HAVFD receives new fire engine

On Wednesday, June 18, 2008 the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department took delivery of a new Fire Engine designated Engine 91. The new Fire Engine was purchased from VRS sales in Round Lake, NY. The Engine was built by Toyne, Inc. located in Breda, Iowa. The new engine went into service on Saturday, June 28, 2008.

The new engine replaces old engine 91 that has been in service since 1978, a whopping thirty years! That truck has seen some action, you can only imagine the stories it could tell. The engine’s days aren’t over yet, the HAVFD has decided to donate the engine to another reserve that is sorely lacking in equipment.

The HAVFD was able to purchase this new apparatus through a United Stated Department of Agriculture Community Facilities Program that administers programs designed to develop essential community facilities for public use in rural areas. These facilities include schools, libraries, childcare, hospitals, medical clinics, assisted living facilities, fire and rescue stations, police stations, community centers, public buildings and transportation.

Grants and guaranteed loans are available for communities with a population less than 20,000. The HAVFD was able to get a combination grant and loan package to purchase two trucks with a minimal out of pocket expense to the department. The application process was long and arduous since the HAVFD hadn’t established a relationship with USDA and all the t’s had to be crossed and the i’s dotted. Some of the paperwork required was over fifty years old and had to be located deep down in the archives that kept President Richard Phillips, Treasurer Mose McDonald and Chief Norman Peters on the run for quite some time.

Ron Lafrance, Tribal Subchief, was instrumental in seeing the program through. Ron was able to negotiate a loan from the Tribe for the deposits necessary to get construction started on the engine. The HAVFD owes a lot to the hard work and generosity of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, especially Ron who probably has a lot more gray hairs because of this.

Another truck is under construction right now in Iowa that is going to be a “super-tanker” holding 3,000 gallons of water. Once the other truck is delivered and the order complete the HAVFD will have an open house to celebrate the purchases and show them off. The event will include representatives from USDA, SRMT and HAVFD. It will be advertised and open to the public.