Ross Twp. needs to replace fire truck that drove off narrow road into ditch

Aug. 26--Ross Twp. could save almost $100,000 on a new fire truck after another truck was totaled in an accident earlier this summer.

A Ross firefighter was returning from a mutual aid run in Morgan Twp. in June when his truck toppled off the narrow road into a ditch. The firefighter was unharmed, but the truck was totaled, according to Township Administrator Bob Bass.

The firefighter was driving back from the run on Chapel Road, which is narrow and has no berms, when another truck was coming the other way. Bass said heavy rains had weakened the shoulder.

"He moved over a little bit to let the other truck pass, the edge of the road broke off, he went down into a ditch, hit a pole, hit a tree, and demolished it," Bass said. "He was only going like 20 miles an hour at the time, but when you get that kind of weight going it wrecks... it twisted the frame of the vehicle."

The $600,000 truck was completely totaled, so after the $500 deductible, the insurance company will replace it. Bass said the township was scheduled to replace another fire truck next year so the trustees are considering getting two trucks at the same time to save money.

Fire Chief Steve Miller estimated he can save about $97,000 on the new truck the township will pay for.

"If we were to order two trucks we would save the township quite a bit of money by purchasing two," Miller said. "We save on engineering costs, we save on manufacturing costs and we also save on the sales representative's commission."

Bass said the trustees will make their decision in September. It will take about 13 months before the trucks will be ready, according to Miller. In the meantime, he said their residents will be protected.

"We'll still have two first out engines, our reserve is basically kept in case something happens to one of our front line apparatus which this is the case, we are able to bring our reserve unit up," Miller said. "If something happens, if we have a mechanical malfunction we'll be down to one engine, but I can rely on our mutual aid partners."

The majority, about 80 percent, of all runs they are dispatched to are for EMS, not fires.

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