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The Clark State Community College fire training program has a new fire truck thanks to a donation from the Springfield Township Fire Department.
Springfield Township Fire Department last week donated a 1990 model fire truck to the Clark State program. In exchange, 15 scholarships will be awarded to members of the Springfield Township Fire Department.
According to Springfield Township Fire Chief John Roeder, the scholarships — worth about $15,000 total — will be used for fire training certification classes for new members of the department.
The old Clark State fire truck had upwards of 260,000 miles on it and was said to be on its last legs. The department’s new fire truck, despite being a 1990 model, has just 36,000 miles on it. The fire training program needed a more reliable pump and water source for live fire and tower training exercises.
The decision to donate the fire truck came after the fire department was considering putting it on GovDeals.com because it was an aging truck. But Roeder, who is on the advisory board for the fire school, heard the school needed a new truck. So Roeder and Steve Goheen decided they should set up an arrangement. From these discussions came the idea to exchange the truck for scholarships.
“The acquisition of this will allow us to provide a quality education for the firefighters without a huge outlay of cash,” said Steve Goheen, the fire charter program director at Clark State Community College.
The fire truck was going to be listed on GovDeals for around $15,000, but it would have to go through a bidding process, so it could have sold for less than that.
The 15 scholarships provided by Clark State will run for a period of 24 months and will allow the department to send firefighters through level 1 or level 2 training. Each of these scholarships is worth about $1,000.
“The truck will not only benefit Clark State,” said Roeder, “it will also benefit Springfield Township by giving us better training.”
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