NEW $184,000 PUMPER FIRE TRUCK ARRIVES

On Oct. 27, 1967, Cape Girardeau's first city manager, Paul Frederick, and then-Fire Chief Carl Lewis watched as two 1967 American La France fire engines worth almost $60,000, were unloaded from railroad freight cars in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Twenty-five years later, Acting Fire Chief Max Jauch and City Manager J. Ronald Fischer were at Fire Station No. 1 Monday to inspect the $184,000 replacement for one of the old 1967 American La France fire trucks, a 1992 Pierce Arrow pumper fire engine.

Jauch said Engine 12, which is the official designation of the new fire engine, will be stationed at Fire Station No. 2 in about two to three days.

"We'll have it in service as soon as we can get the two-way radios and firefighting equipment installed. The firefighting equipment, hose, ladders, air-packs and other gear will come from one of the fire engines we're going to retire," he said.

Engine 12 is the first pumper fire engine the fire department has purchased since 1978. The 1967 American La France fire truck it replaces is one of several aging fire trucks scheduled to be retired as part of a five-year upgrade of the department's fleet of firefighting equipment, Jauch said.

If funds permit, the department plans to purchase another pumper engine next year to replace the other 25-year-old American La France fire engine, he added.

The most noticeable feature of Engine 12 is the fully-enclosed rear crew cab, now required on all new fire trucks because of changes in National Fire Protection Association fire truck safety specifications.

"The fully-enclosed safety cab is just another safety factor for the men who ride behind the front cab. That's the same reason you no longer see firefighters riding on the back of a fire truck," Jauch said.

Engine 12 is the third fire engine to be painted in the fire department's new red with white paint scheme. The others are the 102-foot aerial platform ladder truck and the newly-painted and overhauled Pumper 1, both stationed at fire department headquarters

Engine 12 also has a 10-inch wide, white reflective stripe along either side for better visibility to motorists.

Jauch said Engine 12 has a 750-gallon water tank and can pump up to 1,500 gallons per minute from water sources such as a fire hydrant.

The new fire engine is also equipped with an automatic transmission, which makes it easier for rookie firefighters to learn how to drive it. Jauch said many of the younger firefighters have never driven any other type of vehicle except those equipped with an automatic transmission.

Engine 12 is powered by a diesel engine, as are all fire engines now built in the United States due to safety and economical reasons.

With delivery of Engine 12, Jauch said the fire department has only one gasoline-powered fire engine in the fleet, and it is scheduled to be replaced in the proposed five-year upgrade of the fleet.

There's another change in the appearance of Engine 12 that makes it different from the rest of the fire engines in the fleet. The electronic sirens and air horns are mounted on the front bumper instead of on the cab. Jauch said this is for the hearing protection of those who ride in the cab. Many firefighters have suffered a partial hearing loss because of the constant exposure to the screeching siren and air horn on top of the cab.

Commenting on the difference in price between the 1967 American La France, which cost about $30,000, and the 1992 Pierce Arrow fire engine, which cost $184,803, Jauch said inflation obviously plays some part in the increase in price. But safety improvements and new technology in construction of fire engines are other reasons for the increased costs, he said.

Jauch said the department purchased a Warner Swasey pumper engine in 1978 for $51,000, plus the trade-in of a fire truck. In 1987, the new aerial platform ladder truck was purchased for $410,000. He said each new fire engine represents new safety and technological improvements.

Engine 12 was driven from the Appleton, Wis., factory to Cape Girardeau over the weekend by Jauch and fire department mechanic/safety officer Mike Morgan, who flew to Appleton last week to take delivery of the fire engine.

"It drove like a Rolls Royce," said Morgan. The trip from Wisconsin to Cape Girardeau took 11 hours and 30 minutes. "We left the plant at 8:20 a.m. Saturday and arrived at the fire station at 7:50 p.m., Saturday," Jauch said.