Engine 441 Enters Service For Sandy Hook Firefighters 

By Andrew Gorosko

Like the truck-borne depictions of their smiling lobster mascot armed with a charged fire hose and a Halligan tool, members of the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire & Rescue Company will be ready for action when responding to local emergencies, including fires, in their new Engine 441.

The 500-horsepower diesel-powered heavy-duty 2010 Pierce-brand fire truck, which weighs 26½ tons when loaded, is expected to see heavy service in its role as one of the fire company’s prime emergency vehicles, explained Sandy Hook Fire Chief Bill Halstead.

Engine 441 is expected to be used on more than 400 of the approximately 500 calls that the fire company responds to annually, he said. The vehicle is based at the company’s Riverside Road firehouse.

Firefighters in Engine 441 responded to a vehicular rollover accident on the morning of Wednesday, July 7, on eastbound Interstate 84, about 2,000 feet east of the Philo Curtis Road overpass. It was Engine 441’s first emergency call. 

Besides two depictions of the lobster mascot, the massive red-and-white vehicle bears the legend, “Proudly serving our community since 1938” and the fire company’s web address: www.sandyhookfire.com.

Engine 441 is owned by the town and designated for use by the Sandy Hook fire company. “This is a key truck in the organization,” Chief Halstead said.

The fire truck has an internal tank that holds 825 gallons of water which is available for initial attacks on fires. The vehicle is equipped to generate both Class A and Class B firefighting foam, which is used at fires, as needed.

The truck has enclosed seating for six firefighters who would travel in it to emergency calls.

Chief Halstead explained that Pierce was the low bidder when the town sought a replacement fire truck for Sandy Hook’s previous Engine 441.

The new vehicle’s price was $613,275. When calculating the trade-in value of the truck that it replaces, plus discounts, the cost to the town for the truck was approximately $556,000, Chief Halstead said. The town ordered the vehicle last September 30, after which it was manufactured.

The new truck replaces a 1982 Ford C-8000 fire engine. In 1995, that vehicle was retrofitted to extend its service life.

“This [Pierce] truck is larger and better than the vehicle it replaces,” Chief Halstead said.

The new vehicle allows firefighters to carry more equipment to emergencies and also is a safer vehicle, he said.

The truck is laden with safety oriented equipment, including multiple airbags, antilock brakes, rollover protection devices, vehicle stability control, and a set of video cameras which allow the driver to electronically monitor the views behind the truck and backward along both sides of the vehicle.

Engine 441 is a “custom truck,” the fire chief explained, noting the various requirements that the fire company specified when ordering the vehicle.

The fire engine carries fire hose of various diameters ranging from a one-inch to five-inch diameter. Overall, it carries 4,600 feet of fire hose on board.

An array of color-coded plumbing controls on the vehicle allow it to be used to control water supplies at fires.

The vehicle has many outward-facing storage cabinets within which the paraphernalia of firefighting is stored for easy access in emergencies. The truck has more than 300 cubic feet of storage space.

When fire company training in the use of Engine 441 is complete, approximately 20 firefighters would be eligible to drive it, provided that they have a current state certifications to do so, the fire chief said.

Chief Halstead expects that Engine 441 will have a service life of at least 15 years, and probably 20 years.