A custom-made rescue engine for Lower Burrell Volunteer Fire Company No. 3, once deployed in 2028, will lower the number of vehicles in the company’s fleet but increase efficiency of emergency responses, its fire chief says.

Company leaders last week signed a contract with Ohio-based Sutphen Co. to build a rescue engine for the department, Chief Brennan Sites said.

“As leaders, we have to work strategically: No. 1, what’s best for our city; No. 2, what’s best for our organization; and No. 3, what’s the needs of our area for the next decade,” he said.

Currently, the department operates four larger apparatuses: a tower which will debut in the city’s Memorial Day parade, two engines and a rescue truck, Sites said. With the tower truck coming in, the response cadence will change, Sites said.

And, as the department looks to the future, “it strategically does not make sense to have four big pieces of apparatus,” Sites said. Those future plans include establishing a tri-city duty crew that would pull together resources from volunteer companies in Arnold, New Kensington and Lower Burrell to respond to incidents during the day.

“With lower manpower, you have to do more with less,” he said. “I want to have all the tools at my disposal.

“It allows us to be more efficient and more strategic when we deploy our resources.”

Once the new rescue engine arrives in 2028, it will replace the company’s 2010 Rescue that is being sold to a paid fire department in South Carolina, as well as a 2007 engine that will be sold in the future, Sites said.

The company’s engine 69-1 is outfitted with rescue equipment to answer those types of incidents until the new rescue engine is in service, Sites said.

Buying a custom-made rescue engine made more sense than trying to purchase a used one, Sites said, because the fire company could tailor the new truck to fit the area’s needs.

“The price of used vehicles has increased, and because the market is so expensive for new as well, as soon as something hits the used market, it’s swallowed up,” he said.

The new rescue engine, at a cost of more than $1 million, includes a 2,000 gallon-per-minute pump and a 750-gallon tank.

“We’re not building parade pieces,” Sites said. “We’re building functional pieces to serve our community.”

Sites thanked the public for supporting the volunteer department and noted that the financial investments couldn’t have been made without the community’s donations.

“We all came together and worked together for what is best, not just for us but the next generation of people after us,” he said.

City Councilwoman Brandy Grieff, who oversees public safety, said she is excited for the department’s new rescue engine.

“I know a replacement has been talked about over the years. I’m happy to see plans come to fruition,” she said, adding that the process of planning for a new vehicle “is an undertaking, for sure.”

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