Brevort Twp. Firemen Get New Tanker Truck
By Paul Gingras

Members of the Brevort Township Fire Department pose in front of their newest tanker Thursday, May 24. They recently purchased the truck from the Keavy Fire Department in Kentucky for $25,000. Pictured here (from left) are Fire Chief Mark Peterson, and department members Brian Peterson, Billy Orr, Ron Peterka, Steve Bird, and Mark Peterson Jr.

Members of the Brevort Township Fire Department assembled Thursday, May 24, to celebrate the purchase of their first new tanker truck in roughly 15 years. The engine on the department's old, makeshift tanker cracked on a run to East Lake about a month ago, leading the township to call invoke the St. Ignace Fire Department's mutual aid agreement. St. Ignace stood by, in case a fire occurred in the municipality before a new tanker could be located.

No fires took place while the department scrambled to find a new tanker.

The old tanker was not worth replacing, Fire Chief Mark Peterson told Township Supervisor Ed Serwach.

Township firefighters have relied on a 1973 former Mackinac County Road Commission truck to haul water. They added a water tank to the vehicle themselves.

"We had $1 and a lot of work invested" in the old truck, Chief Peterson said.

The tank on the old truck began to leak, and buying a new motor was not sensible, so firefighters Travis Peterson and Ron Peterka and Chief Peterson located a vehicle for sale on the Internet by the Keavy Fire Department in Kentucky.

Keavy had recently secured a brand new tanker and put its 1987 GMC tanker, complete with a stainless steel tank, up for sale. The vehicle has 39,000 miles on it.

The $25,000 tanker could have cost the township more than $100,000 Chief Peterson told The St. Ignace News. There were cheaper tankers for sale on the Internet, but nothing with such low mileage and a stainless steel tank.

"It's used, but it's new to us," Mr. Serwach said.

The vehicle's purpose is to transport water. It has a 1,600 gallon tank, and a 2,100 gallon rubberized, canvas drop-tank. As the township's main truck fights fires, the tanker will be used to re-supply it and is capable of processing 350 gallons per minute.

Purchasing the tanker took place quickly, Mr. Serwach noted. The search team discovered the vehicle Sunday, May 13, and Chief Peterson, Mr. Peterson, Don Lugering, and Mr. Peterka traveled to Kentucky the following morning to look it over. They purchased the truck and returned to Michigan.

The name of its former owner and a Confederate flag decoration were removed from the truck.

The vehicle has an interesting history, Mr. Peterson said. According to the Keavy fire department, the vehicle was on standby where the charred remains of the space shuttle Columbia landed on the earth, after disintegrating 40 miles above Hemphill, Texas, in 2003.

The tanker was also transported to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where it served as a standby vehicle following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The vehicle can carry potable water in its stainless steel tank. In Kentucky, it was once used to supply drinking water to a hospital during an emergency.