The Terrace Fire Department has a shiny new rescue truck.
The $760,000 vehicle was purchased using a $500,000 donation from LNG Canada, with the City covering the rest of the bill.
Unlike a fire engine, the new rescue truck will not carry water, said Deputy Fire Chief Dave Jephson.
“We’re calling this a rescue truck, highway rescue because it responds the bulk of the time to motor vehicle accidents outside of Terrace, but it also responds to motor vehicle accidents in Terrace,” he said, adding that the truck could also be used in other scenarios such as basic water rescues or hazmat situations. “Obviously we have great staff, their roles and responsibility are huge. This gives them another option to respond with different types of tools, different things that are needed either on the fire ground, or rescue.”
The truck could also be used at fires as a support vehicle.
“We use it for rehab, so at a larger fire we start taking the blood pressure of all our members to make sure that they’re safe and working within certain criteria. Winter time, we need shelter to go and thaw their packs and thaw their gear out,” Jephson said.
The brand of the truck is E-ONE, a company the Terrace Fire Department has done business with in the past with great results, Jephson said. He noted one advantage of buying this truck is that it is built completely by E-ONE instead of being assembled by multiple companies, which means the warranty will be reliable.
“[E-ONE] can look after that [warranty]. They can’t blame it on another customer or somebody else adding to it,” he said.
Mayor Carol Leclerc said that when LNG Canada offered to make a large donation, it was councillor Brian Downie who had the idea to put the money toward a new rescue truck. Leclerc thanked LNG Canada for the contribution.
“When LNG Canada came up, stepped up to the plate, this just made things that much easier for us. $500,000 in the City budget is huge. Like that’s half of a road construction job,” she said. “A huge thank-you to LNG Canada for recognizing the impact that this project will have in the Northwest … It’s nice to have industry partners that come and help with municipal projects.”
Jennifer Prochera, a senior community engagement advisor with LNG Canada, said the company recognizes its project will bring a lot of traffic to the highway between Terrace and Kitimat, so a highway rescue vehicle is a “win-win” for the company and the communities.
“In construction phase, we’re going to have up to 7,000 in and out of the Terrace airport and into Kitimat, so the highway is going to be busy,” she said. “We like to think that we’re going to leave the communities better than they were when we got here.”
jake.wray@terracestandard.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
