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Mainly clear skies. Low 62F. Winds light and variable..
Mainly clear skies. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.
Pete J. Rose works on getting the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck ready to respond to calls, at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
Greg T. French and David G. Marsala work on getting the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck ready to respond to emergency calls, at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The rear driver side of the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck is seen at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The rear passenger side of the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck is seen at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Fire Department’s former heavy rescue truck is stripped of equipment on Jan. 29, 2021 at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station in Watertown in preparation to sell at auction. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Fire Department’s former heavy rescue truck is stripped of equipment on Jan. 29, 2021 at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station in Watertown in preparation to sell at auction. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Fire Department’s former heavy rescue truck is stripped of equipment on Jan. 29, 2021 at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station in Watertown in preparation to sell at auction. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
City of Watertown firefighters test out heavy rescue cutters from Hurst Jaws of Life on a junkyard car behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
A rescue ram, also known as a telescopic ram, from Hurst Jaws of Life was available for city firefighters to test on junkyard cars behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
City of Watertown firefighters test out heavy rescue spreaders from Hurst Jaws of Life on a junkyard car behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
A rescue cutter from Hurst Jaws of Life was available for city firefighters to test on junkyard cars behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
Pete J. Rose works on getting the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck ready to respond to calls, at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
Greg T. French and David G. Marsala work on getting the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck ready to respond to emergency calls, at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The rear driver side of the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck is seen at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The rear passenger side of the Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck is seen at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on Monday in Watertown. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Fire Department’s former heavy rescue truck is stripped of equipment on Jan. 29, 2021 at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station in Watertown in preparation to sell at auction. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Fire Department’s former heavy rescue truck is stripped of equipment on Jan. 29, 2021 at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station in Watertown in preparation to sell at auction. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
The Watertown Fire Department’s former heavy rescue truck is stripped of equipment on Jan. 29, 2021 at the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station in Watertown in preparation to sell at auction. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
City of Watertown firefighters test out heavy rescue cutters from Hurst Jaws of Life on a junkyard car behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
A rescue ram, also known as a telescopic ram, from Hurst Jaws of Life was available for city firefighters to test on junkyard cars behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
City of Watertown firefighters test out heavy rescue spreaders from Hurst Jaws of Life on a junkyard car behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
A rescue cutter from Hurst Jaws of Life was available for city firefighters to test on junkyard cars behind the Emma Flower Taylor Fire Station, 224 S. Massey St., on March 14 in Watertown. The Watertown Fire Department’s heavy rescue truck will be equipped with it and other life-saving tools. Kara Dry/Watertown Daily Times
WATERTOWN — The fire department’s new rescue truck will be ready to go on calls this morning.
By a 3-2 vote last month, the current City Council reversed a decision by the previous council to take the rescue truck off the road.
On Friday, Fire Chief Matthew R. Timerman said the new version of the rescue truck — an existing department Ford F-550 pickup truck — is all set to go on calls at 8 a.m. today.
“It gives us more flexibility on calls,” he said, adding that the fire department will increase the number of companies from four to five.
The rescue truck will mainly be available to go out on more serious medical and emergency calls.
Councilwoman Lisa A. Ruggiero, who voted for the new rescue truck, plans to be at the Massey Street Fire Station early this morning to see the truck go on its first call.
“I want to be there to take some photos,” she said.
The previous City Council took the heavy rescue truck off the road in January 2021 and sold the truck. It was done as a cost-saving measure and was a controversial decision.
Last week, council members voted, 3-2, to promote four firefighters to captains who will be assigned to the rescue truck.
In the coming days, Chief Timerman will be conducting interviews for the new captain positions for the rescue truck. The successful candidates will then be joining the rig in a couple of weeks, he said.
The city is in the process of purchasing $36,545 in fire extrication equipment that will be used on the new rescue truck.
That new equipment had to be purchased after the old heavy rescue truck was taken off the road and sold for $25,900.
The new equipment replaces some of the hydraulic gear that could not fit anywhere on the department’s current fleet.
It will be a couple of months before the new gear is delivered and can be used on the new rescue truck.
Some old items, including rope rescue and water rescue gear and equipment for industrial type calls, also will be used on the new rescue truck.
Getting the rescue truck back on the road was prompted by an Arsenal Street crash that trapped a man underneath a vehicle dashboard for 16 minutes in October.
Firefighters needed to wait that long before the Town of Watertown Fire Department brought the Jaws of Life to the scene and got the 18-year-old man out.
Having the rescue truck manned also will correct an issue in which firefighters had to go back to the fire station to retrieve equipment needed in certain situations, Chief Timerman said.
Councilwoman Ruggiero also said that promoting the four firefighters will resolve a pending arbitration case that the firefighters’ union filed because firefighters were working out of title.
In the end, the move to take the heavy rescue truck off the road cost $63,000 in legal bills, back pay and equipment, Councilwoman Ruggiero said.
But Mayor Jeffrey M. Smith and Councilwoman Sarah V. Compo Pierce opposed putting the truck back in service and promoting firefighters.
They contended the move would cause an ongoing and continuing cost to pay the new captains. They fear that additional costs will have long-term financial ramifications with the city set to lose millions of dollars in revenues when a hydroelectric contract with National Grid runs out in eight years.
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That's a little odd for a councilwoman to be waiting there for something to happen and then snap pictures of the new vehicle
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