SOLON — Recently, the Tri-Township (Solon) Fire Department took delivery of a brand-new heavy rescue truck. The $650,000 truck, built by Toyne in Breda, Iowa, is 36’ long and carries the department’s rescue tools and equipment. It replaces a much smaller truck built in 2007.
“We just outgrew it,” said Fire Chief Bob Siddell.
Purchase of the new rescue truck was moved up five years to help facilitate the purchase of a new pumper (“engine”) in a few years, the Chief explained, and is expected to serve Solon and the Tri-Township area for the next 25 years.
Planning for the truck began about three years ago with a committee formed to determine the all-volunteer department’s wants and needs. Two fire apparatus builders bid on the truck with Toyne submitting the low bid. Toyne has built other trucks for Solon including the old rescue, the tanker, and both engines. The truck, officially Rescue 138, carries all of the department’s physical rescue equipment including a set of specialized grain bin rescue equipment, hydraulic tools for vehicle extrication (commonly known as “the Jaws of Life,”) rope rescue equipment, as well as water and ice rescue gear. It also carries 11 spare air bottles for the firefighters’ Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and has the means to refill air bottles at the scene of a fire. A hopper and application tube for floor dry (used to absorb automotive fluids at an accident site) is a welcome change from hauling 50-pound bags. Up top are large “coffin compartments” for infrequently used equipment, as well as a telescoping light tower for illuminating emergency scenes. Roll out storage trays and tool boards make organizing, and quickly finding, tools a snap. The truck also features a five-man cab with increased rollover protection and airbags providing greater safety for the firefighters. Responding to emergencies remains one of the primary causes of firefighter injury and death.
Rescue 138 also ushers in a new era for Solon’s firefighters as the bright yellow, a Solon tradition since the late 1970s or early 1980s, now features a dark charcoal gray top rather than the white tops seen on the older apparatus. Henceforth, all new trucks in the foreseeable future will also be delivered with the gray over yellow appearance.
Why bright yellow?
In the early 1970s a New York ophthalmologist, Stephen Solomon, conducted a study regarding fire apparatus color and safety. Dr. Solomon claimed the traditional red fire trucks were hard to see and therefore more accident prone than bright yellow trucks. Fire departments across the nation, based on his findings, repainted trucks any of several shades of bright yellow. While many departments went back to red in the 1990s, often with white tops and increased use of reflective material, bright yellow has become a Solon tradition, and a source of pride among the firefighters as no other department in Johnson County runs with that color.
What will become of the “old 138?” Well, she’ll find a new home in northern Minnesota as the Clifton (Duluth Twp.) Volunteer Fire Department has purchased her. At only 10,000 miles (the rescue truck does not go on every call) and in perfect mechanical condition, she’s a major upgrade from their current rescue truck – a converted ambulance. According to the department’s website, the 25 volunteers respond to “over 100 calls per year” out of three stations. In contrast, Solon firefighters have rolled out at least 140 times so far this year and are on-pace to equal or surpass last year’s record of 567 responses.
Last Saturday, a group of firefighters met to mount shelves and brackets on the new 138 and transferred all of the equipment from old 138, placing the new truck; essentially a big, rolling toolbox, in-service.
“We’re very pleased with it,” said Chief Siddell.
The department will host its annual pancake breakfast Memorial Day weekend at the new fire station and has an open house event planned for June.
A big, rollin’ toolbox
April 19, 2023
About the Contributor
Chris Umscheid, Editor
Chris Umscheid is the editor of the Solon Economist.