Fire District 7 Upgrades Ageing Fleet
PRESS RELEASE
In 2021 and 2022 Fire District 7 has been able to make significant improvements to our aging apparatus fleet.
In 2021 the Board of Fire Commissioners budgeted to buy newer truck chassis to build into tenders. The plan was to take two newer water tanks currently on tenders already owned and place them on the new chassis. The district was able to buy three newer chassis and place the tanks on them. The 3rd chassis is going to be built from the ground up with an all-new tank and storage boxes. Two of the tender builds are complete and ready for the 2022 wildfire season. All tank remounting work has been completed by Randco Tanks in Kelso Washington. We’d like to thank them for the fast and quality work they have provided the district during these builds. These new tenders replace 40-year-old manual trucks, some of which were milk trucks in their past life.
In 2022 the Board of Commissioners budgeted money to buy new brush truck chassis. The plan was to take truck flat-beds and equipment already on current brush trucks and place them on these new chassis.
The district was able to buy four brand new Chevy 6500s with automatic transmissions. Due to the pandemic and supply shortages, the district received two 2021 chassis in February of 2022 and will receive two 2022 chassis in July of 2022. The two chassis already received will be in service by the end of June, just in time for wildfire season. These new brush trucks will replace 4 old DNR trucks that the district received from a grant. All four trucks had manual transmissions. The brush truck remounts are being done in-house using our fleet mechanic and assistant. We would like to thank them for their hard work and dedication to getting our apparatus up and running.
In 2021 and 2022 Fire District 7 also received a donation from Life Support I-90 of two new Ford F250 trucks. These trucks have been turned into rescue vehicles capable of providing a quick response to incidents and limiting the wear and tear on larger apparatus. All work on the trucks has been built in-house by our mechanic.
In 2023 the district is looking to order a new Type 1 Structural Engine, a much-needed upgrade for the district as the newest engine in the fleet is from 2005.