Dawn Rye | Writer
drye@ncppub.com

Parker Volunteer Fire Department recently added a new vehicle to their line up of emergency units. Parker Fire Chief Max Masters said the rescue truck goes on most of the calls, but it doesn’t have firefighting capabilities. It could be looked at as a support vehicle.
He explained the unit was previously an US Air Force ambulance stationed on an airbase in South Korea. The Parker Fire Department purchased the unit from the South Dakota Federal Surplus Property depot in Huron, which has a 30-day trial that Parker was able to utilize to bring the unit home. Masters explained when it comes to utilizing the money that was given by the citizens, the department wants to make sure those funds are used wisely to improve emergency response capabilities. He noted fundraising funds and money from the wildland firefighting program also helped purchase the new rescue truck.
Masters said the new unit was officially part of the Parker Fire Department in September 2019. He noted the new unit is a 2009, which is newer than the previous 1991 model.
“We had a core group of members that put in a ton of time on this truck that included firefighters Alyssa Lyons, Harvey Hertel, Jakab Weidenbach and Mike Deelstra,” commented Masters.
He explained the new unit can haul up to six personnel and will be able to be used for a rehab vehicle on calls where people either need to warm up or cool down. He said it also contains self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), spare air bottles for fires and hazardous materials, rescue tools for extrication (Spreader, Cutter and Ram all powered by a hydraulic pump), cribbing to stabilize vehicles and a medical kit and oxygen.
He said the fire department is planning to use it on accident scenes that help provide some additional protection for the members and the community.