The new Fort Scott Fire Department fire truck, a 2019 Pierce Saber, sits in No.1 Station at 1604 S. National, ready for service.
A new truck and equipment has arrived and one more truck is on the way to add to the Fort Scott Fire Department’s arsenal for fire protection in the community.
The FSFD received a new 2019 Pierce Saber fire truck in December 2019.
“It will be our main attack truck,” FSFD Captain Jacob May said. “It came to us in December, we put it into service the first of the year, after training.”
At about the same time as receiving the truck, the department received air packs through a grant. Air packs are worn each time a firefighter enters a structure fire, to facilitate breathing, May said.
“The air packs were replaced with the award of an Assistance to Firefighters Grant,” FSFD Chief Dave Bruner said.
Fort Scott Fire Chief Dave Bruner. Submitted photo.
With the new truck they have a thermal imaging camera that aides searching inside structures that are on fire, which could help locate people, May said.
“I would also like to add that we were also fortunate to be able to replace our extrication tools with a donation by the Mercy Health Foundation,” Chief Bruner said.
“We have been training on (the new truck) a bunch,” May said. “It takes a lot of training to catch up on new stuff.”
“We are very fortunate,” May said. “We’ve been working with antiquated equipment for a long time.”
The truck is a 1000 gallon pumper, that can hold six firefighters.
The department has three pumper trucks, a ladder truck and a rescue truck, May said. Also housed is an ambulance if needed.
“The ambulance is staffed by our department as a third out unit for Bourbon County EMS,” Bruner said.
The fire department has two stations in Fort Scott, No. 1 at 1604 National Avenue and No. 2 at 23 S. Franklin on the city’s east side.
The firefighters serve 24 hours on duty, then are off 48 hours.
“We run city-wide full coverage,” May said. “Our rescue truck will run county-wide. We do occasionally assist the county fire departments as requested.”
“Including myself and Deputy Chief Michael Miles we have 14 fulltime staff and three reserve staff,” Bruner said.
New Aerial Platform Truck Coming
At the Feb. 18 Fort Scott City Commission meeting, a new aerial platform truck was approved for the fire department as well, Bruner said.
The city applied for a Community Development Block Grant and was notified in late January that they had been approved for the grant.
The City of Fort Scott recently accepted a $665,303 grant award to help purchase the new fire truck, Rachel Pruitt, Fort Scott’s Economic Development Director, said in a press release.
State and local officials hold the representative check for the Community Development Block Grant. Submitted photo.
“The grant awarded is for a 100’ aerial platform truck,” Bruner said. “This apparatus will replace our existing 1993 75’ aerial truck. By replacing this apparatus, it will not only maintain our ISO status but it also allows our department to continue to provide service to the community as well as safe and reliable equipment for our firefighters to be able to perform their duties.”
