Parts for the truck are difficult or impossible to get.

By Ed Runyan | September 15, 2008 at 12:09a.m.

WARREN — For the students in the public safety class at the Trumbull Career and Technical Center, having their own firetruck will improve their ability to learn the job of firefighter.

That will be possible because of a donation being made next week by the Warren Fire Department, which will be turning over a 1984 FMC (Food Machinery Corp.) firetruck the department no longer needs.

Warren Fire Chief Ken Nussle and Mayor Michael O’Brien will be on hand when the truck is turned over to the students Wednesday at the school.

“It’s a win-win,” Nussle said. “That vehicle has been obsolete, and it’s going to be a great training tool for them.”

Warren Fire Lt. Bill Gadd, an instructor of the two-year high-school course, said the truck will be the best piece of training equipment the school will own.

In the past, trucks from various locations have been loaned to the students for short periods of time, but they’ve never had their own, Gadd said.

Practically every lesson on firefighting taught to the seniors involves a firetruck in some way, he said. Now the equipment owned by the school can be stored on the vehicle, and students will be able to maintain the vehicle just as working firefighters do.

The truck is no longer viable for the fire department to keep because its manufacturer quit making firetrucks in 1990, and parts for the trucks are difficult or impossible to get, Nussle said.

The truck is used as a second backup to front-line trucks and is no longer viable for fighting fires, Nussle said. Getting rid of the truck saves the city insurance and maintenance costs, he said.

Gadd said the class focuses on police work in the junior year and firefighting in the senior year, leading to a “240 card,” meaning 240 hours of training, which is required to work as a firefighter.

The program is growing from 10 seniors this year to 21 next year, Gadd said.

runyan@vindy.com