Sherborn FD Receives New State-Of-The-Art Fire Truck

Last week a brand new state-of-the-art fire truck was delivered to the Sherborn Fire Department.

Deputy Fire Chief Jon Dowse said they needed the new truck to replace the department’s 20-year-old fire truck. 

“We got the money to fund the new truck at the Town Meeting a year and a half ago,” said Dowse. The town voted to approve $480,000 for the purchase.

Dowse added that the old truck needed to be replaced because of the how old it was and its outdated technology.

He said the new truck cost approximately $450,000.

The extra $30,000 was used to buy equipment for the new truck including extrication equipment, a positive pressure ventilation fan and a compressed air foam system on the truck.

Dowse said the fan helps in carbon monoxide calls, finding a fire’s source and blowing out smoke filled homes. 

The compressed air foam system, “gives us tremendous knock down power,” said Dowse.

He noted that the new truck carries less water - 1,250 gallons as opposed to the old truck’s 1,500 - but the foam system gives them a much bigger advantage.

The foaming system, “does a great job of suffocating the fire,” said Dowse.

He said that towns like Framingham and Natick have fire trucks that only carry 500 gallons of water because they have a multitude of fire hydrants to choose from.

In Sherborn the trucks need to pump their own water. The new truck can pump up to 15,000 gallons per minute.

Also on the truck is an air system that can fill up to 30 tanks of air before needing to be refilled.

The time in which the air runs out in the tank is dependent on how much oxygen the firefighters take in, Dowse pointed out.

Sherborn bought three out of their five trucks almost 20 years ago, according to Dowse.

Dowse said they will need to replace their 17-and 18-year-old trucks over the next few years and said they purchased this one now so the town would incur that expense all at once. 

Sherborn firefighters were scheduled to receive training from a representative from Pierce Manufacturing, who made the truck, on Wednesday, Sept. 14.