Spotsylvania County PA Fire Department Spends $2.6M on Apparatus, Boat Firefighters

Spotsylvania County will spend more than $2.6 million for three new fire tankers and pumpers and a new “fire boat.”

The new fire tankers will replace vehicles built in the 1980s and 1990s, county fire and rescue Chief Jay Cullinan told the Board of Supervisors during Tuesday’s meeting.

The supervisors approved the funds, already available in the budget, for the fire tankers and the boat.

The pair of tanker-pumpers will cost $1.662 million and one pumper truck will cost $699,473, according to the staff report.

The new boat will be used on Lake Anna and replace an inflatable craft, according to the chief. The county will pay $263,245 for the 24-foot, twin-engine craft. That price is the lowest of three bids to the county.

The chief told the supervisors the new boat will be better equipped to handle fires around the lake, with one advantage being that it isn’t a rubber inflatable.

The boat will have an enclosed cabin area so crews will be able to use it in harsh weather. A pumper will be housed in the bow, allowing crews to draw water from the lake and spray it. The pump will be used in case of fires on and off shore, including nearby houses and boat houses or boats on the water.

Cullinan added that the boat could serve as a “mobile hydrant” for 1,600 homes within 1,000 feet of the lake.

Lake Anna, which abuts Spotsylvania, Louisa and Orange counties, was created to provide cooling water for Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear power plant. The 13,000- acre lake, with 225 miles of shoreline, not only has surrounding homes, but also is popular with swimmers, boaters and anglers during the warm months.

The boat has space to load an ATV and then land ashore, similar to military vessels, the chief said. The vessel would make it easier to transport patients.

Last year, he said, crews responded to 25 incidents, such as water rescues and boating incidents, on and around the lake.

The chief said the county’s inflatable craft will be moved to a fire station and used for incidents on the Rappahannock River.

In other business, the board approved making longtime county employee Ed Petrovitch the county administrator.

Petrovitch was previously an assistant county administrator who had been serving as interim administrator in recent months.

He replaces Mark Taylor, the county’s previous top administrator. After holding the position since 2015, Taylor left in April to become Greene County’s administrator.

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