The Teulon Rockwood Fire Department is all revved up to welcome a new tanker truck to its fleet.
The old Tanker 29 was sold through a sealed bid auction, and the 1981 tanker truck has now left the Teulon Rockwood Fire Department
In the fall, the local fire department retired one of its longest-ever running fire trucks, known as “Tanker 29.”
Originally a milk delivery truck, the 1981 truck had no baffles in the tank, no special equipment and crank windows. Everything was manual, including transmission. The long-serving truck was the fire department’s main water supply for many years.
“It was time to retire Old 29 as the frame rails had started to rust and weaken badly,” said Fire Chief Scott Skinner. “We were scared that it might not pass its next safety inspection.”
Their search for a replacement included plenty of research that included scouring online auction posts and other ads. Through this diligent work, they came across a 2004 Freightliner FL70 that was being sold in an auction by Port Severn Fire in Ontario.
“When we saw the possible replacement on auction, I flew out to inspect it and deemed that it looked like a very good replacement for our department. I sent pictures and video back to our command group on the fire department as well as the councillors on our fire commission,” Skinner said.
“Everyone involved thought it looked like a great possibility but it would need to be in our budget.”
With a maximum budget of $100,000, the Teulon Rockwood Fire Department won the bid and were able to replace their aging tanker for under $75,000, even after a few small repairs.
“Once we had bid and won the auction, Deputy Chief Danny Hutchinson flew out to meet me in Port Severn Ontario,” he said.
“To save money, we drove the truck home from there in two days. From the time of finding it on auction till we put it in service, it was a short time — but we had been searching for quite a few months prior to finding this one.”
He also expressed thanks to all who were involved in helping the fire department to secure the truck, with a special shout out to Rockwood Coun. Curtis McClintock for the extra time he spent working towards the purchase.
“We are proud to now announce and show off our new Tanker 29,” Skinner said. “A sealed bid auction was recently done by our fire commission and Old 29 sold and has now left our department.”
