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Ashley Hayes ReportingThe Sandy City Fire Department is showing off a brand new addition, and it's quite a sight to see.
The shiny red fire truck is their biggest one yet.
Medic engine 34 is just about impossible to miss coming around the corner. The huge truck is bright red, shiny and new. It can save lives in more ways than one.
Battalion Chief Dave Olearain, Sandy City Fire Dept: "All fire trucks are is a large toolbox on wheels."
This toolbox, a Pierce, is the fire truck equivalent to a deluxe Craftsman. In Utah it can only be found at Sandy City's fire station 31.
Olearain: "This particular fire truck or toolbox has a place to help people with their dire needs and to help people get them out of vehicles."
Basically it's the fire engine that can-- a three part ambulance, fire truck, and heavy duty rescue rig.
"We do everything from putting Band-aids on, to somebody having a heart attack."
It's fully loaded to cut apart cars and buses where people are trapped inside. At the touch of a button, hydraulic stairs rise and fall, so as not to jostle a patient on the gurney.
The ladder is easily accessible and...
"It has these convenient slide-out doors so we can get a little more organized."
The three-in-one is a new concept but based on a two part model stored in the garage. Their original emergency transport truck has much smaller space inside. It's also 16 years older.
Compare that to their new Pierce, which has twice as much space inside. There's a lot more room to move around when treating a patient.
So when they offered us a ride in the big rig, how could we refuse?
At 35 feet long, the ride is surprisingly comfortable, thanks to its advanced front suspension.
Here's the best news: While the truck costs nearly half a million dollars, it pays for itself. Because Sandy City doesn't have to contract an outside ambulance company, the transportation fee patients pay for the ride to the hospital goes towards buying new trucks. So that's good new for taxpayers.
Equipment is still being installed in the truck. It's scheduled to hit the road for use in January.
