Arbala VFD welcomes new brush truck

Arbala Volunteer Fire Department happily welcomed a new addition to their station on Sunday afternoon-- a brush truck they’ve named Brush 17. They celebrated by ceremoniously pushing the truck into the garage by hand.

Brush 17 is a 2018 Dodge 3500 4x4, which was purchased and paid for in full by the VFD’s fundraising efforts. The apparatus carries 250 gallons of water and six gallons of foam, according to Arbala chief Brian Fairchild. 

“Our goal was to build the apparatus light so it would be beneficial off-road,” Fairchild said. “It’s equipped with 1 and ¾ crosslay for quick attacks on car fires or room and content structure fires.” 

Fairchild also believes that Brush 17’s lightweight nature will “allow for a quick search for victims in a house fire,” he said. 

Arbala is grateful for their volunteers and donors, Fairchild said. At other stations such as Miller Grove VFD, the station waited eight years on a grant to bring their brush truck home, according to Miller Grove chief Ray Sparks. Arbala was able to receive and make their truck operational in two years, Fairchild says. 

“It took us several years of fundraising to get up the amount for this truck,” Fairchild said. “Since we built it out ourselves, it cost less. We’ve got grants out for other things, but it’s really hard to sit around and wait, and that’s why we appreciate our fundraisers so much.” 

Fairchild says in the future, the group would like to fundraise for a fire engine.