Chief Charles G. Middleton thanks Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson for the support and leadership the Mayor and City Council displayed in the purchase of three new fire engines. The new engines were manufactured by Sutphen Corporation of Columbus, Ohio and delivered to the Savannah Fire Department within the past couple of weeks.

Once outfitting was complete, Savannah firefighters began training on the new machines which feature a more environmentally friendly diesel engine and additional safety elements for firefighters and the motoring public.

Manufactured to NFPA standards, the new engines were custom built to local specifications.

Savannah Fire personnel, along with city vehicle maintenance and other staff, spent approximately four months developing the local specifications before the new machines were ordered in December 2008 at a cost of approximately $460,000 each.

The new apparatus feature an air ride suspension, which provides a smoother ride and reduces fatigue on the apparatus. The state-ofthe art diesel engines incorporate a particulate regeneration process of cleaning their own filters which reduces the amount of emissions into the environment. All exterior lighting are energy-saving LED and operate off the engines’ alternators, eliminating the need for large generators to power lights for illuminating fire scenes. The engines carry 750 gallons of water, allowing firefighters to quickly attack fires, and can pump up to 1500 gallons of water per minute when attached to a water source.