Huttig Fire Department gets a new truck
The Huttig Fire Department recently added an aerial truck to its fleet in a first for the city.
Chief Greg Gilmore said the West Fraser sawmill provided a $5,000 donation for the truck after the Lawson-Urbana Department offered to sell it to the HFD.
“I know the chief real well, and he called me, told me they had gotten a donation from their sawmill out in Lawson to get a larger truck. He asked if we were interested and then I went and talked to the (West Fraser) plant manager about it,” Gilmore said. “They’ve given us donations for years.”
The truck will be in service within the next month, Gilmore said, joining the department’s three pumper trucks, tanker truck, brush truck, ambulance, service trailer and emergency medical side-by-side.
It’s not the biggest truck in terms of water pumping capacity, but Gilmore said it will expand the department’s ability to fight fires.
“If we have (a fire) at the sawmill, or at what we called the old supermarket store that’s a pretty good size, it will reduce our time trying to get an aerial truck.
Normally it would take an hour, hour and a half to get one out there,” he said. “Now we have one to respond as soon as we get the call. It will also better our ability to fight fires that are at a higher elevation.”
So far this year, the HFD has responded to approximately 60 fire and emergency medical calls. In additional the municipal fire department, the HFD also operates a basic-life-support ambulance service, Gilmore explained.
The HFD serves an area stretching from the state line south of Huttig to Strong, and serves other communities including Felsenthal and Harper Springs, according to previous News-Times reporting. Gilmore said the department is currently open to new recruits.
“New members is some
thing we’re always looking for,” he said. Most firefighters are on call, instead of working at the department full time like in El Dorado. Gilmore said firefighters are paid $30 per call. Gilmore said in addition to working part-time for the City of Huttig as fire chief, he is also a paramedic and dispatcher for ProMed Ambulance. Anyone interested in serving with the HFD can call Huttig City Hall, 870-9432222, for more information.