Nestucca Fire puts new fire engine into service

By TIM HIRSCH
of the Sun

It was a tip of the hat to the last 75 years and a healthy dose of optimism for the next chapter on Saturday, April 27, when the Nestucca Rural Fire Protection District hosted an open house in part to celebrate their anniversary and in part to officially “push in” its new 33-foot fire engine.

Push-in ceremonies are a time-honored tradition dating back to when engines were powered by horses and when returning from a call firefighters would detach the horses and push the fire pump back into the station.

Honoring those memories, the district officially put the new fire engine — its first new one since 1994 — into service. The open house was also a chance to learn about the benefits of joining a Certified Emergency Response Team and to meet with firefighters.

The new 2024 HME-branded fire engine boosts a 1,000-gallon water tank, and 1,500 gallon per minute pump. It is being housed in the Hebo fire hall and is being purchased on a five-year lease to purchase contract for $565,000.

NRFPD Division Chief of Maintenance Eric Shoop told the Sun that the engine can accommodate a six- man crew — two more than they can load up with on other rigs. It is also set up for automobile extrication, rope rescue, surface and swift water rescue and firefighting. 

“It will go out on (every call),” he said about the district’s new “front line” rig. 

Shoop added that another benefit of the new engine compared with its other engines is its shorter wheelbase, which will allow firefighters to steer it in tight driveways and roadways much easier.

Though it isn’t light enough for firefighters to cross some of the smaller bridges in the district, NRFPD has enacted a plan so it’s prepared for situations where they can’t use their heavy equipment on sub-standard bridges.

“We have been doing pre-plans (for smaller bridges),” Shoop told the Sun. “We had a temp person go around the whole district last summer and mark all of the locations of the bridges. (They were then) uploaded to our CAD system so when we get the call, we know we’re going to be coming up on a bridge that we can’t cross so we have extra hose on the rig.”

Shoop said the district went with a new rig in place of another used engine in part because of the maintenance cost associated with used vehicles.

“It’s a little less on maintenance costs because everything’s under warranty,” he said.

He also added the district is striving to meet National Fire Protection Association guidelines.

“NFPA says a front line engine has to (have no more than) 60,000 miles,” he added. “(After that,) it (is supposed to go) into reserve stock and then it needs to be retired after 20 years.”

That’s quite a different picture than NRFPD’s current fleet, a fleet that Shoop says averages 20 years in age.

Staff has already trained on the new engine.

“Everyone’s been training on it for the last month and a half since we’ve had it,” Shoop said.

Though the district, which is once again on pace for 1,000 calls this year, serves many more medical calls then blazes, those fires still do happen. Shoop said in the last “couple of weeks” the district has responded to three car fires. He added that they also respond to three to four house fires a year.

For more information about the Nestucca Rural Fire Protection District, visit nrfpd.com.