CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Clarion Fire and Hose Company is awaiting arrival of a new truck at the end of February and received an unexpected $1,000.00 donation Friday afternoon that can be used for equipment.
(Photo: Receiving a “great little Christmas present” for the Clarion Fire and Hose Company were State Senator Scott Hutchinson, Clarion Chamber Executive Director Tracy Becker, Golden Living Administrator John McCracken, Clarion Firefighters Dave Walters, Mike Chesterfield, Chuck Bartley, and Scott Sharrar.)
The $315,000.00 truck from Sutphen in Columbus, Ohio, is being paid from local tax millage saved for equipment and a revision in state regulations that now allow the use of state Volunteer Firefighter’s Relief funds. Costs of the new truck will be split between the two sources.
Golden Living of Clarion presented Clarion Fire with the $1,000.00 check in support of the needs of the firefighters, and officials said it would be used for the new truck and emphasized the importance of $1,000.00 donations.
“Every $1,000.00 means so much to us,” said Clarion Borough Mayor David Walters, a Clarion firefighter for 28 years. “Thank you so much for doing this.”
John McCracken, Administrator of Clarion Golden Living Center at 999 Heidrick Street, presented the check, noting the Golden Living Corporation is now celebrating its 50th anniversary of service this year.
“I’m excited we have our community support initiative, and that’s where our organization donates monies to notable services in the community,” said McCracken. “On behalf of Golden Living, I’m proud to recognize you and present you with a check for $1,000.00 towards your new truck or whatever you need.”
The new truck replaces No. 19, the 1989 Mac now in use, the last unenclosed vehicle. NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) requires an enclosed cab that carries the firefighters, but the 1989 model was grandfathered.
“It’s really a safety issue, and we have a tremendous area to cover,” said Walters, “and it will be nice to have all of our guys under cover in the truck when traveling. The new truck will also have a capacity to pump 1,500 gallons a minute.”
Walters and President Mike Chesterfield said the purchase of a new truck would not have been possible except for a change in the law governing the use of fire relief funds.
“I tell everybody we could not buy this truck under the old law, and now they let us use relief money to buy the new truck,” said Walters. “Without that, we wouldn’t be buying a new truck, and our business is to try and serve and protect those in our area, and that’s a big thing. The state really came and made some nice laws where we can take that money and use it instead of just using it on certain things. Senator Scott Hutchinson deserves a real feather in his cap for his support.”
Hutchinson attended the check presentation and thanked the firefighters who keep the community safe.
“It is getting harder to get volunteers that are dedicated, but it is so important,” said Hutchinson. “My thanks also go to Golden Living for their partnership and recognizing what our community needs. I guess we have to call this a great little Christmas present.”
Chesterfield (left in photo) described the new truck as basic, but said among the truck brands Sutphen is the Cadillac Denali of trucks.
“It’s a very nice truck that’s good quality and going to serve us for many years to come,” said Chesterfield. “It’s not like we’re replacing a truck every seven years now like was done in earlier times.”
Walters viewed the truck as basic and stripped down of extras that would have increased the price.
“When we started looking for a truck, our budget was $300,000.00,” said Walters (right in photo). “When you first tell people that is our budget, they say there do no way you can do that. We’re basically buying a stripped down model of everything that we can buy. We bid it out and three companies came in, and they were all extremely close to $300,000.00, but the Sutphen guy said, ‘look, I can build you a brand new truck instead of the demo, you’re loyal customers.'”
“It’s a quality truck, it just doesn’t have all the extra things like air conditioning, power windows, or stereo. It’s like we’re here to fight fires and this is all we’re doing.”
Chesterfield reported that several new fundraising initiatives are planned for next year, including a Valentine Day Comedy Show and an annual fund drive.
Despite the changes in funding over the years and challenges of attracting volunteers, Walters feels Clarion Fire is still going strong.
“At one time, Owens gave the fire company a check for $25,000.00 every year to help because of what we did for Owens,” said Walters. “The college used to give us $10,000.00. Neither of those things is now available, so we do what we can. All of the money we get from taxes goes into an equipment fund to maintain the equipment. Things have changed in the years I’ve been here, but we’re still alive and well today. We still make it work even though funding is tough and volunteerism is tough, but we still make it.”
