Henry Raymond

Fairfax News => Current News & Events => Topic started by: PotterFXFD on February 24, 2009, 08:38:34 AM

Title: Saturday Article #4 / Fire truck
Post by: PotterFXFD on February 24, 2009, 08:38:34 AM
   On Saturday's town meeting one of the articles we will be voting on is money for a new tanker. Tankers are the life line of our fire department, with most of the town's houses being away from the hydrant system the tankers are what bring the water we need. We currently have 2 tankers on the road a 1985  and a 1995. We have had to park our third tanker the Silver Bullet a 1983 because it was no longer safe to have on the road. And have been told the 1985 has about 2yrs left before it will no longer pass inspection. We started looking into a new tanker 2yrs ago but have been putting it off because of the shaky economy. This year looks no better but we have put off the new truck as long as we can and still try to provide good fire coverage to the town. We have gotten quotes on new trucks ranging in price from $230,000 to $150,000, our plan is to spend as little as possible and still get a truck that will do the job.  Below is a list of our current truck, when they will need to be replaced and a guess at the cost at that time. 15-25 yrs is the average life of a fire service vehicle depending on number of calls a yr. 15 yrs ago when I joined the dept we may have run 40-50 call/year. Last year we ran 160 , I fully expect to run closer to 200 calls this year.

Engine # 1    2004    2029    $450,000
Engine # 2    1996    2021    $350,000
Utility  # 1    2003    2018     $175,000
Tanker #1   1995    2015      $225,000
Tanker #2   1985    2012      $205,000
Tanker #3   1983    2009      $200,000


  Feel free to stop at the station tonight to look over what we have for equipment. Or give me a call I will gladly answer any and all questions .
Chief Dean Potter, Fairfax Fire Dept.