Volunteering their time and talent to restoring an old fire rescue truck, firefighters from the Pell City Fire department created an alternative to purchasing a new unit in tough economic times.

Pell City firefighters recognized the need for a rescue unit at Fire Station 2 because of increased EMS response.

“It is a project that we have envisioned for years,” Asst. Fire Chief Mike Burdette said.  “Our budget is tight.  Money is tight, so we took it upon ourselves to do this project.”

In August, Pell City officials approved expenditures from the 2 Mill Fire Tax to help fund the project.

Pell City Fire Department Lietenant Tim Kurzejeski and firefighters Chris Hall and Steve Cavender took on the project to explore different options.

“In our research we found that a new rescue unit would cost upwards of $110,000— $130,000 dollars,” Kurzejeski said.  “As in most cities currently, finaces are tight so we proposed a plan to refurbish our 1995 rescue unit.”

Firefighters spent nearly four months restoring the unit.  Volunteering personal time to the project, they worked countless hours both on-duty and off duty.

Restoration began with a bumper-to-bumper check, followed by painting and adding emergency lights to the vehicle.

“We are at the final stage of our project and placing the unit into service,” Kurzejeski said. “The entire project cost just shy of $10,000.”

All work was completed in-house or within the city with the help of local businesses.

“This project also provided a great partnership between the fire department, police department and street department.  Officer Jessie Burgous with PCPD helped with the repainting and Greg Gossett with the street department allowed us to use a bay at the city shop to do the repainting,” Kurzejeski said.

Refurbishing an old rescue unit extends the life of the vehicle until the fire department can allocate funds to purchase a new truck.

Kurzejeski credits city volunteers for their efforts.

“It could never be a one-man project.   A special thank you goes out to a couple local businesses for their help, B&M Automotive, Gilreath Printing for decals and striping and Fleet Safety for the emergency lighting.

“This truly was a city-wide project with the intent to continue to make provided services more efficient and beneficial to our citizens.  This project was dedicated for the betterment of the citizens of Pell City and the personnel of the Pell City Fire and Rescue Service.”