About a year ago, the Royersford Fire Department received a federal grant through the Fire Assistance Act for $300,000. With it, they decided to purchase a new fire engine. Chief Gary Wezel explained that the department had been trying for the previous three years to replace a 1979 Ford Rescue fire truck and 1980 Mac engine.

So, once the department was allowed to get the process of acquisition started about 11 months ago, they immediately shopped for a bid. Wezel said they eventually chose KME Kovatch, which is located in Jim Thorpe, and also provided the departments other Mac engine.

"Basically, we had the idea of making two trucks into one," Wezel said.

The whole truck, he continued, was $564,000. The remaining $264,000 was required to be paid off in full, because there cannot be a lean against a purchase when using grant money. The department decided to take a mortgage out on the fire house to pay the rest of the balance.

The truck was designed to fit into the space in the garage, which now hosts the new engine and the department's other engine. Other design specifications included enough space within the apparatus to hold all of the equipment fire officials wanted the truck to hold.

"We spent a lot of time on the CAD program to design the unit," said Wezel. "The manufacturer took the design concept and produced it for us."

Seven months later, KME engineered and built exactly what the department wanted. After reviewing the truck's specifications to make sure it worked, it was ready to make its way to Royersford.

When the truck got to its home at Humane Fire Company, Wezel said volunteers spent a lot of time mounting additional equipment themselves.

"A lot of work was done in house," he said. "There was a lot of time and effort put in to make sure everything is functional and to suit the needs of the community."

Wezel said the new unit runs completely with LED lights, which saves energy. The department is now trying to sell the truck and Mac engine the new unit replaced.

The new unit took a ride around town recently. Check out the above pictures, sent in by Wezel, of the new truck's day out!