With a bottle gripped firmly in his hand, Fire Chief Joseph Novak swung his arm and smashed the bottle on the front bumper of the Hopewell Fire Department’s new rescue pumper truck, releasing a spray of foam and bubbles that dripped onto the ground.
And with that action, Novak officially welcomed Rescue 52 – the truck’s designation – into the Hopewell Fire Department’s fleet of trucks during a special dedication ceremony earlier this month. The ceremony and the celebration that followed were held at the firehouse in Hopewell Borough.
“Welcome. This means a lot to us,” Novak said to the attendees who had gathered for the Aug. 18 dedication ceremony at the fire department headquarters on Columbia Avenue.
The day’s festivities included a friendly fire truck and fire apparatus judging competition, which drew contestants from fire companies as near as Princeton and Franklin Township and as far away as Falls Township, Pa.
There was an inflatable “bounce house” for children, with a fire department theme – a fire station, a fire truck and a fire hydrant. And of course, there was plenty of food prepared by the volunteers.
The obligatory “wet down” – or water fight – wrapped up the afternoon-long celebration. Volunteer firefighters from the Hopewell Fire Department, the Pennington Fire Department and the Middlebush (Franklin Township) Fire Company turned the fire hoses on each other, as friends and family members cheered them on.
The new rescue pumper truck, which cost $650,000, replaces a 1992 rescue engine/pumper. The Hopewell Township Board of Fire Commissioners, which has a contract with the Hopewell Borough Board of Fire Commissioners to provide coverage in part of the township, is contributing toward the cost of the new rescue pumper.
“The technology has changed tremendously. This one is a bigger truck and it carries more equipment. There are more tools. It carries twice as much water, 1,000 gallons, in the tank than the old one,” Novak said.
A special truck committee, made up of volunteer firefighters, was organized to design the new rescue pumper truck, said Assistant Fire Chief Dan Galatro Jr., who chaired the committee. The committee members have served with the volunteer fire company from 15 years to 50 years, he said.
The new truck can serve as a pumper truck to spray water from its 1,000-gallon tank. It also holds specialized rescue tools such as the Jaws of Life that can cut away the roof or doors of a vehicle to reach trapped victims.
The rescue pumper has special equipment that can be used to stabilize a vehicle that has tipped over. It also contains a mat that can be placed in a stream to prevent oil or contaminants from spreading.
Rescue 52 arrived at the firehouse at the end of June, Novak said. It took several weeks for the firefighters to train on the new fire truck. It was officially put into service, meaning it was ready to respond to emergency calls, earlier this month.
The new rescue pumper, along with the rest of the Hopewell Fire Department’s fire trucks, will respond to calls in Hopewell Borough and part of Hopewell Township, Novak said.
The remainder of Hopewell Township is covered by the Pennington Fire Company and the Union Fire Company, both of which are volunteer fire companies. The Hopewell Fire Department is staffed by paid firefighters and emergency medical technicians during the daytime on weekdays, and by volunteers after hours.
