
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 6, 1993                   TAG: 9311050200
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Kathy Loan Staff Writer
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                   LENGTH: Short

PUMPER TRUCK IS OPEN-HOUSE CENTERPIECE

The town's Fire Department recently purchased a pumper truck. The 1993 model Pierce Dash pumper replaces a 26-year-old pumper that was sold to another fire department.

Floyd Childress, a volunteer firefighter who served on a committee that decided the truck's specifications, said the $230,000 tanker will help Christiansburg upgrade its fire-protection capability now that the town has become larger and more populated.

The old tanker, which was sold to a rural Southwest Virginia department, didn't have the necessary pumping capacity and could carry only two people in its cab.

The new truck can carry six firefighters. "It's a beautiful piece of equipment," Childress said.

The tanker was a planned expense - part of the town's capital improvement program - and had been budgeted for several years.

It can pump 1,500 gallons of water a minute and carry 750 gallons of water in its tank.

Childress said tankers give the department time to hook up other equipment to fire hydrants but still begin fighting a fire. "It let's you start fighting fire immediately," he said.

The truck also carries 2,000 feet of line.

Designated as Engine No. 2, the pumper will be the first-responding unit in town when it is put into service after being equipped.

The tanker is among the equipment that can be seen during the department's open house Sunday, 2-5 p.m. The Fire Department is on Depot Street between the armory and the middle school. The department has 30 active members.

by CNB