"Half-Price" Fire Truck Built By Local Firm

"Half-Price" Fire Truck Built By Local Firm TRUCKS New Trucks 24-3-12 The Rochester, Ill., fire department saved at least half the cost of buying a new "brush fire truck" by having it built at a local fabricating shop, rather than ordering it from a factory. Not only did they save money but the truck they got does a lot more than commercial models, says Rochester Fire Chief Jerry Moore. "We spent $56,000 for the truck. A similar commercial rig would have been well over $100,000," he says. What's better about the truck is that water is pumped by a 2-cyl. Italian diesel engine which direct-drives a turbine pump. It's aligned so the water hose can be attached from the ground at the rear. That means the truck can be pulled forward while the hose is working to move with the blaze. The Rochester fire department has had a specialty brush and field fire truck for the past 50 years. Some 70 percent of the department's fires are field and brush fires. The new truck is a 1999, 550 4-WD Ford with diesel engine. It can be used to spray water out of the back end. It carries 400 gal. of water and can be refilled from a tanker at the scene of the fire. The truck was built by Trotters Inc., of Buffalo, Ill., a company that normally builds farm equipment. "We avoided the chrome and frills that are on commercial trucks and came up with a truck that is all business," Moore says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jerry Moore, Rochester Fire Department, 401 E. Main, Rochester, Ill. 62563 (ph 217 498-9419).

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