What’s 36 feet long, 10 feet tall, and red all over? Well… If it comes with a bell, can haul 1,500 gallons of water and pump as much per minute, it must be the new pride and joy of the Hinton Fire Department. With a price tag of just $597,000 the City of Hinton has purchased a brand, spanking new, “Predator” fire truck to claim the best and biggest bay in the Hinton Fire Department’s distinctive and maybe even cramped eye-catching firehouse. This is no ordinary emergency vehicle. The 2020 KME Custom Predator is the most expensive truck in the fleet in Avis, and carries the largest capacity of water of any other pumper, and the biggest firefighters here have ever had in every way.
Assistant Fire Chief Steve Pack says it’s special, all right, with a 600 hp Cummins engine and all aluminum body. “Every custom pumper the city has ever had came with a bell and this one has one too,” Pack chuckles.
The Hinton News settled in to watch this gigantic firefighting Goliath roll into Hinton Friday from its manufacturer in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania. A welcoming crowd of firefighters and public officials gathered in awe of this water-spouting superstar. A celebration like this, says Pack, hasn’t been held in 19 years and, with that said, he shared memories of all the pumpers a four-person paid staff and a host of dedicated volunteers have operated for the past century. Spelled out and shared, Pack began to list the firetrucks that have doused fires for well over a hundred years beginning with the first Fire Chief Sam Bolin and a 1926 Seagrave. Bolin was the longest serving firefighter in the history of West Virginia, starting in the 1930s until his retirement in 1975. He died five years later.
What do you think he might say about the introduction of the Predator? “He’d say WOW, things have really changed,” said Pack. “Prices have escalated tremendously over the years.”
The Hinton Fire Department acquired a 1940 American La France and added a 1954 pumper made by the same manufacturer. Two Mack firetrucks followed, one a 1962 model and the next Mack, a 1974 model, was the department’s first cab firetruck. Prior to that all of the firetrucks were open cabs, winter and summer. That particular Mack was purchased for $50,000, followed by an1983 Chevy Commercial Chassis for $65,00 back when Summers County had a fire levy. That truck was eventually sold and three more American La France firetrucks, a 1986 model purchased new from New York; a brand new BMI 1994 American La France for $225,000; and Hinton’s last new firetruck, a 2001 American La France Mini pumper for $100,000.
Air Le France firetrucks for years were manufactured in Bluefield but went bankrupt several years later making it more difficult to find parts. Pack explains some fire departments work on 20-year rotations. As newer trucks rotated out for other places, the Hinton Fire Department was able to acquire a used 1994 KME for $25,000 from Beckley. In 2013 under Mayor Joe Blankenship the city was able to buy the department’s very first ladder truck with a 100-foot ladder from Long Island, New York. The 1987 Grumman model today, says Pack, would cost a million dollars to $1.2 million dollars.
A $600,000 brand new custom high capacity water carrying and pumping firefighting firetruck is a big deal for the firefighters who’ve worked as volunteers for decades for the good of the Hinton and Summers County community. Fire Chief Ray Pivont and Assistant Chief Steve Pack say they’ve talked about this new acquisition and believe this Predator firetruck will probably see the through the rest of most current residents’ lifetimes. Pivont joined the firefighting efforts at age 16 in 1966, Pack at age 18 in 1969.
If you have any questions about how these seasoned firefighters feel as they welcome their new huge Predator, Pack says they agree on this, “It feels great watching this 36-footer, 10-feet tall, and [it’s] equipped with a bell,” Pack smiles.
The gratifying part of it is that the City of Hinton has shown its support for the purchase of this very special firetruck and dedication to protecting the safety and wellbeing of our community.
