On Halloween, the East Ferris Fire and Emergency Services unveiled its newest fleet member, a 2025 Freightliner pump truck.
The fire truck arrived this past Wednesday afternoon, and Fire Chief Steph Amyotte said almost everyone from the department had stopped by to check out the new acquisition. “It’s a great machine,” Amyotte said, “It’s fantastic. We went all out with this one, and it will definitely meet our needs.”
“It was a fantastic day when it rolled onto the lot," the chief said. “Everybody was beside themselves.”
The previous vehicle had reached the end of its insurable lifespan as an operational fire truck. It was 20 years old, and once that anniversary rolls around, the machines are no longer insurable. However, the department’s fleet is good to go now, all of our apparatus are under the 20 year mark, the chief said.
The truck has a stock commercial cab with a Detroit engine and an Allison transmission and can pump 1,250 gallons of water per minute. It holds 1,400 gallons of water. The truck was built by Battleshield Industries Limited in Vars, Ontario. “When we purchased this, it was purchased as a stock truck, but the manufacturer was willing to do some modifications to it to meet what we required,” Amyotte said.
One of those modifications was adding a water intake on the front end and some customized shelves along the sides to better store the crew’s gear. The purchase price was $736,715 plus HST, and the municipality took out a long-term loan for the purchase.
The new truck is good news for the community, councillor Steve Trahan emphasized. He served for many years with the fire department, and before he left to join municipal council, was the deputy fire chief. For some time, “We had only one pumper tanker in our community that was protecting Corbeil and Astorville.”
Trahan said, “This truck replaces a 20-year-old pumper tanker that we had, and we’re mandated to update our fleets, so this new truck is going to be a game changer for our residents, our staff with the fire service, and it meets the needs of the department.”
“It’s a front-line pumper tanker and it’s state of the art,” Trahan added.
Trahan serves as chair for the municipality’s fire and emergency services committee and works closely with chief Amyotte and CAP Trottier. “We’re working on a new firehall for Corbeil,” he said. The current building in Corbeil has two garage bays, and is over 100 years old, so the municipality wants to upgrade the facility. The Corbeil fire hall used to be the municipal office.
East Ferris’ Mayor, Rick Champagne, said the plans for the firehall are coming along well, and construction should begin next year. “We’ve purchased the property already, and it’s a decision that we’ve been working on for a couple of years now.”
As for the new truck, “It’s a proud moment for the community,” the mayor said. “We have volunteers, and without the volunteers, we have nothing. And you have to give them the equipment to work with, and now we have this new truck, and a new firehall planned for next year, it’s very exciting for them, it brings the momentum up, and people want to get involved.”
The mayor also volunteered as a fire fighter, and he sees the progress the department has made. “We’re ready to go, and we have around 28 volunteers now, so this is great for a small municipality.”