Ready to respond

Firefighters have a new truck to respond to calls in the southeast section of the Sun City Fire District.

The department announced Tuesday that Engine 132 went into service last week.

"The new truck, a Pierce Quantum Pumper, is in use in the southeast part of our coverage area, and we are very excited to have it," said Fire Chief Jim Sebert.

The truck is housed at Station 132 at 99th Avenue between Grand and Peoria avenues. Battalion Chief Ken Swick said the new truck was put into commission at 5 p.m. Aug. 13 and immediately went into action.

"Between the time they told me they were switching the equipment over to the new truck and the time they got a chance to tell me it was finished, they had already gone out on a call," Swick said.

Sebert said the department will explore several options for the old truck, though the most likely option will be to sell it to another department.

"We'll look around and see who needs one and we'll check with departments around the country, as well as check to see what options there are abroad," Sebert said.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Rice said the department recently received two awards, both for general excellence. Rice said the International Code Council presented the department with a community service award, and on the local level, the Area Agency on Aging presented it with the Community Award of Excellence for service to the elderly community.

"To get one award would be really special, but to get two is a definite tribute to the good work our people are doing," Rice said.