Dixon Fire Department sports new engine

Dixon Fire Department's new state-of-the-art engine hit the streets at the beginning of July. (Joel Rosenbaum/jrosenbaum@thereporter.com)

A quick turn of the key, and the engine roared to life.

Summer sunlight glinted off its fresh coat of lime green paint, matching the color scheme of the other apparatus in the Dixon Fire Department's three engine fleet.

This engine, however, was different.

Christened Engine 81, the 2013 Pierce Velocity marked its official start with the single-station department on July 4th -- a day that department members say they won't soon forget. The new addition is not only larger, sleeker and more storage-oriented, but its arrival enabled the fire department to rotate out a 1993 engine that, by all accounts, has seen better days and move its second newest engine, now five years old and with more than 70,000 hard miles on it, to second-out

Division Chief Ron Karlen talks about the Dixon Fire Department's new state-of-the-art fire engine. (Joel Rosenbaum/jrosenbaum@thereporter.com)

status, Division Chief Ron Karlen explained Thursday.

"We basically bought a striped-down version of a fire truck, and we chose the option to mount all the equipment on it ourselves to save money," Karlen said.

"When the engine came, it was just empty -- empty compartments, and we had to go buy all the pieces of equipment and mount them and install everything on the engine," he said. "But in doing that, we probably saved about $30,000 just in the mounting component of fire apparatus."

The city-funded state of the art engine was budgeted at $580,000 -- a goal that Karlen said they managed to come in under.

With a raised cab that allows firefighters in and out easily, even while wearing helmets, the engine also moved away

from the typical positioning of ladders on the outside in favor of interior compartments. With the equipment stowed inside the engine, it not only makes for a cleaner appearance, but there are fewer things for firefighters to hit or knock off, Karlen said.

"Also, the other thing is, putting ladders in here," Karlen said, indicating a compartment at the back of the engine, "lowers the height of it, so it's more firefighter friendly," which, he noted will hopefully help prevent back injuries.

"They put more equipment on this engine than we've carried in the past, which gives us more tools in the toolbox," he said.

Most notably, however, even more than the capabilities provided by the new addition, is the ability to replace the outdated apparatus and the "extreme amount of mileage" it has wracked up, Karlen said.

"It's important for us to keep up with the pace of wear and tear and mileage for our fleet of engines," he said.

With a service area measuring approximately 320 square miles, the department often finds itself responding to crashes on the freeway.

"And we do a lot of auto-aid, mutual aid with Winters, Davis, Vacaville and within our county," Karlen added.

"Because we're just one station, this engine has to handle the brunt of the calls, verses having multiple station where it's all spread out equally," he said.

Taking a page out Vacaville Fire Department's book with its new engine, Karlen said they are hoping to provide some consistency within the county.

"It makes it a lot easier when you go to neighboring agencies and the engines look alike, so the guys are familiar with operations of how they work," he said.

A new engine with the same specs has also been ordered for Winters Fire, with whom Dixon has a contractual agreement.

Fitted for foam and technical rescues, Karlen compared the engine's LED lighting capabilities to a "football stadium."

According to Karlen, the City Council agreed to "surplus" the department's oldest engine, and will likely attempt to sell it to another department in need.

"It handles a lot better," said firefighter/paramedic and acting engineer Matt Fields -- especially in terms of its suspension. "These are a lot tighter unit to drive."

And after tackling an estimated 55 calls in its first month of service, the engine is already making a positive impact.

"It just helps us be a little safer, a little more efficient a little more effective in our operations. We're a fairly busy department, so for these guys to have good tools and equipment is very important for our mission," Karlen added.

Follow Staff Writer Catherine Bowen Mijs at Twitter.com/cmijs.

Source: http://www.thereporter.com/old/home/ci_23752010/dixon-fire-department-sports-new-engine?source=rss

game 7 ray allen Zara Calgary flooding Kate Upton Topless summer solstice tahiti