The fire station at 1631 Clarkson St. in Hopkins has a new addition to help fire crews protect the community thanks to the gift of a pumper truck from Richland County.

Residents joined community leaders and fire officials Monday to celebrate during an event to kick off National Community Development Week, which runs through April 2. The County’s Community Development Department purchased the $422,000 vehicle with federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

County Council approved the purchase of the truck on April 7, 2015.

The truck was built over an eight-month period by Rosenbauer in Lyon, S.D., and delivered to the Lower Richland fire station a week ago. In addition to the truck’s slate of high-tech equipment, it also features the Richland County Community Development Department “We Upgrade U” slogan and the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) logo.

“Some years back, a fire took place in this area that resulted in the loss of housing,” said Valeria Jackson, Director of Community Development. “Anything that Community Development can do to prevent that again is worth it.”

Nearly 1,800 properties are serviced by the Hopkins fire station. From 2014 to 2015, the station responded to about 370 incidents. Unfortunately, some of those calls were fires in which families lost their homes. Officials thought that if the station had a pumper truck to supplement water from fire hydrants, the outcomes could have been better.

The fire station will begin using the truck on service calls in April.

“We are proud of this new edition to the Lower Richland community,” Jackson said.

The County’s Community Development staff administers the federal CDBG funds and the HOME Investment Grant funds. These funds, from HUD, primarily benefit low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in unincorporated Richland County.

DETAILS ON THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FIRE TRUCK

•       Built in Lyon, S.D. over an eight-month period

•       Delivered to Lower Richland on March 21

•       Accommodates four people, their breathing apparatus and protective equipment

•       Has driver’s side and passenger’s side airbag systems

•       Includes a state-of-the-art communications system

•       Has scene lighting

•       Capable of pulling water from static sources, such as ponds

•       Has a tank with a 1,200 gallon capacity

•       Features foam cells to help combat hazardous materials fires

•       Pumps 1,500 gallons per minute