DELMAR, IA—A new truck purchased with a $72,000 grant from Clinton County Development Association will be a constant reminder to the Delmar Fire Department of the worst terror attack on American soil.
The 1999 heavy rescue vehicle responded to the attack on the World Trade Center towers Sept. 11, 2001, Delmar Fire Chief Dave Schneden said Friday. It bears a sticker in a window declaring that the firefighters who lost their lives that day, including some who rode in on this rescue vehicle, would not be forgotten.
"We bought it from Indiana," Schneden said. "They got it from New York."
Delmar's volunteer fire department held fundraisers for about five years to buy a new vehicle, Schneden said. This year, a CCDA grant — money which the county receives from Wild Rose Casino's revenue — provided about 3/4 of the purchase price of 1999 heavy rescue truck. The rest of the money came from a truck fund the township set up, Scheden said.
For Delmar firefighters, the bigger truck makes logistics easier. "It's going to be equipped with everything," Schneden said, from air packs to the hydraulic rescue tools. Everything but water.
The department couldn't fit all its equipment on the truck the department is retiring, said Firefighter Ron Filloon. That truck was a repurposed ambulance, Filloon said.
The new truck is 37 feet long and has three times the number of compartments as the old truck, Schneden said.
The Clinton County town of 525 is serviced by an all-volunteer fire department of 20 firefighters, four who are emergency medical technicians, Schneden said.
The department has benefitted from CCDA grants before. CCDA grants allowed the department to build an addition to the fire station and purchase gear and a defibrillator, Schneden said.
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