The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-06-20
COUNCIL BUYS
NEW FIRE TRUCK
Another Motor Hose and Chemical
Truck, Like the Present One Ex
oopt for Pump for cIstern
Use.
IT rs FULLY EQUIPPED
VIII Nearly Double the Fire Fighting
Efficiency Of the keokuk Depart
ment, and Goes Into Use
Next Fall.

fire truck, and driving heavy appa-
ratus to fire with horses is becom-
ing passe here, as everywhere else.
AS part Of the new piece OF fire
department apparatus, the nremen
will have another chemical engine.
1t is the soda water that puts out
eight-tenths of the fires and that
prevents most Of the damage done
by water to the contents Of build
ings.
The city council unanimously voted
late yesterday afternoon to author
lie contract, signed little later
with the La France-American COM
pany for the new truck.
Omission Of Pump Saves Much.
1t will be delivered late this sum-
mer or early next fall, and will be
put into commission as soon as 1t
arrives and is thoroughly tested out.
1t is exactly like the big truck now
In the Sixth street station, except
that it has no auxiliary pump for
pumping water out of cisterns, like
the old fire engines used to do SUCH
a pump may be added later, II needed
at any time. The new truck has
seventy-five horsepower in Its en-
CINE, instead of the los horsepower
in the big truck now in use, and It's
engines are four cylinder instead OF
six cylinder, as in the big truck. The
difference in weight enables this les
SEEMING of engine power and con-
sumption of gasoline to be attained.
The engine has the electric starter,
oil ba tho same
as on the big truck which has given
such good service.
Is Complete in Equipment.
The new truck is type 40, combi-
nation hose and chemical car, and
it's frame is all chrome-nickel steel.
1t carries 1900 feet of big hose and
200 feet of smaller chemical hose.
It's tank holds forty gallons of soda
water, and in addition are two hand
extinguishers, which are very often
all that are required when the pres
ent big truck arrives at fire before
it has had time to make much head
way
There is a 24-foot ladder and a
16-foot roof ladder with folding
hooks, besides door opener and all
the smaller equipment Of the modern
firemen.
The commissioners Of Keokuk went
to Burlington to see one OF the tden-
teal trucks in operation there, where
it has been in use for some time.
Doing Big Things In Burlington.
They saw it run up the steepest
hill in Burlington at twenty miles
an hour for four blocks, and at
twenty-five miles an hour for three
blocks-and the Burlington hills are
sleeper than anything of the kind
around Keokuk.
The cost of the new fire fighting
apparatus is $3.50, payable in in
stallments. There will be $3.50 paid
on delivery after the test, and then
81 900 every six months, on May
and November l each year, begin
ming in 1920 and running to Noyem-
Der 1, 1922.
The present big truck cost $4,000
and could not be replaced today for
less than s12,50O, study of the
market discloses.
Needed In Both Outer Stations.
Inc StdllOu III WHICH Jne new IRE
fighting apparatus will be located
has not yet been selected, as there
is plenty of time to do that.
The usual thing now is that when
an alarm Is turned in the motor
truck dashes to the fire and has it
extinguished with it's chemical equip
ment before the horse-drawn reels
can possibly reach the scene But
If the fire is in the residence district
anywhere, the truck has a long trip
to make to get to the location of
the blaze, and time is lost, which
will be saved when the new truck
is installed in one Of the other sta
tons not SO far down town in the
business district
"As long as the city of Keokuk
owns a horse, it is behind the times"
said a citizen today. "and every fire
station should have motor apparatus
and the police Ford with patrol
wagon and ambulance body"