1 - Uhrichsville firefighters pose for a photo in front of the fire department's new $170,000 ambulance with Mayor Rick Dorland (Stacey Carmany, Tusco TV)

2 - Uhrichsville Fire Chief Justin Edwards and EMS Coordinator Wes Dillon load a cot into the back of the ambulance to get it ready to go into service. (Stacey Carmany, Tusco TV)

UHRICHSVILLE (Tusco TV) - Firefighters are thanking city officials for their investment in the department as they prepare to put a brand new ambulance into service.

EMS Coordinator Wes Dillon says the custom-built 2019 McCoy Miller ambulance they ordered back in April arrived at the station Thursday morning. 

“It was actually built in Florida, and then they put it on a flatbed truck and shipped it up here to Loudonville for Burgess Ambulance, and then they mounted a few things on there for us and they brought it here today,” he says.  

Fire Chief Justin Edwards says the $170,000 vehicle comes complete with a backup camera, LED lighting, and tire chains for the winter. He says it should make for a much a safer, smoother ride than the 23-year-old ambulance they purchased second-hand from Strasburg for a dollar. 

“A couple of things that were important on us for this build was crew safety and patient safety and patient comfort. We want you to have a nice ride. When you’re sick, you don’t want to be bumping around everywhere, so it’s a nice ride for the patient,” he says.

Mayor Rick Dorland says the firefighters did quite a bit of research to find a reasonably-priced larger-sized model that would meet the community’s needs for years to come.  

“Yeah, we could have got one for $50,000 but there’s no way we could have carried the equipment. When this thing responds, it’s got a full complement of rescue gear on it. Now, the guys can carry their fire gear where they can respond to calls where if you just have a small van ambulance, you couldn’t do that,” he says. 

Edwards says they finished loading up the equipment and had it ready to go into service Thursday afternoon.  

TUSCO TV