CALEB NICKERSON
BRISTOL Jan. 17, 2019
The Bristol Fire Department is happy to have a new set of wheels in the garage, the result of several years of fundraising efforts by the community.
Chief Kevin Kluke, along with Mayor Brent Orr and several other members of the department were on hand Jan. 17 to show off the shiny new vehicle.
“It’s a rescue truck that hauls all the equipment,” Kluke explained, adding that the truck has the capacity to carry seven firefighters along with all the necessary clothing and gear. It also has an onboard generator and serves as a command centre when the crew is out on a call.

Kluke said that the truck was purchased after about two years of fundraising by the department, with a little help from the folks at town hall. The truck was purchased from Battleshield Industries, a company based in Vars, Ont.
“We paid $40,000 for the truck itself and the additional $6,000, or a little more, was paid by the municipality for the upgrades and some of the changes that [the manufacturer] needed to do for us,” he said, noting that the previous vehicle their department relied on was in dire need of an upgrade. “It was just a regular cube van before. It became unsafe, it wasn’t able to transport more than two people at a time. We outgrew it, really, with equipment.”
He added that much of their heavy equipment, such as saws, are stored in exterior compartments on the new truck for safety reasons.
Kluke said that they wouldn’t be in need of a vehicle for the next few years, but they are always looking to upgrade their capabilities.
“There’s always equipment we’re buying,” he said. “We’re probably going to buy a fan next. Positive pressure fan, now that we have the room to actually put it in the truck.”