A firefighter in Comox says he wants to help out on the fire lines with the purchase of a new firetruck.
Frank Assu, owner of Lak’Was Wildfire Water Service, recently obtained a tactical water-tender vehicle, with the truck carrying over 2400 US gallons of water.
He said that getting this vehicle would be a great opportunity to help out communities across the province.
“My son Perry, who was also a member of the department, he and I were talking about deployments that we’ve been on, our experiences with wildfires, and we thought it would be an interesting opportunity if we had our own company,” said Assu.
“I started looking into it further, found some grants, did some research on the different types of vehicles, and opportunities that we can do.”
Along with carrying a large volume of water, the truck also has a 500-gallon-per-minute pump, a four-wheel drive, and pump and roll capabilities according to Assu.
He added these features would allow them to get to areas affected by fires in a quick and safe fashion.
“At the same time we have more water volume than some of the smaller wildfire vehicles, where they carry 200 to 300 gallons of water and they have a smaller pump, and a smaller amount of hose they can carry due to their size,” Assu added.
“So their water capacity runs out quickly, and our truck also has over 1600 feet of hose of various sizes that we can use to our advantage for attacking fires.”
With the company having been operational as of mid-June this year, Assu’s next steps are for the company and truck to be known across the province, with the hopes of being able to work with the BC Wildfire Service.
