Paris puts refurbished fire tanker to work
By Jim Smedley
Staff Writer

PARIS – The Fire Department’s refurbished tanker truck might not be pretty, but it sure is functional.

So said fire Chief Brad Frost. The town has been without a tanker for about five months.

The truck will be used to shuttle water to the rural areas of Paris where there is no hydrant service. Frost said during the five months without one, the department borrowed Norway’s tanker twice on fire calls.

Frost estimated that the tanker can be used to service calls in about 50 percent of Paris.

He said he found an acceptable used chassis in September and selectmen approved its purchase for $6,450.

Firefighters contributed 60 hours of labor putting it together.

“We saved a considerable amount of money,” Frost said. “We did all the work we could do.”

Added to the cost of the chassis was $1,710, paid to Big Rig Shop, Oxford, for setting the old tank on the new chassis, and $160 paid for 20 hours of nonvolunteer labor.

Frost said a new tanker costs in the vicinity of $100,000. He couldn’t estimate the cost of a used one.

The tank has a 2,250-gallon capacity and was set on a 1985 Mack tandem tanker chassis. The tanker has a quick dump, a chute that dumps water directly into holding tank used in rural areas.

“We upgraded the whole tank truck to a newer chassis with a tandem axle,” Frost said. “The other truck was a single axle. This is more stable and can carry more weight.”

The other chassis, a 1975 model, was donated to the Fire Department in 1989.

“We got 14 years from the other one. I hope we get at least 10 from this,” Frost said.

jsmedley@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link