Chief sees vehicle purchase as good move for fire dept.
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer

FREEHOLD - The Freehold Fire Department will become the proud owner of a piece of equipment that Fire Chief Bill Maushardt said will help to better protect residents.

A used fire rescue truck will soon be a part of the department's inventory now that the Borough Council has approved the purchase of the truck from the Freehold Township Independent Fire Company.

The purchase was approved on Sept. 4 in a 5-1 vote of the council.

Voting in favor of the purchase of the fire rescue truck were Councilman Marc Le Vine, Councilman Robert Crawford, Councilman Michael DiBenedetto, Council President Kevin Kane and Councilman Jaye Sims.

Voting against the purchase of the fire rescue truck was Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer, who is the borough's fire commissioner.

Shutzer said Freehold Borough's fire rescue truck was "put out of commission" four years ago and "since then, we have been using mutual aid with Freehold Township and it has been working out just fine." Shutzer said she was not convinced that the fire department needed the vehicle.

"That truck, which is selling for $50,000, is being bonded and will cost much more than that in the long run," Shutzer said. "So although I do think it would be wonderful to have a new rescue truck, I don't think the need for it outweighs the cost to the residents of Freehold Borough."

When the ordinance to purchase the fire rescue truck was introduced by the council, Crawford voted no based on information he had which led him to believe the purchase was not a good deal for the borough. "I then did some research and contacted

people whose opinions I

value and realized we were

indeed getting a very good

deal by purchasing this

truck. So based on that

research, I changed my

vote and voted yes for the rescue truck" at the time of the second reading

of the ordinance, he said.

Le Vine also changed his vote from no upon the ordinance's introduction to yes upon second reading.

"I was not present when the chief made his presentation about the truck to the council," Le Vine said. "I voted no, but the vote did not sit well with me. I decided to talk to the chief and he explained what a plus this truck would be to our residents and that it would be a very wise purchase."

Maushardt said the purchase of the fire rescue truck will help to fulfill the oath he took as chief to protect residents and property and to provide the borough's firefighters with the equipment they need to do their jobs.

The fire rescue truck will be equipped with the Jaws of Life tool that is used to extricate people from cars, trucks and other places where conventional means have not proved successful. The truck will also have a system which will allow firefighters to refill air packs on site.

"Our rescue truck is a necessity," Maushardt said. "When we used to go out on calls we almost always took the rescue truck. Now our tools are spread over all of our other engines, therefore, we may not always have the proper tools on a call. This rescue truck will allow us to have all our tools and everything we need, all in one central location, always ready to go."