Sleepy Hollow Firefighters Debut New Truck

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. – The new Sleepy Hollow fire truck is hard to miss — especially with a glowing, fiery pumpkin on the back. “It's reflective, so it actually looks like it's coming at you,” Fire Chief John Korzelius said. “It's a big attraction. We were driving around Wisconsin and people were stopping us.” The new $618,000 fire truck was delivered to the fire department headquarters on Beekman Avenue late last week so that firefighters could mark where they wanted to put their equipment and tools, Korzelius said. A final upcoming inspection in Carmel, N.Y., will make sure that everything has been done to specifications. The 49,800 pound vehicle has a seven-man cab and there is a 500-gallon water tank. In addition to pumping water, it will also hold the department's vehicle-extrication machine to be used in car accidents. Sleepy Hollow firefighters showed off the new truck at the Halloween block parties last weekend. Firefighters will train on the vehicle for about a month before it comes into service, Korzelius said. “It's beyond our expectations actually,” Korzelius said. “It just came out so much better than we originally thought. Even when we were looking at pictures, the pictures don't do it justice. It's a well-built truck and we're just absolutely thrilled with it.” The new truck is black and orange, a tribute to the former North Tarrytown High School. It also has several illustrations of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Korzelius praised the work of the fire truck consultants, who made sure everything was up to specifications and suited to Sleepy Hollow's needs. “It was money well spent for us,” he said.