(4/1) On March 26th members of the Vigilant Hose Company (VHC) said goodbye to their oldest engine "E63." With nearly thirty years of service to Emmitsburg and the surrounding communities, members of the VHC began the process of designing and building a replacement engine to retire the old Pierce Lance.

It took more than six months of detailed design, construction and testing before Engine 61 was complete. Nearly eighteen months of research, planning, fiscal discussions and ongoing fundraising efforts lead up to this important new equipment upgrade. The new "E61" was designed and manufactured in Appleton, WI at Pierce Manufacturing and was delivered on April 9. The new engine will travel to the local dealer on the 29th for final mounting of several small equipment items, before returning to the VHC to be placed into service in early to mid May. Driver and crew familiarization and operational training is already underway.

Chief Chad Umbel stated, "New Engine 61 has a range of critically important safety and operational capabilities necessary to serve the diversity and complexity of our response area." The new engine has a Pierce ‘Enforcer’ style cab, a stainless-steel body, a 1,000-gallon water tank, a 1,500 gallon per minute pump, capable of supplying both Class A Foam and Class B Foam.

Umbel also stressed, "Only about 1% of the VHC’s 100-square mile response district has fire hydrants plus many buildings both in town and in outlying areas here are well over a century old. Having the capability and flexibility of both foam system applications allows us to deliver an enhanced service to the community with a single piece of apparatus that historically would require two separate pieces of apparatus to accomplish." The fully outfitted unit will cost the VHC nearly three-quarters of a million dollars when placed into service and comes at a massive cost savings to area taxpayers due to VHC’s hard-working volunteers.

Regarding fundraising, VHC President Frank Davis said, "We are very fortunate that those we serve understand their ongoing strong financial support and continued encouragement helps save the northern Frederick County region hundreds of thousands of tax dollars annually. In fact, while many volunteer fire and ambulance companies nationally are struggling mightily, it’s the community involvement here that’s at the heart of our many successes."

Members of the VHC donated the old E63 to the Pine Mountain (Ar.) Volunteer Fire Department (PMVFD). This is a tradition that dates back to June 2000 when the VHC donated then Engine 64 to the same department. The old engine 64, a 1971 Ford built by American Fire Apparatus, is still in use today by the PMVFD.

Members of the PMVFD arrived in Emmitsburg early on March 26 and were greeted by members of the VHC including Assistant Chief Josh Brotherton who was coordinating the turnover process. PMVFD volunteers received a review of their new engine and spent several hours driving and training on its various capacities. Their volunteers also received a tour of the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial, the National Fire Academy and the Emmitsburg area and VHC facilities. That evening members of the VHC joined the PMVFD volunteers in a firehouse style dinner where many stories were shared and at the end, VHC formally turned over the title of the engine.

The old E63 engine served Emmitsburg and surrounding communities for thirty years honorably and effectively. She has done her job at countless fire incidents and other emergencies throughout the area. Numerous drivers, both volunteer and career, would regularly state that E63 was one of the best pumping and drafting engines anywhere, hands down.

In addition to the engine, the VHC donated several hundred feet of hose, ground ladders, hand tools and other various pieces of fire equipment to help better serve PMVFD. Graceham Volunteer Fire Department and the Braddock Heights Volunteer Fire Department also donated additional equipment.