Don’t be surprised if you see a bright pink truck out on an oilfield site. It was painted that colour by Fire Power Oilfield Firefighting as a way for the company to give back to the community.
Every time the pink fire truck is dispatched, two per cent of the proceeds will be set aside for the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital Foundation. Fire Power owner Louise Rupertus says her late husband Al always hated its original colour, and she’s wanted to paint it pink for years.
“I talked about it ever since Al passed for the last two years, and I decided walking through [the shop]. I said, ‘this truck needs painting.’ Well, that’s the one Al wanted to paint. I said, ‘well, you know what? It’s going pink!”
Marketing and Sales Manager Liz Rintamaki came up with the idea of finding sponsors and donating a portion of future billings to charity. There are nine sponsors that signed on, and Rupertus says she had to turn down others. She’s also already getting demand for the pink truck.
“The few that knew that it was coming, they want the pink truck on their location. We might have to paint a second one or third!”
The colour pink is appropriate as Rupertus beat breast cancer in 1999. Al lost his own battle with cancer in 2016. Rupertus says it’s her way of being involved in the community.
“It’s special to be in the community and I always said before I died there’s going to be a pink truck and there she is, my dream come true.”