Three Rivers College, the Poplar Bluff Fire Department, and the Grandin Rural Volunteer Fire Department all significantly upgraded their fleets recently.
Through a grant, the Poplar Bluff Fire Department purchased a 2024 Rosenbauer Pumper fire truck to replace their 1980 Seagrave Pumper, which was no longer compliant with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for fire extinguishment. The grant stipulated that the non-compliant truck could only be used for training purposes, and the PBFD chose to donate the truck to Three Rivers.
“We currently have 16 members of our department who have gone through the Fire Science program here at TRC, and we want to make sure that it succeeds and is around for a long time,” Poplar Bluff Fire Chief Mike Moffitt said.
This then allowed Three Rivers to donate its 1986 Pierce Pumper to the Grandin Rural Volunteer Fire Department to replace its 1979 International, which was stuck in first gear because of a transmission issue.
“This will make it so we can respond to house fires again and make sure that our community is safer,” Grandin Rural Fire Department Chief Joseph Gates said.
Added Andrea Pierce, Three Rivers Division Chair for Career Studies and Workforce Development, “We have the access and ability to give back. We wanted to help our local community.”
Poplar Bluff City Manager Robert Knodell said the trio of upgrades will provide long-term benefits to the community.
“When we are able to work together, we get training, we get qualified new firefighters that the College program produces,” Knodell said. “It’s what makes this community as strong as it is, and we are going to be even stronger because of these partnerships.”
Poplar Bluff’s Rosenbauer Pumper was specifically chosen to pass under a particular bridge in Poplar Bluff that has a 9-foot height restriction.
“This is one of the two trucks we have that will fit under that bridge. That section of town has maybe 300 homes that we do service,” Moffitt said. “We have been stuck there by a train on one side or the other for an extended period of time, and I don’t want that to happen where we are stuck on the wrong side when we have a house on fire on the other side.”
Three Rivers Fire Science students will also see educational benefits from their Seagrave Pumper.
“This allows our students to train on the type of truck they might be working with after graduation,” Pierce said. “Our Seagrave Pumper will encourage students to train with TRC and be ready to enter the workforce and be successful.”
