Mechanicsville, MD – The small community of Summitt Hill in Mechanicsville is a pretty quiet neighborhood.

Local residents got a surprise when a slew of fire trucks began arriving on Suite Landing Road Monday evening, June 27.

For once, however, crews weren’t responding to a tragedy, but to training.

The Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department (MVFD) utilized a hot June night to give firefighters and drivers a little training on Engine 23, a 2016 Pierce Enforcer out of Wisconsin, only delivered to Station 2 last month.

With a Detroit Diesel DD13 Engine, a 750 Gallon Water Tank and a 1,250 gallon per minute Hale Midship pump, MVFD Fire Chief Mark Trowbridge said the new apparatus cost the department $580,000.

“It’s a new rig,” Trowbridge said. “We’re working to get our drivers trained over on it.”

Engine 23 is the wagon at Station 2, which means it is the first-due engine out of the station. Engine 23 and carries all the necessary Engine equipment as well as a small compliment of Hurst extrication equipment, according to MVFD’s web site.

The new engine’s first service was May 15, when members from Mechanicsville and Hollywood volunteer fire departments conducted a training burn in an acquired structure off Queentree Road in Mechanicsville.

Engine 23 was utilized as the attack pumper. It was its first time being utilized since Company 2 took delivery.

Mechanicsville Volunteer Fire Department has over 80 members. “Sixty of those ride fire trucks,” Trowbridge noted.

The June 28 exercise was to familiarize members with the pumper’s equipment, he explained.

Firefighters gave the nearby forest a good dousing as they tested hoses and relieved summer swelter at the same time.

The new pumper usually carries a crew of seven or eight, the chief said.

Soon, hoses were recoiled, folks piled into their trucks and the neighborhood was quiet again. It is nice to know, however, that they’re close by.

The Mechanicsville Volunteer Department has a fascinating photo gallery of the Enforcer’s construction at its birthplace in Wisconsin on its web site.

Go to: www.mvfd.com/apps/public/news/newsView.cfm?News_ID=1559

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com