1971 American La France fire truck acquired for Red Rock Consecrated Sanctuary
The Church has just purchased a fire truck for the Red Rock Sanctuary from Eastern Plumas Rural Fire Protection District to enhance our fire-fighting capabilities at the Sanctuary. The truck was discovered online by Sanctuary resident the Reverend Ted Staver, who also made arrangements to receive and purchase the vehicle.
“The truck had been advertised online on “Craig’s List” for $4,000. We were offered the truck at a price of $2,500. It is my understanding that we got that price because the Church is a nonprofit organization and because the fire chief from that district was familiar with the help we have given area firefighters in the past with the water at our Sanctuary,” said Staver.
“The truck is in great shape because it had belonged to and was used by a working fire department. The truck is a 1971 American La France with 52,000 miles on it. It has a 750-foot hose that can pump 300 pounds of pressure. This is quite impressive.”
“I’ve been looking for a water truck for about a year and a half,” said Staver, “but I never expected to find a fire truck. They normally go for about $14,000.
“This truck will replace the old water truck that we [have] had for so many years. That water truck needed a lot of work. It just wasn’t safe to drive. I’m hoping that we can adapt a hitch on the back of the new fire truck so that we would be able to use it to haul the bobcat out to the Northland. This new truck also has a 110-volt power supply so that we can plug in power tools if needed on work crews. We can also use its 500-gallon tank to carry water to the North Sanctuary for building projects.
“There are a few leaks that need to be repaired but nothing major. It holds 500 gallons of water, which is about 20 minutes of fire fighting time. So if there is a fire, God forbid, it buys us a little time to maybe get a jump on things before the real firefighters arrive.
“It will definitely help protect the buildings and the pumping system that we worked so hard to install over the least 5 years. We could, I suppose, use it also for dust control when things get really bad. It’s just a smart investment overall when you are trying to maintain 1200 acres of property.
“I should add that if there was a fire, there are always hot spots left over that need to be soaked down so that another fire doesn’t start up. That was the reason for the older water truck. It wasn’t so much for firefighting but for cleanup afterwards.”
Until two years ago, the Church owned a number of pieces of heavy equipment, including an old water truck, that the Church had purchased in the 1980s. Despite Staver’s diligent care for all this equipment, the equipment finally lost its usefulness and was sold for scrap metal last summer.
“We have been holding our breath until the right firefighting equipment came along to help us protect our Sanctuary,” said Staver. “We didn’t believe that we should wait any longer, and the fire truck was such an amazing deal that we could not turn it down.”
The Church will be asking for individual donations to help finance this purchase. The Church Charisticary has had to borrow from another account in order to make the unexpected purchase and wishes to return the money to that account as soon as possible. “Church members can expect a phone call from me over the next few days regarding help with this purchase,” said Barbara Whitney. “Please be as generous as you can. Your help is always appreciated.”
New fire truck delivered to South Sanctuary. PHOTO: Elizabeth Reece
