NBS adds fire truck to fleet

NEW RIEGEL — NBS Joint Fire District has welcomed a new pumper-tanker truck to its fleet. The fire district took possession of the new truck in early November and put it into service the first week of December. The department is updating some of the equipment, Chief Dennis Kessler said. The truck is ready and available to be used for fires. "The less it's used, the better," he said. The truck holds 2,500 gallons of water. Water always has been the challenge in rural firefighting, Kessler said. A pumper truck carries a limited amount of water and can be hooked up to a hydrant, and a tanker truck is what is used to carry water. The fire district's new truck is a hybrid: It has a pump that allows personnel to deliver water to a fire, and it still is able to carry water for sustained operations. The truck, which is to be used as a first-run building firefighting truck, and the department's current tanker, which carries 3,000 gallons of water, will allow the department to deliver 5,500 gallons of water to a fire scene to buy time until a department offering mutual aid comes, Kessler said. He said that depending on the fire, the department often needs 10,000 to 15,000 gallons of water to fight a fire in a rural setting. The new truck replaces a 1983 pumper. The fire district's fleet also includes one grass fire truck, an equipment van, an engine and a tanker. NBS EMS District is a separate entity housed in the same station. Kessler said the fire district formed in 2008. It serves the village of New Riegel and Big Spring and Seneca townships. "We're all here to serve the community. … I owe this community something," he said. Officials were able to build a station and buy a truck within 10 years through tax dollars the fire district brings in and through the generosity of residents and businesses that support New Riegel Volunteer Firemen Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to buying fire equipment. "(The community) support is just amazing. … We try to be diligent with our money," Kessler said. The cost of the new truck was about $170,000. Kessler said it is getting hard to find and keep volunteers, and the district always is looking for them. Organizations are only as good as the volunteers, he said. "It's hard to find volunteers for anything. … I know the volunteers are out there," he said. NBS Joint Fire District has 28 crew members. "We've been able to maintain our numbers," Kessler said. Anyone interested in volunteering with NBS or any other local fire or EMS service can call (567) 207-5646.