Huntington’s new green fire truck isn’t just a head turner, it’s also a symbol of the proud partnership between the city and the university.
There’s a new truck in town on the corner of 20th Street and Sixth Avenue in Huntington. The state-of-the-art fire engine at University Fire Station No. 2 can hold 750 gallons of water and discharge 1,500 gallons per minute. With its short wheelbase and tight turning radius, it can easily navigate the city’s narrow, often hilly streets. It’s everything you’d look for in a new fire engine — unless you’re looking for fire-engine red.
“We were getting ready to order a new fire truck for our university fire station, and we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a kelly green truck?’” said Huntington Fire Chief Jan Rader. “The firefighters that work there are very proud of Marshall University. They consider it an honor to work at that station. As soon as they heard the idea, they loved it.”
Also on board immediately were Marshall President Jerry Gilbert and Huntington Mayor Steve Williams.
“A love of Marshall runs deep in this community,” said Rader. “Marshall means everything to Huntington, and Huntington means everything to Marshall. When the plane crash happened, it brought our community together in a way that’s very different from other places.”
Rader is, of course, one of Huntington’s most famous and renowned citizens. In 2017, she became the state’s first professional female fire chief. That same year she was featured in the Oscar-nominated Netflix documentary Heroin(e) that examined West Virginia’s opioid epidemic. In 2018, she was recognized for her relentless and innovative work combating the epidemic when she was named to the TIME 100 — a list of the 100 most influential people in the world. And earlier this year she was named the American Legion’s National Firefighter of the Year.
After determining the specs and capabilities of the new fire truck, Rader said the firefighters at Station No. 2 were tasked with choosing the Marshall logos that would appear on the new vehicle. Their only request? An image of a football helmet with the number 75 on it, representing the 75 Thundering Herd players, coaches and fans who were killed in the 1970 plane crash.
“I think it speaks volumes that the men and women who put their lives on the line day in and day out wanted to pay tribute to those who came before them,” said Rader.
Likewise, for the Herd fans who spot the truck around town or stop by the station to see it up close and personal, the kelly green truck represents more than just the newest pop of green on the city’s skyline.
“This truck is a commitment by the city to recognize Marshall and honor the 75 who perished in the plane crash,” said President Gilbert. “It’s a beautiful truck, and we’re so proud of it when we see it driving around the city.”
To Rader, the truck is a symbol of partnership, not only in the years following the crash but also amidst today’s challenges. In the fall of 2014, when the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy was established to address the region’s overwhelming opioid crisis, Rader said she saw the city and university unite in a way she had seen once before — as a 5-year-old girl, watching the two communities grieve as one in the fall of 1970.
“I believe the way this community came together to deal with grief after the crash has made us better equipped to deal with what we’re facing today,” said Rader, who serves in the Office of Drug Control Policy with retired police chief Jim Johnson and criminal intelligence analyst Scott Lemley. “There’s certainly a parallel there. Mayor Williams established this office — the first time such an office had ever been established at a city level — and said, ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’ve got to do something.’ So, we started reaching out. And, of course the first place we reached out to was the university.”
Rather than turn a blind eye to the struggles of its community, Rader said that Marshall faced the crisis head-on. Since 2014, the medical school, pharmacy school and nearly every department within the university have collaborated in research, harm reduction, prevention and other efforts. Recently, Marshall partnered with West Virginia University and organizations throughout the state to host the WVSSAC-MVB Bank Opioid Awareness Summit on Sept. 17 and 18, focusing on awareness, prevention and statewide collaboration.
“It’s difficult to say where Marshall University ends and the Huntington community begins,” said Gilbert. “All of us — our faculty, our students, the entire Marshall family — have a responsibility to assist our community in any way we can.”
The spirit of partnership is making a measurable difference, Rader said.
“Huntington and Marshall University have a synergistic effect on each other. We enhance each other,” she explained. “Without partnerships, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have, which is that the number of overdoses in this community has come down considerably. No other part of the country is seeing that number drop as much as we are. And it is completely because of partnerships. I’m so thankful that we have the leadership that we do in this community and at the university, who are willing to admit that we have a problem and deal with it.”
It’s only fitting, then, that as the kelly green fire engine joins in on the fun at parades and other events, serves the needs of the Huntington community and responds to emergencies at and near Marshall’s campus, it does so as a symbol that we’re all in this together — in good times and bad.
“From start to finish, it’s been wonderful working with the firefighters, the university and the truck manufacturer to make this happen,” said Rader. “Even when we went to the Spartan manufacturing facility to look at the truck and make sure the specs were what we needed, they expressed to us what an honor it was to work on something that meant so much to a community.” 
Katherine Pyles is a freelance writer and editor living in Huntington.
Photos: (From top)
Marco shows his enthusiasm for the new kelly green fire engine.
Huntington Fire Chief Jan Rader spearheaded the idea to purchase a green fire truck for the station that serves Marshall University.
The Huntington Fire Department has a staff of 95 firefighters at six stations. Among those in leadership are, from left, front row: Captain Eddie Sexton, Chief Jan Rader, Private Caleb Robbins, Private Jeremy Pitsenbarger and Lieutenant Bobby Culp; back row: Deputy Chief Ray Canafax, Deputy Chief Chris Wilson and Captain Mat Winters.
In his remarks, Marshall President Jerome A. Gilbert stated the union between the university and Huntington is seamless.
Huntington Mayor Steve Williams partners often with Jan Rader in community development, whether it be acquiring a new fire truck or working with the Office of Drug Control Policy.
Firefighters from the university fire station were adamant about one part of the new fire engine design — that it prominently feature an image of a football helmet with the number 75, representing the 75 Thundering Herd players, coaches and fans who died in the 1970 plane crash.
Jan Rader thanks Huntington leaders involved in acquiring the new fire truck.
Jan Rader and President Gilbert have formed several successful partnerships between the city and the university over the years.