BRISTOL — The Bristol Fire Department is better equipped to fight forest fires, thanks in part to the Carter Insurance Agency in Bristol and one unusual source: Addison County drivers.
Safeco Insurance’s RightTrack Program offers discounts to customers who plug a small device into their vehicles to monitor driving habits for 90 days. The program can save drivers money on their premiums and reduce costs for insurance companies.
Eric Carter of Carter Insurance had great success with the RightTrack Program last year. Addison County drivers led the state in program enrollment, which saved Carter’s agency 14 percent and earned them a SafeCo Award: $500 Carter could donate to any qualifying organization.
The Bristol Fire Department seemed like the logical choice, Carter said.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve seen the trucks roll in to respond to one thing or another,” Carter said.
The gift, combined with other donations, made possible the purchase of 10 forestry firefighting backpack pumps, replacing aging and worn-out equipment, Bristol Fire Chief Brett LaRose explained. Refitting and updating the backpacks, which enable firefighters to take water with them on foot into terrain where trucks and other apparatus can’t go, was a priority for the department after using such backpack pumps to successfully douse blazes on Hogback Mountain and Hardscrabble Road last year.
The equipment arrived near the end of January.
“A UPS truck pulled up to the town office and unloaded this giant pile of boxes,” said Carter, whose agency is located across the street from Holley Hall.
When Chief LaRose arrived to pick them up, he happened to see Carter in the window of his offices on South Street. They both knew what was in those boxes. From across the street Chief LaRose gave Carter a big thumbs up.