On Tuesday, July 6, Fire Associates of Santa Clara Valley took a giant step forward. Our new support unit went into service. Designated "Fire Support Unit 1", the rig is now supporting our North County operations region. Running out of Santa Clara City Fire Department's Station 9, the rig will primarily support the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Los Altos, Cupertino, Saratoga and Santa Clara.
The vehicle is a 1997 GMC/Isuzu that once served as a fire/rescue truck. It is powered by a 350 GMC power plant with an automatic transmission. During the last few months, the vehicle has undergone some major modifications at the hands of our Fleet Manager, Don Gilbert. Don has installed a 60-gallon, potable water tank and pump; installed a 5000W Honda generator; repaired interior compartment lighting, modified the center console to receive new radios, and replaced the red lightbar lenses with amber lenses. In addition, new VHF and UHF radios have been installed and new identification lettering and graphics have been applied.
On July 6, FASCV members met to switch out the supplies and equipment from the previous FSU-1. Items like easy-up awnings, misting fans, tables, benches, coolers, coffee percolators and the like were moved onto the new unit. Also added were many boxes of bottled water, powdered lemonade, coffee beans and Clif Bars.
Thank you to all the firefighters who regularly contribute funds to our cause. It is this funding, along with donations from some FASCV members, that made this purchase possible.
Look for this unit to be at the next multi-alarm fire in the north county!
