Sierra Pacific Industries donates forklift to Quincy Fire

Thanks to Sierra Pacific Industries’ Quincy plant, the Quincy Volunteer Fire Department received a much needed piece of equipment for their training facilities located at the fire station on Lawrence Street — the 1980s Taylor Eagle forklift is capable of lifting up to 25,000 pounds.

SPI Plant Manager Matthew Taborski said the company had been updating its forklift fleet at the mill which resulted in a surplus of some older, but very well-maintained units. Having been born and raised in Quincy, Taborski said he was well aware of the Quincy Volunteer Fire Department, how it operates and what its sustained commitment means to the community. He also understands the importance of the department’s training facility so when he learned about the department’s interest in acquiring one of the mill’s surplus forklifts he said making this a donation was an easy decision. “The Fire Department and its volunteers mean so much to this community. As the town’s major private-sector employer, SPI will always be here to help them and other organizations whenever we can,” Taborski said.

Fire Chief Robbie Cassou said the forklift will be used at the department’s training facility. “We can’t thank Sierra Pacific enough for donating this forklift to our department. With our limited space at Station 1, we are constantly having to move equipment, especially during our regional Fire Academy and Tuesday training nights. This forklift will be really useful moving the wrecked vehicles that are donated and used frequently for our auto extrication training. It will really help us become safer and more efficient in so many ways, we’ll certainly put it to good use,” he said.