Firetruck donated to TCTC

Staff report

CHAMPION

The Howland Fire Department has donated a used Pierce fire engine to the Public Safety program at the Trumbull Career and Technical Center to help students with their training.

The donation took place Tuesday at TCTC.

The fire engine, valued at $20,000, no longer was needed at the Howland Fire Department but is in good condition and will give students practice in going on fire calls, driving the fire engine and using its equipment, said Lt. Bill Gadd of the Warren Fire Department.

Gadd, part of the Howland Fire and EMS Training Center, is lead fire instructor for the vocational school’s program. Its instructors are all Warren-area firefighters. The training center is under the direction of James Pantalone, Howland fire chief.

TCTC has invested a lot of money in equipment for the program in recent years, but this will be the first time the program has had a fire engine, Gadd said.

Students in the Public Safety program learn law enforcement their junior year and firefighting and emergency-medical service training their senior year.