covered through a combination of grants from FEMA, the Carteret Hazmat Association, and the Carteret Special Improvement District, as well as a private donation from BP Amoco. No residential tax dollars were expended for this purchase.
These latest additions come on the heels of several other improvements to the Carteret Fire Department’s services, including the addition of a fire boat to guard Carteret’s portion of the Arthur Kill, an expansion of the local fire house, and upgrades to the department’s Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses (SCBA).
Added Krum, “Our fire department responded to over 4,200 calls for assistance in 2014 alone. I am proud to be a part of a team that recognizes the need to responsibly invest in the capabilities of our emergency services, and am even prouder that we continue to do so without a dime of residents’ tax dollars.”
