Pump testing OK’d for Greenfield firetrucks

Three items on the Greenfield City Council’s docket last week related to helping the Greenfield Volunteer Fire Department move along in its journey of being able to serve the community at an optimum level.

Not only was a more than $408K pay application approved for the fire station project, pump testing on fire trucks and repair work on one fire truck, in particular, were also approved unanimously.

Portions of the new fire station, going up approximately where the previous station stood, were fabricated off site and delivered recently. The $408,764.36 pay application is the bigger of the two payments made so far on the station.

“A lot of this is is for getting the building to the site,” City Administrator Michelle Carns said. “As a reminder for everybody, the fire station is fully funded. For any shortfall we have, we have a donor who is going to cover for us. It’s mostly covered by insurance and a few donations, which are completely separate from anything else we do.”

Pump testing is a process required by the Insurance Services Office which assigns a public protection classification score from 1-10 to communities. It reflects a fire department’s ability to prevent and respond to fires while also taking other considerations into account, such as adequacy of water supply for fire suppression beyond daily use, fire hydrants, communication systems and any procedures in place for building codes and inspections.

Greenfield Fire Chief Curtis Vry estimated pump testing will cost about $1,800 for Greenfield’s six fire trucks. Orient Volunteer Fire Department may participate as well, possibly helping with a portion of the cost of bringing the company here.

“What this is is there’s a company that goes around that does all the pump testing. They run the pumps up to 300-350 PSI for so long to make sure they can withstand that pressure,” Vry said. “There are a few other things that go into effect with that. I shouldn’t say it’s required, but it’s going to help everybody in this room with keeping their homeowners insurance no more than they are on the fire protection side of things.”

An estimated $8,000 was also earmarked for replacing a leaking mechanical seal and rebuilding a valve in the pump assembly on the department’s oldest pumper truck, a 1999 Chevrolet. This truck is currently scheduled to be replaced in 2029, and the council discussed pre-planning for that truck replacement sooner rather than later because of the high cost and long wait of current custom fire trucks.

The last few trucks the department has purchased have been demonstration units. Vry said there are advantages and disadvantages to buying demos.