According to a report from The Morning Call, despite Hellertown, Pennsylvania’s, Dewey Fire Company (DFC) #1 taking delivery of its new state-of-the-art quint truck on June 1, paperwork problems sidelined the $1 million firetruck that had been serving the area for several weeks.
The DFC’s new quint features a 111-foot aerial ladder and 500-gallon water tank and is now the department’s largest piece of equipment, said DFC Chief Matt Simkovic.
However, issues with getting the vehicle’s title and registration prevented PFC members from deploying it to responses or even training on it on the street.
Last week, DFC finally received the documents from PennDOT. An official with state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Northampton said that the process should have taken 2-3 weeks.
Last week, Simkovich said that DFC firefighters could place the quint in service as early as this week, although most likely, it will not be done until the end of August, depending on how soon the firefighters are versed in using the truck. Training with and supplying the quint began last week, he said.
Borough Manager Cathy Hartranft said the issues stemmed from a delay in dealing with information provided to the state. She said the borough used a private notary service to handle the documents, but when the situation suffered a delay, she contacted Boscola’s office for assistance. Boscola’s staff learned from PennDOT that the application for the vehicle documents was rejected twice and returned to the notary, 412 Auto Tags & Notary.
Notary Owner Yolanda Pinto, who took over the business July 1, said there was an additional problem regarding the borough’s tax exempt status that PennDOT questioned.
Officials with PennDOT did not respond to requests for comment.
Simkovic said the new truck might have helped in responding to a rubbish fire June 20 outside the Dollar General store on Main Street that extended into the building. Despite the incident, Simkovich also said that missing this additional apparatus did not make a “significant difference” in handling that or other recent responses.
