Central Fire reconsiders buying new fire truck
Sticker shock over the cost of a new fire truck has led members of the Central Fire and EMS District to reconsider the whole idea of buying a new vehicle.
Instead, based on the recommendation of board chairman Larry Oehmichen, board members are exploring the idea of paying a company in Las Vegas to refurbish one of their trucks at half the cost (or less) of purchasing a new one.
In fact, Oehmichen said the district may be able to get away with not even doing that for the time being.
At the board’s monthly meeting last Thursday, Oehmichen told the board about a recent business trip he took to Las Vegas, which he used as an opportunity to tour Fire Trucks Unlimited, a company that specializes in refurbishing fire trucks.
After speaking with the owner of this company, Oehmichen came away with the impression that the district may not have to buy a brand-new fire engine as originally planned.
Even before the district was formed in 2016, local firefighters have been talking about the need to purchase a newer model fire engine in order to comply with standards set by the National Fire Protection Association.
Under those guidelines, the first-out fire engine on any call should not be more than 20 years old. The district’s newest truck is a 2001 Pierce, so firefighters have been preparing to place an order with Pierce Manufacturing or another vendor in the next year or so.
However, after talking to the restoration specialist, Oehmichen believes the district’s current trucks are all “perfectly legal,” as long as they continue to pass annual DOT inspections and pumper tests.
District chief Joe Mueller agreed with Oehmichen’s assessment, noting that the NFPA guidelines for the first-out truck are just suggestions. Mueller said the trucks are all well maintained, and the issues they do have are minor ones that could be easily fixed.
“Right now, there isn’t any truck that we would have to send out there to refurbish,” Mueller said, referring to the Las Vegas company. “There just isn’t.”
The engine on the 2001 truck only has about 10,000 to 12,000 miles on it, and it always passes its DOT and pumper tests, Mueller said.
“I think we should look at restoring or running what we’ve got for another three or four or five years,” Oehmichen said.
The Las Vegas company has three levels of restoration, ranging in price from $100,000 to $300,000, and the turnaround time is six months, Oehmichen said.
In contrast, Mueller said a new fire engine from Pierce is estimated to cost $596,000 and take nearly a year to complete because of a backlog of orders at the Wisconsin-based company.
Mueller and a few other firefighters recently toured the Pierce Manufacturing plant in Appleton and learned about several of the improved features on the newer model trucks.
Board members seemed immediately receptive to Oehmichen’s idea.
“I think that’s the best news I’ve heard all year,” said Abbotsford representative Roger Weideman, though he wanted the board to defer to the firefighters themselves on what direction to go.
Mueller said the firefighters are fine working with the trucks they have, if that’s what the board decides.
“It’s up to you guys,” he said. “We’ll work with whatever you guys want to give us to work with.”
When asked if he knows of any other fire districts or departments that have a first-out engine older than 20 years, Mueller said no, but he said the district already owns several used or rebuilt vehicles. Battalion chief John Austin said the Abbotsford station’s number one fire tender was rebuilt from the frame up before it was purchased.
Other business
_ The board held a lengthy discussion about insuring Abbotsford’s public safety building at a cost of $3,437, with the district picking up 68 percent of that cost ($2,337) and the city paying 32 percent (about $1,100). No votes were taken. A full article about this subject will appear in next week’s edition.
_ Weideman told the board that the owner of the mobile home court in Abbotsford has agreed to put up bigger signs on each lot so firefighters and EMTs can more easily find individual mobile homes. A map of the mobile home court has also been provided to the district.
_ The board approved an emergency order allowing Oehmichen and one other board member to approve expenses as necessary if board meetings in April and May are not possible due to COVID-19 restrictions.
_ The board approved an expenditure of up to $2,000 to put up a new repeater tower in Dorchester.
_ The board approved a $14 per hour probationary pay rate for newly hired members of the EMT day crew who may not be able to fully participate in ambulance runs until they receive more training and experience. The length of the probationary period will be decided by at least two members of the district’s leadership team, and after it is completed, the EMT will be paid $16 per hour like the rest of the day crew.
_ Theboardapprovedamotiontotransfer $500,000 from the district’s savings account into a money market account at AbbyBank, which will allow the district to earn about $600 more per month in interest. The transfer is contingent on there being no time limits or other restrictions on accessing the money.
_ Mueller told the board that EMTs are taking precautions against the possible spread of COVID-19 from patients who need an ambulance ride. If an EMT is proven to have been exposed to a patient with the virus, he said they will have to be quarantined for two weeks, which raises the question of whether the district needs to cover their wages during that time.
“I think you have to pay them,” he said.
Board members said they would look into whether that would be covered by the district’s workman’s comp policy.
_ After meeting in closed session, the board approved a salary of $800 per month for EMT battalion chief Travis Nixdorf, who will be working at a rate of $20 per hour for 40 hours a month. He was previously being $150 per month plus $20 per hour for his work at the district.
