Cara Vosburg Photo and Story

Inwood’s new fire rescue truck is on the job today.

But community members who attended the Inwood Firemen’s Breakfast Sunday morning got a special treat—a sneak peek at the department’s new rescue truck.

Chief Rob Howlett was one of six volunteers, who worked with Dependable Truck & Tank Limited in Brampton to design a “one-of-a-kind truck.”

The former rescue truck will be decommissioned after roughly 29 years in service. The department has been making do with the current line up of vehicles by putting some equipment in each of the three trucks, says Howlett.

The new “Rescue 5” truck has been designed as a mobile command centre and is full of compartments, inside and out, that will hold all of the required gear and equipment. That leaves the remaining two vehicles, the tanker and pumper, to function as they were intended: to haul and pump water, says Howlett.

Another unique feature of the truck is the Commander Light, which provides 360- degree rotation to light an entire scene. It was an addition that the Inwood Firemen’s Association pushed hard for and will free up three or four firefighters from having to set up portable lighting, says Howlett.

The price tag for the new truck is approximately $275,000, a cost that has been taken on by the municipalities of Brooke-Alvinston, Dawn-Euphemia and Enniskillen.

The Inwood Firemen’s Association is covering the $120,000 addition required to house the new truck, which wouldn’t fit in the existing bays. The non-profit association uses all the money that comes in through various fundraisers to maintain the fire hall.

Much of the construction is being taken on by the firefighters as well.

Donations toward the addition of the new bay will be accepted on behalf of the firemen’s association by the Brooke-Alvinston municipal office, where tax receipts will be provided.

The 24 members of Inwood’s fire department are excited for the arrival a truck that will streamline access to gear and deployment of rescue equipment, when urgently needed by members of their community.

“Being in a small community, when we get a call and hear an address, we know who lives there. We’re going to a neighbour’s place,” says Howlett.