Barnstable County Commissioner and Chairman Leo Cakounes (l) accepts the title to the donated ladder truck from Hanover acting Town Manager Tony Marino and Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard on Wednesday morning at the Barnstable County Fire & Rescue Training Academy.
HYANNIS – The Town of Hanover has donated a 110-foot aerial ladder truck to the Barnstable County Fire & Rescue Training Academy. At a short ceremony at the Academy on Wednesday, February 21, 2018, Hanover acting Town Manager Tony Marino and Fire Chief Jeff Blanchard handed over the title to Barnstable County Commissioner and Chairman Leo Cakounes.
The donation was made possible when the Town of Hanover Fire Department received a federal grant for a new aerial platform. The grant came with the stipulation that the old truck could not be resold or given to another fire department as a first-line piece of equipment. It could only be scrapped or donated to an educational institution. Rather than scrapping it, Hanover chose to donate it to the Barnstable County Fire & Rescue Training Academy. The new rig will replace the Academy’s current ladder truck, which has a cracked frame.
Academy Director George Russell said, “We give our sincerest thanks to the Town of Hanover and Fire Chief Blanchard for this incredible donation. Having this newer equipment will upgrade the currency and quality of our training and enable us to better prepare our firefighters for what they will face on the job.”
Barnstable County Commissioner Leo Cakounes said, “The Barnstable County Commissioners are immensely grateful to the Town of Hanover for this generous gift to the Academy and, by extension, to the people of the County. With this acquisition, the Academy will be able to enhance the training and professional development of the region’s firefighters and the safety of the community as a whole.”
About the Barnstable County Fire & Rescue Training Academy
The Barnstable County Fire & Rescue Training Academy is a vital component of the Fire and Emergency Rescue Services for Cape Cod. The Academy offers training in fire, technical rescue, emergency medical services, incident management, regional emergency planning, and police tactical operations. In addition to on-Cape personnel, the Academy offers training to off-Cape fire departments, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, New England Maritime, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, and other private contractors. All off-Cape and private contractors pay a user fee. In 2016, the Academy trained a total of 1,727 Cape Firefighters/EMTs and a combined total of 3,288 students.
Media release furnished by Barnstable County Fire & Rescue Academy via Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee; Photos by Jonh P. Carroll/CWN
