Put into service just three weeks ago, West Paris Fire Department’s new fire truck — a mini-pumper installed on a Ford truck chassis — is already having a positive impact on the town’s first responder service.

“We’ve taken it to seven or eight calls so far,” Fire Chief Mike Henderson said June 26. “The biggest difference (from the truck it replaced) is size, obviously. It’s quite a bit smaller so it’s more agile, easier to drive, and it has four-wheel drive.”

When the fire department was called to a vehicle fire on a narrow back road June 17, the mini-pumper made for a more efficient response. “It was a tight driveway and driving the smaller engine, we could pull right in and got a line on the fire pretty quickly.”

The Ford, a one ton dual wheel, replaces a larger outdated engine that held 700 gallons compared to its 300, a sticky point for some taxpayers. Residents approved the $414,000 purchase at the annual town meeting last March.

“It does take less water,” Henderson said. “But right behind it is our tanker with 2,000 gallons, so they work in tandem.”

West Paris fire customized the equipment from the base model, which came with a standard 12-foot ladder. Henderson said theirs has a 24-foot extension. They also added a 12-foot roof ladder and had an extra sucker section link added to make it longer.

The truck was delivered from Bulldog Fire Apparatus in mid-May but before it could go on calls Henderson’s firefighting crew had to go through training to use the state-of-the-art apparatus.

“We’ve used it at wood fires, a structure fire and a car accident. It has all the modern technology. You can run it by remote control inside,” Henderson said. “It’s really quite awesome, to be honest.”

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