Ingomar Volunteer Fire Company in McCandless is excited to show off its new air supply service fire truck.
The Sutphen walk-in rescue vehicle features a mobile air compressor to supply and refill self-contained breathing apparatus. The mobile air supply truck is the only one in the McCandless and most likely the North Hills, especially at its size, said Ingomar Chief Greg Quatchak.
“It’s pretty high-tech,” he said.
The new heavy-duty truck features a six-person cab, space for 12 SCBAs and a 25-kilowatt generator.
SCBA is the wearable respiratory device firefighters use for air supply. Quatchak said it can run out of air in 20 to 25 minutes, and if someone is breathing heavily or working very hard, it may only last 10 to 15 minutes.
The new mobile air supply system on the truck can refill tanks as the firefighters are working.
Ingomar’s new sevice truck replaces a 30-year-old vehicle, which company is trying to sell, listed at $60,000, but Quatchak admits used truck sales is a hard market. Fire department trucks usually last only 20 to 25 years, he said.
The new truck took more than two years to build because of back orders and supply chain issues lingering from the pandemic.
The emergency vehicle has already been on several calls. Quatchak said this is the third emergency vehicle the company has purchased from Sutphen, a family-owned company based in Ohio since 1890.
All three McCandless fire companies work together and benefit one another, with each outfitted for specialty equipment or service, so there’s no duplication.
Quatchak said Peebles VFC’s primary function is heavy rescue. Highland has aerial equipment, with the highest ladder at 105 feet, as opposed to Ingomar’s 75-foot one. And Ingomar has the air supply vehicle.
But each department does have the basic supplies for each of these areas. Ingomar’s new service truck still features the basic rescue equipment, such as vehicle extraction equipment including the jaws of life cutting tool.
The McCandless fire companies all recently received Federal Emergency Management Agency grants to use toward the purchase of a new supply of SCBAs.
As far as funding, McCandless has an apparatus sinking fund that acts like a loan for fire departments. Each of the VFCs in the town can have two pieces of equipment or vehicles in the fund, and Ingomar already has two, Quatchak said.
So Ingomar purchased the new service truck on its own, at a cost of about $900,000.
“We just saved knowing sooner or later we had to purchase it,” said Quatchak, who will be recognized for his 50 years of service this year.
Lt. Wess Amara said there are no extra “bells or whistles” on the truck, just everything that was needed.
“We’re very happy,” he said.