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| RESCUE 1 recently marked the completion of 13 USAR vehicles for communities and agencies in New Jersey. A ceremony was held at RESCUE 1’s plant in Manasquan, N.J. Attending were, from left to right, Martin Smock, CEO of RESCUE 1, Bob Hannson, supervising planner for the New Jersey Task Force 1, Kevin Morrissey, senior planner for the task force, Mike Marquis, vice president of RESCUE 1 sales, and Bob Stevenson, president of RESCUE 1. |
RESCUE 1 recently completed the 13th and final custom urban search and rescue (USAR) vehicle for New Jersey State Task Force 1. The vehicles will be used by nine northern New Jersey fire departments as well as the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and the New Jersey Task Force in Lakehurst.
“We are honored to have been chosen by the [task force] to build 13 USARs for the state of New Jersey,” said Michael Marquis, vice president of sales for RESCUE 1. “We are excited about the completion of this project and how well each USAR vehicle has been received by all nine departments. Although this is the end of this initial contract with New Jersey Task Force 1, we value the relationships that have evolved during this process.
Marquis also said the relationship between the company and the task force started out as customer/vendor and now it’s a friendship.
Each of the units were built on Spartan Advantage cabs and chassis with 330 hp Cummins ISC engines and Allison 3000 transmissions. The vehicles each have 22 foot 4 inch walk-around heavy rescue bodies, equipped with 35,000-watt Onan pto generators. The custom designed compartments, with Robinson roll-up doors, offer clear access to the specialized equipment used by the task force, says the maker.
“The quality of these 13 USAR vehicles, built by RESCUE 1, has exceeded our expectations,” said Kevin Morrissey, senior planner for the NJ-TF 1. “The ease of working with a local manufacturer has allowed for us to complete this project on time. A project of this magnitude could not have been successfully completed anywhere else but here in New Jersey.”
Morrissey said that working with nine different USAR departments and a New Jersey manufacturer provided the opportunity for face-to-face meetings instead of telephone calls.
“It allowed us to speak directly to the company and the engineers on any project issue, all of which saved time and alleviated any potential issues,” Morrissey said.
The USAR vehicles were distributed to the Bayonne Fire Department, Elizabeth Fire Department, Hackensack Fire Department, Hoboken Fire Department, Jersey City Fire Department, Morristown Fire Department, Newark Fire Department, North Hudson Regional Fire/Rescue and Paterson Fire Department. Three mass care USAR units were delivered to the UMDNJ and one was assigned to the New Jersey Task Force in Lakehurst.
For information call 800-752-8786 or go to www.plcustom.com.
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