Helping Save Lives in New England Communities

Having a dedicated piece of apparatus saves critical time

Imagine your local firefighters showing up to an emergency in the family minivan, sports car or farm truck.

In Readsboro, a small town of close to 800 people in Vermont, this is a reality.

As emergency calls come in, dedicated volunteer firefighters respond to potentially life or death incidents, such as brush fires, severe weather incidents and medical calls, in their private vehicles, as there is no available emergency response vehicle.

Valuable minutes can be lost as additional emergency vehicles try to gain access to an emergency site congested with private vehicles from other first responders.

As a member of the communities where we operate, TransCanada believes in making communities safe.

“This brush/utility vehicle is vital to Readsboro’s operational needs.”
— Bart Howes, First Captain of Readsboro Volunteer Fire Department

There was a way the company could help, so they whisked off one of 18 vehicles being retired from their U.S. east region fleet to the town located in Bennington County.

Bart Howes, First Captain of Readsboro Volunteer Fire Department, couldn’t be happier.

“Having a dedicated piece of apparatus fully loaded and ready to respond eliminates the need for personal vehicles and saves critical time where every minute can save lives,” says Bart.

Waterford’s rescue truck was in dire need of replacement

Elsewhere in the state, the Waterford Fire Department also benefitted from receipt of a retired TransCanada vehicle. Its only rescue truck, used to respond to incidents along two major interstate highways and equipped with the ‘jaws of life’ for vehicle extrication, was in dire need of replacement.

Their current rescue vehicle had been a 1984 model and there were no municipal funds available to replace it.

In addition to these donations, TransCanada also recently donated nine other vehicles required for emergency response purposes across New England, representing a whopping 20 per cent of communities served in its U.S. east region.

• In the town of Cornish, N.H., the highway department will use their TransCanada vehicle to check roads more often and respond faster to incidents
• Eustis and neighboring Maine communities will use their vehicle for emergency response — allowing for shuttling more fire personnel to incident scenes
• The Northwest Massachusetts Incident Management Team has responded to catastrophes, such as Superstorm Sandy, and supports snow removal in the eastern part of the state with a new vehicle that transports key equipment in a single vehicle that can be used by any team member
• Plainfield, N.H., desperately needed a new administrative/police service vehicle to replace their current unit that required a complete rebuild, and today they are using their donated vehicle for police enforcement as well as non-emergencies within the community
• Monroe, N.H., Fire Department says its new vehicle will give it options to meet additional challenges in their department that is made up of 16 dedicated community members

“Most towns don’t have up to $40,000 to buy a truck . . . ”

“These vehicles undergo thorough safety inspections to ensure road worthiness. They are well-maintained and still have a lot of life left in them.”
— Matthew Cole of TransCanada’s U.S. East Region’s community relations

“Our vehicles are being used primarily to replace old worn out vehicles still in municipal service,” explains Matthew Cole of TransCanada’s U.S. East Region’s community relations.

“Most local towns don’t put a lot of miles on a vehicle, especially a fire department that has between 30 to 100 calls per year, with most of these five miles or less in distance,” Matthew adds.

“And most towns don’t have up to $40,000 to buy a truck, so these fit the bill nicely for them.”

TransCanada’s hydroelectric facilities on the Connecticut and Deerfield Rivers consist of hydroelectric stations and associated storage reservoirs and dams located in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts, in addition to operation of the Kibby wind power facility in Maine.

Community residents and visitors are able to enjoy the 30,000 acres of land associated with the hydro facilities. The facilities are managed to ensure safe public access and recreation and the protection of natural resources.

Natural shore frontage and uplands, hunting and fishing, trail corridors for hiking and cross country skiing as well as snowmobiling wind through the property, along with dozens of picnic areas are all provided to the public courtesy of TransCanada.