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Date: 7/12/2021
BLANDFORD – Town Administrator Joshua A. Garcia announced that a new tanker for the Blandford Fire Department has arrived. The tanker holds 2,000 gallons of water, increasing the town’s capacity to 3,500 gallons when responding to a fire.
“This will allow our Fire Department to adequately respond to a fire and reduce our dependence on mutual aid, therefore improving our overall fire response and safety to the town,” said Garcia.
Residents approved $96,415 from stabilization towards the purchase of the truck in the 2020 Annual Town Meeting more than a year ago.
“Acquiring the truck was a long and complex process that started with former Fire Chief Ed Harvey, later overseen by current Fire Chief David Mottor, and strongly advocated for by Select Board member Tom Ackley. I want to thank everyone involved in this process including the Finance Committee, the Select Board, as well as the townspeople who ultimately supported the financing strategy to acquire the tanker,” Garcia said.
The truck was designed and manufactured by Greenwood Emergency Vehicles and Emergency One. The new truck features a Freightliner M2106 2 door chassis, with a Hale MBP 750 gallons per minute pump, and a 2000-gallon poly tank. The truck also includes an electric portable tank rack, a full pump module, a Whelen lighting package, roll up doors, and a 10-inch-by-10-inch swivel dump.
For the time being, the truck will be housed in the Highway Department garage. The town is looking to build a new highway garage and retrofit the existing garage for the Fire Department, and voters approved funding $120,000 from the Building Stabilization Fund during a special town meeting in March to hire an owner’s project manager (OPM) for the project.