LOUISIANA, Mo. — A new do-all fire truck has made its appearance in the Louisiana Fire Department’s unit. The new fire engine is larger than other vehicles owned by the department and is classified as a rescue pumper. The truck is equipped with fire suppression, a compressed air pump system, a set of rescue tools, stabilizing devices, and a 20-foot light tower that enables firefighters to see better at nighttime.

“We are able to spray foam on Class A and Class B fires, but now we have something we can mix in the truck for gas, ethanoyl, and petroleum-based fires,” said Louisiana Fire Chief Phillip Quattrocchi.

The truck is also equipped with a custom cab with 5 seats, allowing room for 7 people in the truck . The truck also has room for firefighters to get dressed as they are on their way to a scene.

“Whenever we arrive on scene we are able to get out, grab a hose, and begin spraying water, within 30 seconds of arriving. This is something we are unable to do with our other trucks,” added Quattrocchi.

The new truck that comes with many new amenities, requires training hours from Chief Quattrocchi and his crew. Emergency vehicle driving classes and pump operation classes will be required for the next month.

“I am looking at October 1 to be the first day this truck will be in service. This gives us a full month of training on this truck to learn the ins and outs,” said Quattrocchi.

Louisiana currently sits with a score of 6 from the Insurance Services Office (ISO), an organization that independently evaluates municipal fire protection efforts in communities throughout the United States. The best ISO score a community can have is a 1, with only just over 300 communities having earned this rank nationally.

“I would like to get down to a 5, this would drop peoples home insurance about 10 to 15 percent. This truck helps us get points to lower our ISO,” explained Chief Quattrocchi.

On September 13, 2019 Louisiana Fire Department rolled a fire truck, while the situation was less than ideal, it opened the door for the new vehicle. They were able to take the insurance money from that accident to pay off some other debts and free up a lot of room in their budget, allowing for a new vehicle when the timing was right.

According to Quattrocchi, pairing with the City of Louisiana allowed the department to select the best equipment the city could afford to better serve tax payers.

“I’m glad we were able to work together with the city. It was a full team effort to get this truck,” said Quatrocchi.

In the future, the Louisiana Fire Department will reportedly look into possibly getting a tanker or a truck that holds a lot of water, in the continuing effort to reduce the ISO number.