Sitting in the Southampton Fire Department Antique Truck Barn are a tanker truck and rescue unit that aren't quite antique, but are obsolete compared to Southampton Fire Department's modern standards.
Now Chief Rodney "Chip" Pierson hopes that the two emergency vehicles can become a boon to an up-island fire department that had its equipment destroyed by Superstorm Sandy and the flooding it caused.
At a Southampton Village Board work session on Tuesday, Pierson asked the Village Board to consider donating the retired firetrucks.
The tanker has been kept in storage waiting for an opportunity like this, Pierson said. “For someone like that who has nothing, it would mean a tremendous amount to them if they could use that unit."
Mayor Mark Epley favored they idea, though a vote has not been taken yet, as there are still details to be worked out.
The chief also gave the board a report on the fire department's response to Sandy. “We had all three firehouses manned for 24 hours,” he said. Department volunteers also went door-to-door in areas subject to evacuation before the storm hit.
There was one structure fire in the middle of it all, Pierson said. “We got it out before it got too bad.”
The Southampton Fire Department has also sent crews up-island to relieve firefighters working round-the-clock in hard hit areas.
Pierson noted that the department is continuing to collect supplies for Sandy victims.
Pierson's time as chief comes to an end Dec. 31, after two years in the top position and four years as an assistant chief. However, he said Tuesday he is not going anywhere. “I’m always going to be in this fire department," he told the Village Board. "I love this department. I love the village.”
