| The Willingboro Fire Department has recently acquired Rescue 1699 that was once assigned to the township's emergency squad. The vehicle was originally purchased by the township for the emergency squad in 1998. In the past several years the vehicle was not used often due to a lack of manpower at the emergency squad.
The vehicle was built by the Rescue 1 division of PL Custom Emergency Vehicles which is located in Manasquan, New Jersey. Five personnel can ride safely in the front chassis of the vehicle which is made by Freightliner. The body of the vehicle has four compartments on each side and one in the back. The first three compartments are transverse so that they can be accessed from either side of the vehicle. The compartments in the rear of the vehicle are single compartments.
The vehicle has a variety of tools and equipment throughout the compartments. These tools and equipment can be used for both firefighting and rescue incidents. There are also 6 preconnected hydraulic reels that are used to power the spreading, cutting, and pushing tools for the Jaws of Life. Having the tools preconnected allows for faster deployment in the event of a serious accident.
In addition to this equipment, the vehicle has two telescoping lighting towers. Each tower has four 500 watt lights. There is also a 12,000lb. winch on the front of the vehicle. The department's firefighters will also be adding other firefighting tools and self-containted breathing apparatus to the vehicle in the next several weeks. |
