Havre Fire Department celebrating new top-of-the-line truck

The Havre Fire Department received Monday the department's first new pump fire engine in 26 years.

"We don't see brand new trucks every day. ... To see it happen is once in a career," Fire Chief Mel Paulson said.

The new truck is a handmade Pierce Arrow XT fire engine, painted with a "smoke over fire" scheme, black over red, with top-of-the-line electronic and safety features while still maintaining some of the more traditional features, Paulson said.

He added that it is also more economical with space, giving it a large amount of additional storage.

Paulson said the truck was built from the ground up, handmade by Pierce Manufacturing Inc. and customized specifically for Havre Fire Department.

It has a Cummins ISX12 engine with 500 horsepower, twice as much as the old engine, which Paulson said was a Detroit engine.

The new truck carries 1,000 gallons of water, 350 more than the old engine.

He added that the Arrow XT has other new features as well as some things that were not possible 26 years ago. That includes a poly water tank that in the previous truck was stainless steel. The poly tank forms to the contours of the available space, allowing less restriction on the size of the tank, which will not rust. The new water system for the truck also expels 2,200 gallons of water per minute 700 more gallons than the minimum requirement, Paulson said. He added that this is more efficient when fighting fires.

Another thing that wasn't possible before is the efficiency of the electronics, Paulson said. The inverter that controlled the electrical power for the older fire engines was large and the department needed to bring along generators on the truck to run all the lights. He said the inverter on the new truck is one-third the size and can run all the lights along with powering things that need to be plugged in. He added that with the new LED lights, the truck is energy-efficient and user-friendly.

A locking mechanism and seat belts have been re-designed for the tanks worn by the fire fighters, he said. The locking mechanism holds the tanks individually without needing the firefighters to take the tanks off, so no additional weight is added to the seat belt, he said.

He added that the Arrow XT also has a back-up camera for an added safety feature, though the department will still use a guide for when the truck needs to back up.

Paulson said one of his favorite features to the new truck is the traditional mechanical siren. He added that the sirens, such as the one on the truck, have been in use for a hundred years and add tradition to the Arrow XT.

The smoke over fire paint scheme, is a new aesthetic look for the Havre truck, although it is popular in other departments nationwide.

The new fire engine will be replacing Truck 1, which was a 1973 Hahn Pumper.

Paulson said the new truck was mostly paid for by a $485,000 Assistance to Firefighters Grant awarded to the department by FEMA in 2016. The grant required a 5 percent match from the department.

The department began writing the grant request in 2015 with the help of Bear Paw Development Corp., he said. After the grant was awarded, he added, he called up the department's representative with Pierce and requested the new truck.

He said Truck 12 is a Pierce Dash from 1992 and runs reliably and efficiently.

"Let's build a truck just like that, but 26 years newer," Paulson said he told the rep.

Paulson said the Pierce company is a popular manufacturer of fire engines including Great Falls and Big Sky departments using its trucks.

He added that it took 11 months for the manufacturer to build the truck, which was fast considering it was handmade and customized.

Paulson said the Arrow XT is made to last, with bigger frame rails installed in the undercarriage, a larger engine and the poly tank added at his request.

"That truck is going to last us a lot of years," Paulson said.

He added that the Havre firefighters love the new truck.

Paulson's career and Truck 12 have run in parallel, he said, with truck 12 being the fire engine throughout his career. He said he grew-up on Truck 12 and is sentimental about the fire engine, adding that it's an "old warrior" fighting a lot of fires and running the streets of Havre.

The new truck will start a new tradition, he said.

"This one is for the next generation," Paulson said.

The new Truck 1 is an asset to the department and the community, serving Havre for many years to come, he added.