BETHLEHEM – The Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department has rehabilitated two significant pieces of apparatus after receiving $250,000 from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and $25,000 of Capital Improvement funds. The grant money was used to complete extensive work on Engines 4 and 5, greatly expanding the life spans of both vehicles.
The work done on these vehicles is both cosmetic and mechanical, giving them a more modern appearance and substantially improved equipment. Engine 5 underwent a complete overhaul due to severe rust issues. The entire body and frame of the apparatus was renovated, and different mechanical parts were upgraded to make the vehicle more efficient. The work on Engine 4 was also extensive, as the apparatus was repainted, the headliner in its cab was redone, the dated taillights were replaced with LED lights, and the pump was entirely refurbished to maximize productivity during emergencies.
“The significance of this project is that the way in which it was done was a collaborative taskforce that involved members of the Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance and the Fire Department,” said Bethlehem First Selectman Raymond Butkus. As a longtime resident of Bethlehem, Mr. Butkus recalled how this project may not have been as successful in previous years due to the lack of collaboration among Town boards.
“The relationship is not automatic, and there were times in years gone by when the relationship was quite adversarial,” stated Butkus. “There would be lots of contentious discussions back and forth, but that does not happen anymore, and the reason it doesn’t is because we’ve figured out how to collaborate between Town government and the Fire Department. These guys do a great job in communicating the value of their department to the citizens of the town.”
This project required an all-hands-on-deck approach from Bethlehem and surrounding communities. Fire Chief Dale Eriksen and the rest of the Department worked with county coordinators and relied on automatic aid systems with Bethlehem’s mutual aid towns while the vehicles were out of commission during refurbishment. Both engines took four to five months to repair before they were back in action. “The entire process was done with a spirit of collaboration, so all in all the process went very smoothly,” said Mr. Butkus.
The massive $250,000 grant from ARPA along with the $25,000 from the Town made a lasting impact on the Volunteer Fire Department that will be felt by the community for decades to come. “We are grateful for the funding from ARPA, and it saved the Town a substantial amount of money,” Mr. Butkus said.
Mr. Eriksen echoed this sentiment, stating, “by us reinvesting into two well-built, Class A pumpers, we’re helping the community to where we’re keeping our classification where we are, and we’re not lacking on that. We take pride in saying that we’ve saved the taxpayers a couple million dollars by reinvesting into this apparatus now before it was too late.”
The Bethlehem Volunteer Fire Department is thriving with just shy of 50 active members, with the youngest member having just turned 18. Serving as an officer of the Department since 2016, Chief Eriksen takes immense pride in working with others to support and protect the community. “We are very fortunate that we’ve got folks like Dale and the rest of the Department here who do a great job,” Mr. Butkus noted. “It’s important to recognize the work that they put in because even though it’s the Volunteer Department, it’s rare to drive by this building and not see someone here doing something.”