Fire Department puts new engine into service

In its first day of service last week, the Wauwatosa Fire Department's new engine responded to two calls by 1 p.m.

If the year ahead is like years past, the truck will respond to a healthy proportion of the 5,500 calls the department will field this year, including a couple of dozen serious "working fires," and 30 to 40 mutual aid calls, to help out other departments.

The truck, a Pierce Quantum model with a 450-horsepower engine, carries 500 gallons of water, 30 gallons of foam, medical aid equipment and supplies, air tanks for firefighters that are refillable at the truck from large supply tanks, 800 feet of hose to connect the truck to a hydrant, and 1,500 feet of attack hose. And it does 65 miles an hour.

The Fire Department paid $599,000 for the truck, under the budget set aside of $650,000.