CA Fire Department Rolls Out New Apparatus

Marysville residents soon may notice a new, even-shinier fire engine making its way through town. In July, the Marysville Fire Department had its new 2019 Pierce Enforcer fire engine delivered to the station and it has gone out on a couple calls as personnel have been training on the new engine, according to fire engineer/inspector Andrew Hall.

He said Engine 212, which had been the go-to engine for calls in the city for about the last 10 years, was “tired.” MFD responds to over 3,000 calls a year, which comes out to anywhere from 1-20 calls in a 24-hour period.

“This is the main one, this is the first one coming out of the station when we get a 9-1-1 dispatch,” Hall said of the brand-new Engine 211.

Hall said the Pierce brand of fire engine is the top of the line when it comes to quality and the detail work that goes into an engine. The new engine has a 700 gallon internal tank, which can pump 2,000 gallons per minute along with a hydraulic auxiliary pump. The auxiliary pump allows water to be pumped out while the engine is in motion.

Other features include independent front suspension that makes for a smoother ride and puts less stress on the engine as it drives over surface streets in the city. On most day-to-day operations the engine will be staffed by a fire apparatus engineer who drives the engine, a captain who sits next to the driver and a firefighter in the back. Hall said it can carry one to three firefighters in the back depending on what the call is.

“Main job for this one is protection of the city, but there could be a circumstance that we could get called—for a type one strike team immediate need for structure protection or whatever—that this could potentially go out in the mutual aid system,” Hall said.

The department’s assistance on out-of-county strike teams responding to wildland fires throughout the state helped pay for the new engine, according to Capt. Kevin Pohley.

“This is being paid for by revenue that we generate when we go on out-of-county strike teams,” Pohley said. “...The state reimburses us for personnel, and then they give us a fee for our equipment. Basically they pay for the people, and they’re renting the equipment. We financed it so every year when we go out we save that money then it covers the payments and before we purchased it we had a few years ahead.”

Pohley was part of the group that helped design the engine. Pierce engines are customizable to fit the needs of the station ordering the engine.

“It’s built specifically for this small historic city,” Pohley said.

The old Engine 212 will still be used as a reserve engine for the department, according to Hall.

Ballistic vests for mass casualty events, water rescue gear, and rope rescue gear still need to be moved from the old engine to the new one.

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