Sandy Hook Firefighters Now Using A ‘Quint’ Fire Truck

By Andrew Gorosko

The Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company has acquired a “quint” fire truck, a versatile vehicle that combines five firefighting functions in one piece of apparatus.

The truck, which is housed in the fire company’s Riverside Road firehouse, should prove to be a versatile vehicle for fire protection in the large Sandy Hook fire district, said Fire Chief Bill Halstead.

The quint truck, which has an approximately 50,000-pound gross vehicle weight, holds a 75-foot-long power ladder, a fire pumper, a water storage tank, fire hose, and ground ladders. The vehicle also has ample equipment storage cabinets. No fire company in town has previously had a quint truck.

With the quint truck present, there are now two ladder trucks in Newtown. Newtown Hook & Ladder operates a municipally owned ladder truck, which has a 105-foot-long power ladder.

Newtown Hook & Ladder Fire Chief Ray Corbo said, “It’s great that we have a second [ladder truck] available.” Having two such vehicles available to local firefighters could come in handy in certain situations, he said.

Firefighters typically position ladder trucks next to burning structures to get an advantageous elevated ladder position from which to pour water down onto a fire.

Unlike Hook & Ladder’s town-owned ladder truck, the Sandy Hook quint truck is owned by the Sandy Hook fire company.

The fire company took out a $250,000 loan to buy the vehicle and equip it, said Chief Halstead. The quint truck is a used 1992 Emergency One vehicle that formerly was in service in Long Grove, Ill. The vehicle had 18,000 miles on its odometer when it was purchased from an Alabama fire truck dealer. A new truck of its type would cost between $550,000 and $600,000, Chief Halstead said.

The fire company could not afford to buy a new quint truck, so it searched for a used vehicle to buttress its complement of fire vehicles, he said.

The quint truck was put into service in September and has been dispatched to several fire calls, Chief Halstead said. Firefighter Steve Stohl is the vehicle’s engineer.

Twenty-three Sandy Hook firefighters have received training in the use of the quint truck.

The vehicle carries six firefighters in three separate seating areas within the 450-horsepower, diesel-powered truck. Its pump moves 1,500 gallons of water per minute. The vehicle contains a 500-gallon water storage tank.

The quint truck will be the first vehicle that leaves the firehouse for structure fires that occur in the Sandy Hook fire district, Chief Halstead said. If requested, the quint truck would be sent to structure fires in the town’s four other fire districts, and also sent out of town on mutual aid calls, he said.

Current fire procedures dispatch Hook & Ladder’s ladder truck to all structure fires throughout Newtown.

Sandy Hook firefighters respond to more than 400 calls for service annually, Chief Halstead said.

“It increases the protection,” Chief Halstead said of the new vehicle. Having such a truck in service is hoped to decrease the fire company’s insurance rates, he added.