'Like a 16-ton Cadillac'
New Vanderwagen fire truck bolsters department

David Hyman looks over the new fire truck at Vanderwagon Fire Department on Wednesday. The new equipment came at a cost of about $370,000 and was paid for in part by a $180,000 grant from the state. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Brian Leddy

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Gaye Brown de Alvarez
Staff writer

VANDERWAGEN — It’s new. It’s big. It’s yellow. It holds 1,000 gallons of water and 40 gallons of fire retardant foam. And it cost $360,000.

It’s Vanderwagen new fire truck, and it was delivered Wednesday.

The Vanderwagen Fire Department covers an area from the north Zuni border to the 18 mile marker on N.M.

Highway 602 and five miles east and west on each side of the highway. It’s a large area, said Fire Chief John Dayton. Vanderwagen Fire Department has a total of four trucks: a rescue truck, a brush fire truck, a tanker and the new engine, which Dayton said is considered a “pumper.”

The money for the new truck came from the “state fire tax,” Dayton said, “which is a quarter-cent tax the whole county uses money out of.” The new pumper was built by KME and is brand spanking new, with only about 2,000 miles on it.

Mike Schaaf, manager of Winfield Trading in Vanderwagen, said there have been “a few” brush fires and resident fires down in that neck of the woods, but fire trucks also respond to vehicle accidents on N.M. 602.

Schaaf drives 25 miles to and 25 miles back from Winfield Trading and his house in Indian Hills almost every day and many times during his drive he has seen Vanderwagen fire trucks responding to highway accidents.

“I’ve seen many accidents on that road,” Schaaf said.

Dayton said that 80 percent of all calls are EMS, related and he agreed that there are many accidents on N.M. 602. He has 15 volunteers that are active right now.

Who responds to the calls? “If you’re home and if you’re available, we’d like you to come to a call,” Dayton said. He added the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. calls have the least turnout, because many of the volunteers are working, including himself. Dayton works for the Gallup Fire Department.

The most impressive thing about the new pumper is it has two tanks that hold 20 gallons each of fire retardant foam equipped with a compressed air foam system, Dayton said. This more than triples the amount of foam that can be applied to a fire.

“Not a lot of trucks have that CASS foam system these days,” Dayton said. “It’s a great asset to the community. And it drives nice. Like a 16-ton Cadillac.”