Eureka Fire-Rescue-EMS buys new ambulance with enhanced safety features

Despite dwindling staff and fundraising obstacles, Eureka Fire-Rescue-EMS in Tarentum has added a $260,000 paramedic rescue ambulance to its fleet, enabling volunteers to continue to serve a wide swath of the Alle-Kiski Valley, as they have since the 1800s.

The newest addition is more than an ambulance. The vehicle stands out because it carries air tanks, hydraulic tools and other rescue equipment.

“It carries lights because we respond out to the boondocks,” Chief Rich Heuser said. “We go basically from Pittsburgh Mills to the Butler/Armstrong county line. With covid, it’s not unusual to go even farther.”

Eureka Fire-Rescue-EMS is run by a combination of paid staff and volunteers. Heuser said each of the 35 members is cross-trained and capable of responding to fires, rescue and medical emergencies.

“You may be on the fire engine now and on the paramedic truck the next three days,” he said.

“We’re a busy station,” Heuser said. “We’ve always got something new going on, and we always make it happen with fewer people than the year before.”

Deputy Chief Brad James has been with the department for 39 years. He said recent years have seen almost a 50% drop in membership.

“We used to have 25 paid members and 40 volunteers,” James said.

There were decades when the department needed three ambulances. Today, the newest vehicle meets the demand to keep up with safety more than it is required for activity.

“In the world of public safety, even five years can make a difference in features that can enhance what we do,” James said.

“Not to mention the wear and tear. Ours had a lot of hours and miles on it.”

The newest ambulance replaces one from 2006 that had traveled 180,000 miles.

The department also has a 2013 and a 2015 model at the fire hall on Third Avenue.

The new ambulance boasts a front-mounted winch with 100 feet of cable, four-wheel drive, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses and water rescue equipment, among other items.

It will be paid through a loan, service reimbursements and the department’s subscription drive.

James said the public solicitation through subscriptions has an average return of less than 40%.

“Every few years, we’re lucky enough to go into debt to get a new vehicle,” he said, with a laugh.

“The public safety field has been hit hard with covid,” Heuser said. “We’re overworked, and staffing levels are way down.”

“When I started in 1971, we were all volunteers and there were many of us,” Heuser said. “If you weren’t in running distance of the fire engine, you didn’t get a seat.”