Re-purposed fire truck a savings for the City

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By Nick Seebruch
Re-purposed fire truck a savings for the City
Pictured from left-to-right are Dave Bigelow, Corporate Fleet Coordinator and Water Distribution and Waste Water Collection Supervisor Shawn O’Brien in front of the City of Cornwall's new water utility truck at the Cornwall Civic Complex on Thursday, June 24, 2021 (Nick Seebruch/ Seaway News).

CORNWALL, Ontario – The City of Cornwall has found some savings by breathing new life into an old Cornwall Fire Services (CFS) pump truck.

According to National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards fire services vehicles must be taken out of service after they reach 20 years of age. The City of Cornwall however, found that the old CFS pump truck had a low number of kilometers on it and that their Municipal Works Department was in need of a new water utility truck.

The truck was remodeled inside and out to meet the needs of the Municipal Works department. The roof of the back of the truck was raised and the pump was removed to create storage space for tools and a place for members of the City’s Water Distribution team to work on the job site.

The average cost of replacement for a water utility truck for the Municipal Works department is $240,000 and the conversion of this old CFS pump truck represents a savings of about $150,000.

The new water utility truck has all of the capabilities that come standard in the Municipal Works fleet for this type of vehicle including a power generator, hydraulic power pack, and bright lights for at night jobs.

Dave Bigelow, the City of Cornwall’s Corporate Fleet Coordinator said that this truck has the added advantage of being more ergonomic than the standard, meaning that work crews can have easy access to much of what they need right on the side of the vehicle.

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