LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Out with the old and in with the new: That's the theme for the Lake Silkworth Volunteer Fire Department now that its new station is open and ready for response.
"It's pretty exciting. (We've) been working on this for a long time," said Fire Chief Christopher Lathrop. "A lot of people that started this project are no longer here, you know, it was a 17-year project, finally came to fruition, you know what I mean? It's very exciting. We went from a hole in the wall to the Taj Mahal, you know, it's pretty exciting."
Last week, the department was given a $10,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to go toward a new brush truck to match the brand new fire station.
"It'll be nice to have something newer reliable; you know what I mean? Like a lot of times when you use this, things break because it's old enough to vote, you know? It's 30 years old, you know, it's older than a lot of people in the department that are using it," said Lathrop.
The chief tells Newswatch 16 the smaller brush truck can respond to areas where the bigger other fire trucks can't go. The department responds to 30 to 40 wildland calls a year.
"Anything like a natural cover fire, any leaves, woods, you know? People are burning a lot. It's usually people burning, and they leave things on attended, and next thing you know, the hill's on fire, and we have to deal with all of it," added the chief.
A replacement of this brush truck will help responses run a little smoother in Luzerne County and in the surrounding wildland communities.