On Sunday March 11th five of East Brandywine Fire Company Apparatus Design Committee members traveled to Pierce Manufacturing in Appleton Wisconsin. The purpose of the trip is to finalize the details of our new Engine and Ladder truck.

The pre-construction visit to the plant provides for an invaluable opportunity to fine tune the design and ensure the manufacturing process goes smoothly. It allows the Committee an opportunity to look at certain design elements and make sure they are what was envisioned.

Lieutenant John Needles summed the importance of the trip best when he said "by looking at other apparatus and configurations we were able to lower the hose bed on the Engine another 4 inches which is huge". Needles added "with the help of Pierce representatives and our salesman Curt Worth we've made subtle changes that will significantly improve functionality".

Committee members who made the trip include:

Chief - Vince D'Amico
Assistant Chief - Joe Monestere
Lieutenant - John Needles
Chief Engineer - Bobby Zynn
Training Officer - Chris Keen

All of the Officers and Members of East Brandywine Fire Company would like to recognize these five volunteers who took vacation time from their jobs and time away from their families in order to ensure the Company receives great trucks.