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Deluxe new firetruck coming to the rescue

The "quint" carries its own water and costs a cool half-million. Six paramedics are also on the way.

By EMILY NIPPS
Published August 28, 2005

CROSS CREEK - There was a time when dealing with New Tampa emergencies was a simple task for the Hillsborough County and Tampa fire rescue squads, which dealt with the occasional car accident, perhaps a small house fire or a fallen power line. That was 10 years ago, and things have changed. Schools, businesses, apartment complexes and several thousand homes went up faster than local government could keep up. Even in the four years since Fire Station 21 opened on Cross Creek Boulevard, the transformation in New Tampa has been remarkable.

"Growth, traffic, construction," said Capt. Richard Dittman, one of the original members of the Station 21 staff. "The types of runs haven't changed, but there has been an increase in the number of runs." They include heart attacks and car crashes, snake bites and brush fires.

Some emergency runs have involved the use of a ladder truck, which had to be called up from a station near Busch Gardens - at best, a 23-minute drive away.

Last week, the city provided a $500,000 solution to some of New Tampa's fire rescue shortfalls. It's called a quintuple combination pumper, or "quint" for short.

Sort of the Swiss Army knife of firetrucks, the quint looks, sounds and acts like a regular fire engine, the kind that typically costs the city $350,000, but it carries its own water and pump and a 75-foot ladder.

The new truck can move 1,500 gallons of water per minute, has a 500-gallon tank for rapid attack on small fires, and has an elevated nozzle on the end of the ladder. It will be the first quint ever used by Tampa Fire Rescue. There are no plans to purchase others.

"This truck fits the need out here, and we specifically ordered the quint for this area," Fire Rescue spokesman Capt. Bill Wade said.

"This provides a higher degree of safety for residents," said Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, who attended an open house at Station 21 on Thursday and posed for pictures in front of the quint. "We're going to constantly be making improvements out here because this is the fastest-growing part of the community, and they need it."

After Oct. 1, the station will also receive a new rescue car and six paramedics, Iorio said. She added that the upcoming widening of Cross Creek Boulevard and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard will also help rescue operations run more smoothly.

Now if only more drivers would pay attention to sirens. "Some people," fire rescue driver Tim Murphy said, "will not get off the road."

[Last modified August 27, 2005, 11:05:06]