COLUSA, CA (MPG) – The Colusa City Council on May 6 approved the Colusa Fire Department’s acquisition of a 2007 Type 1 fire engine from California Office of Emergency Services surplus.
The Type 1 fire engine, a crucial asset for structural firefighting, will strengthen the department’s ability to respond to structure fires and provide mutual aid, said Fire Chief Logan Conley.
“It’s the sister engine to the one we have now, but it’s five years newer,” Conley said.
Conley and City Manager Jesse Cain went to Sacramento in April to look at the vehicle which OES was willing to sell for $40,000. Type 1 engines typically carry a large amount of water, between 500 to 1,000 gallons, which allows for extended firefighting operations without frequent refilling, officials said.
Aside from the department’s 2020 Type 6 engine, which is a compact apparatus, Conley said the city’s fleet is aging, and the addition of the 2007 Type 1 will satisfy a critical need for the city to enhance its pumping and ladder capability to maintain the fire department’s insurance rating.
The OES surplus vehicle has about 3,000 engine hours and 179 hours on the pump.
“It’s lightly used,” Conley said.
Conley said this purchase is only an interim solution to building an adequate firefighting fleet, but it will give the city more time to purchase a new engine, as recommended by National Fire Protection Association standards, which could cost between $700,000 and $1 million. The city’s 2002 ladder truck, although excessively used and repaired, is still in working order so the surplus engine is not a “replacement” vehicle.
“My goal is to bring us up to where we can comfortably send engines to repairs or have the convenience over the summer when we are providing mutual aid and strike teams that we have sufficient pumping and ladder capabilities here in the city,” Conley said.
City Manager Jesse Cain said he was initially skeptical about the acquisition of surplus equipment. However, he received assurances from the state that the fire engine is in excellent working condition.
“This isn’t your typical surplus vehicle… Cain said. “I was impressed when I went down there on what they do on these trucks.”
With paint, striping, and miscellaneous equipment, the total cost to put the OES Type 1 engine into service will be about $60,000 and come from the Colusa Fire Departments’ capital improvement fund, officials said.