Old trucks get one more use

Fire Division performing training on old dump trucks that are being replaced.

The Springfield Fire Rescue Division is performing training exercises this month with old city service dump trucks which are being replaced with newer, cleaner models.

Last year, the city bought three dump trucks with cleaner burning engines for approximately $420,000 after receiving grant money from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. The goal of the grant was to help reduce diesel emissions.

The city also used a federal Congestive Mitigation and Air Quality grant, which the city applied for through the Springfield-Clark County Transportation Coordinating Committee. The two grants covered 80 percent of the project, while the city paid for the other 20 percent.

In order to comply with the grant, the city service department must destroy three dump trucks, said Chris Moore, the city’s service director. Generally, the service center would send them to a scrap yard, but decided to allow the Fire Rescue Division perform training exercises on the equipment before they were shipped away.

“They often get passenger cars to use, but they don’t typically get to use trucks like these,” Moore said.

The three dump trucks cost approximately $128,000 each, Moore said. But he added that the final program costs are still being finalized.

“It’s great that there can be one final use for them,” Moore said. “We’re going to get the last bit of life from them.”

The training allows the Fire Division to simulate certain situations it may face with similar-sized trucks, such as a school bus or a semitrailer, said Lt. Dave Aills of the Fire Division.

The department used airbags to simulate lifting the dump truck off the ground Monday at the city service center.

It’s great to practice on these types of vehicles before you face a real-life situation, Aills said.

“It’s not like a regular small car,” Aills said. “There are a lot more concerns with these commercial trucks, things that need to be shut off and so forth.”

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