When the new Rescue 51 truck was added to the fleet of Bethel Township’s emergency vehicles, tradition dictated how it was to be done. Rescue 51 had to be “pushed in.”

Nearly 150 years ago when firefighting equipment was pulled by horses, getting the pumper wagons back into the barn could not be done with the help of the horses.

Since horses couldn’t back up with a wagon in tow, the horses would be removed and put in their stalls, and then the firefighters would line up beside and in front of the pumper and push the wagon backward into the shelter of the barn or firehouse.

The firefighting equipment would sit at the ready with the long shafts facing forward so that the horses could quickly be harnessed and hitched so they could pull the equipment to the fire.

Recently, with friends, neighbors and local officials watching, Bethel Township firefighters and emergency personnel pushed their new vehicle into its bay at the Bethel Township firehouse near the corner of Lake and Gerlaugh next to Copey’s.

According to Chief Jacob King, the new Rescue 51 is a welcome addition to the emergency fleet. It combines the capabilities of two vehicles into one “Fire-Rescue” truck.

“Rescue 51 replaces our current rescue truck that only did rescue calls and was much like a large tool box,” said King.

Like a fire truck, New Rescue 51 carries 1000 gallons of water and 40 gallons of foam and has the basic equipment for firefighting, said King. It also has all the equipment of a rescue truck like rope, water, and vehicle extraction equipment. It can also handle Hazmat situations.

“This is the first fire truck we have that has the ability to do so many calls with one truck,” said King. “In the past for a car accident we had to take Engine 51, Rescue 51 and a medic unit. Now we will only need to send the rescue and a medic. This will reduce costs, allow for all equipment to be on one truck, making a more efficient and effective response.”

It seems to me that needing only two vehicles will be helpful in emergency situations on narrow roads as well.

The cost of the truck was $700,000, and additional equipment was purchased for $30,000. It is the Avenger model and was made by Rosenbaur.

“We began researching it and ‘specking’ it out almost four years ago, and ordered it somewhere between two and three years ago,” said Nancy Brown, trustee. “It took over two years to build and was paid for by the time it was delivered. We had saved up for it before ordering it, paid some up front, and made payments while it was being built.”

Brown told me that Rescue 51 is so well designed that when it was being finished a Cleveland fire department was so impressed with the unique design that they ordered one just like it.

It truly is “state of the art” technology with many features and equipment carefully designed to fit like a Swiss Army knife on wheels. Someone might even say it looks like a transformer.

Through long-term planning and community support, our firefighters and emergency personnel have the tools and equipment they need to do their jobs well and to take good care of our neighborhoods.