Willoughby Hills Fire Department made the following Facebook post Monday, Oct. 16:
Spartan NXT Fire Engine Final Inspection
This year has been a very challenging year in more ways than one. However, nothing could compare to Tuesday, Sept. 26 when we were notified that paramedic Jesse Sopko was involved in a serious crash involving the ambulance that he was working in.
Sopko was working his full-time job as a paramedic when the ambulance he was in was hit by a Jeep in Huntsburg, Ohio. The impact was so severe that the ambulance rolled three times, killing the patient in the back and causing severe life-threatening injuries to Jesse.
A hard worker, Jesse holds several jobs while being newly married and a father of a little baby boy. Jesse also works as a part-time firefighter with Madison Fire District and is the Willoughby Hills Fire Department salesman from Johnson Fire Equipment. He has sold WHFD a great deal of fire equipment along with the new pumper that is nearing completion.
As luck would have it, WHFD’s new Spartan NXT rescue-pumper was delayed by six weeks. Two weeks before the scheduled final inspection that Jesse was supposed to attend, the accident occurred. Due to his critical condition, he was sedated and in no condition to travel to South Dakota for the final inspection.
Tony Johnson, the owner of Johnson’s Fire Equipment, immediately got involved, keeping us up-to-date on Jesse’s progress as a result of the accident and also keeping the new Spartan Emergency Vehicles NXT Fire Engine project going. Tony did a great job keeping to the schedule and picking up where Jesse left off.
It was hard not having Jesse there as this is a higher-end rescue engine with a great deal of features and options to provide the very best service to the communities of Willoughby Hills and Waite Hill. This was a project that started over two and a half years ago that Jesse was involved in the entire time.
Members of Willoughby Hills Fire Rescue, Chief Robert Gandee, Lt. Lou DiMattia, Senior Firefighter/Paramedic Steve Lucic, Training Officer Zach Martin along with Tony Johnson flew out to Brandon, South Dakota to conduct the final vehicle inspection on the new pumper.
The inspection involved a thorough review of the apparatus in relation to the engine specifications. This is a normal part of the process as there are hundreds of features and parts that makeup most fire engines today.
The one element that was missing from the inspection was Jesse Sopko. We had hoped to Facetime him into the inspection so he could enjoy some of the fruits of his labor in helping design such a robust rig. We made him a get-well card that we would hold in front of the new fire engine. We asked Tony Johnson if he could help us with this task. He thought it was a great idea, but did it even better! He enlisted the help of a graphics designer from Spartan who made a banner that we could temporarily mount to the new fire engine. Each of the fire department members that were part of the final inspection team, along with Tony and some of the Spartan team, signed the fire engine banner. Jesse may have not been there physically, but he was most certainly there in spirit.
Jesse’s condition has improved and the breathing tube was removed that same day as the final inspection. As he was regaining consciousness, he mentioned that he needed to be at Spartan for the final inspection of our fire engine. Now that is dedication!
The final inspection was a great success! Thank you to Tony Johnson from Johnson’s Fire Equipment along with all of the staff from Spartan Emergency Vehicles for their incredible design, engineering, fabrication and craftsmanship in making such a marvel of a fire engine.
We anticipate the engine to be completed at the end of October by the Spartan Plant members and then off to Johnson’s Fire Equipment for shelving and equipment mounting. The last few steps will be the graphics and extensive training before the engine goes into setvice hopefully around mid November.
Please keep Jesse Sopko in your thoughts and prayers as he still has a long road to recovery.
