Digby’s new fire truck is a first in Canada

There’s something different about Digby’s new fire truck, which is known in the business as a special service vehicles (SSV).

It’s more than all the bells and whistles—and sirens and lights that bedeck the vehicle.

The truck is the first special service vehicle built by Metalfab Ltd. in New Brunswick to a fire-use standard established by the Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC).

Metalfab is the first Canadian fire truck manufacturer to produce ULC vehicles and Digby acquired the company’s first such truck last October. It goes on every fire call and the Digby department is happy with it, said fire chief Robert Morgan.

The truck, which cost almost $500,000, replaced a truck from the 1980s, he said.

Metalfab president Gordon Green says the new standard increases safety for firefighters. “When a firefighter steps inside an SSV on the way to an event, there is risk from the moment they get in the vehicle. Training reduces the risk, experience reduces the risk, and a ULC listing is another way of reducing risk by ensuring the SSV is built to a fire-use standard,” Green said.

The company began work on a ULC plan last year after questions were raised about the safety of SSVs currently in use.