Scottville firefighters grateful for new truck.

Chief Dale Larr and firefighter Barry Ruger go over the truck’s engine.

Scottville firefighters grateful for new truck.

#MasonCountyNews #ScottvilleFireDept.

By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.

From left: Firefighter Barry Ruger, Chief Dale Larr, firefighter/EMT Alex Wojtecki

SCOTTVILLE — The Scottville Fire Department took possession of its new brush fire truck this morning and the members of the department say they are grateful for the public’s support. “While this truck’s primary purpose is to fight grassland and brush fires, we designed it so it would serve multiple purposes,” said Fire Chief Dale Larr. “It’s really more of a utility truck.”

The 2017 Ford F-350 one ton truck was purchased locally at Great Lakes Ford of Ludington. With all the firefighting gear, the total cost was about $55,000, which actually was a pretty good deal, Larr said. “We were able to take the pump skid off of our other truck and place it on this one, which saved thousands of dollars.”

The previous truck was a 2001 F-350 which did not pass its recent Michigan Department of Transportation inspection. That truck is being sold through sealed bids. See more information here.

“We’ve designed the truck so it gives us a lot of diversity,” said firefighter Barry Ruger. “One of the most needed things on the scene of an emergency at night is lighting. We made sure to pack this truck with plenty of light to support many different emergency situations.”

The truck is also equipped with a 5 ton winch.

“We are very grateful to the taxpayers of the Mason County Rural Fire Authority and their continual support of the fire departments,” Larr said. “We believe it is important to spend taxpayers’ dollars very carefully and we wanted to make sure we got the best piece of equipment we could without overspending.”

In 2016, voters approved an additional .5 mill to the fire authority’s 1 mill, to pay for replacement equipment. The fire authority recently ordered seven pumper trucks at a cost of $2.1 million and accepted a trade-in offer of $280,000 on seven pumpers, for a total financing of just over $2 million.

The Mason County Rural Fire Authority consists of Scottville Fire Dept., Riverton Twp. Fire Dept., Branch Twp. Fire Dept., Custer Twp. Fire Dept., Fountain Area Fire Dept., Grant Twp. Fire Dept., and Free Soil/Meade Fire Dept. protecting the City of Scottville, villages of Custer, Fountain, and Free Soil, and townships of Amber, Riverton, Victory, Summit, Grant, Free Soil, Meade, Sherman, Sheridan, Custer, Eden, and Branch.

The Scottville brush truck was planned before the additional funding, however. “This has been a two year process,” Ruger said. “This new truck will certainly be a great addition to our abilities to protect life and property.”