The Aggie fire truck was CSFD Chief Jonathan McMahan’s creation and was built to represent the relationship between College Station and Texas A&M. The truck is a Pierce firetruck with a 107 foot ascending ladder — the largest in the city — and was a product of the collaboration of McMahan and A&M Chancellor John Sharp.
CSPD Public Information Officer Carter Hall said the truck was first debuted on May 20 at the Hall of Champions event.
“It was very well received, it was great and people came up to it to take pictures in front of the truck with their Aggie rings on or doing a thumbs up,” Hall said. “It was a great response from the Aggie community to see that firetruck and have that same passion for the great relationship we have with A&M.”
The truck provides high level protection for rescue, and it is stationed in Fire Station 3 off of Barron Road close to the southern part of the city. The pump is a quintable combination pumper and is called Quint 723 for short. The engine has a 1,500 gallon pump and can hold up to 500 gallons of water in it’s tank.
“One of the special things about it is it provides about the same fire protection that the larger trucks do but it has a smaller weight so it has a little less roadware trucks and on the brakes themselves,” Hall said.
Among the visual references that relate to A&M, the truck sports a large logo on the side of the engine that says “BTHO fires” and a sticker at the front that reads “Fearless on every front.” It’s maroon and white stripes are visibly different than any of the other blue striped firetrucks at the station.
CSPD Fire Station 3 Captain Lewis Clinkscales said the best features of the truck come from the service it can provide as an engine in the Bryan-College Station area.
“It basically has the capabilities of an engine it also has an aerial device that’s different from any of the other trucks that we’re running,” Clinkscales said. “It doesn’t have the bucket at the top that the towers have, it’s just a stick, so just the ladder – and in that way it’s not quite as big and doesn’t do quite as much as the tower but it still has the capabilities of engine so it’s a cross between the two.”
The engine is also more useful due to its ability to hold more water than the other firetrucks in the city.
Even though some fire marshall trucks and special operation transportation sport the maroon colors, this engine is one of a kind because of it’s additional features.
“Our ladder trucks do have pumps and water, but they don’t carry enough water for NFPA, which is the National Fire Protection Agency, to recognize them as an attack pumper or an engine,” Clinkscales said. “This one does and it seems that most of the people in the community also like it because of its maroon.”