Rochester finds use for old Freetown fire engine
Rochester finds use for old Freetown fire engine
7 November 2008
published by www.southcoasttoday.com
USA — Over the years, the Rochester and Freetown fire departments have helped each other fight fires and deliver babies.
Now, Rochester will be getting a fire truck from Freetown.
Granted, it is a 1983 pump truck that Freetown firefighter Wesley Vaughan referred to as a “rotted out piece of junk,” but what one department has no use for can be a treasure for another department.
Freetown Chief Wayne Haskins “mentioned to me that the front end of the truck is identical to our 1969 brush truck. It is in pretty bad shape, but I thought about it and decided it would be good for parts,” said Rochester Chief Scott Ashworth.
He recounted how, eight years ago, the department had to drive to New York City to buy a new front end for is 2004 brush truck.
“It was four hours both ways and cost us $800. The company doesn’t even exist anymore,” he said. “The cost of a new brush truck is $400,000. That is a lot of money for something you are going to take in the woods and bang up while you fight brush fires.”
Mr. Vaughn said that the offer is a way of one department creatively helping out another during tough economic times.
