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By Julia Lovett-Squires

Fire Pumper

New fire truck in the works for NBFD

May 28, 2024 | 5:03 PM

A new pump truck is coming to North Battleford Fire Department.

During the City Council’s Monday night meeting, Lindsay Holm, fire chief said the joint tender process with the City of Swift Current, authorized by council in February has yielded results.

“The purchase price of these vehicles has come back significantly higher than what we had forecasted in terms of the costing of the truck,” he said.

The departments received two tenders – one from Commercial Truck Equipment Company and the other one from Rocky Mountain Pheonix. He explained that the previous engine they bought was roughly $760,000. This new pumper will be close to $1.6 million.

“As a matter of fact, we had used our old spec as our starting point when we were looking at buying this vehicle so, it has leaped up well, more than what I was expecting and could reasonably predict.”

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The specs for a Rosenbauer custom 4×4 top mount enclosed pumper were modified to include a 4×4 feature for better weather handling, one hose load and a decontamination station for the firefighters.

“Realistically, when we look at the cost of those options, they are less than what the environmental charges are to build a firetruck,” he said of the $75,000 EPA charge that wasn’t on the previous purchase.

“The other thing I’d like to point out to council and members of the public when they’re looking at the increase of that price, these builds are of significant lengths of time,” said Holm.

It took the company two years to complete Engine 21 from the date of order to delivery. That truck has now been in service for three years.

“It really is taking into account the cost of inflation through that probably more important on an industrial price index as opposed to a consumer price index,” he said.

The total price tag on the truck is $1,553,979. The joint tender was also approved by the Swift Current council and so, the tender – awarded to Rocky Mountain Phoenix – will proceed.

Councillor Greg Lightfoot said he found the jump in price frustrating. He explained that others like operations department trucks are less than $500,000 and their specs are just as good.

“It just blows my mind and it really, really frustrates me that we only have three or four manufacturers to build these things,” he said, adding they can set the price.

“It just goes to show that some of the costs that we’re coming up with regards to capital investment is going to be astronomical in the next three, five, 10 years and it’s going to be hard for the taxpayer to swallow this,” of the two-axle truck.

Mayor David Gillan said that the costs are such that they may look to capitalizing a piece of equipment – noting an estimated cost of one aerial truck is $4 million.

“It’s just an option you have to think about – $4 million, by the time we get there and whenever that date is, we need to replace that, I don’t know if our tax base can handle even anything we put away,” he said.

“It may have to be partially debt financed or totally debt financed just to leverage it out for the taxpayer.”

Councillor Kelli Hawtin said they may look to other communities in the region to help support a purchase that size.

“We’ve got three fire services within about a 10 kilometre distance here,” she said.

“We’re all looking at needing equipment – ladder trucks specifically – is probably one of those units that’s need for the region.”

She said rural municipalities have grain elevators and the Town of Battleford has condominiums.

“These are pieces of equipment and services that people in a large area need and if we can pool together our resources, we can get much more cost effective for all taxpayers.

Lightfoot said he was concerned with firefighter security in the future.

“I really believe that the International Firefighters’ Association has to come up with a better way to evaluate these trucks’ future because a 20-year-old truck that’s only got 11-12,000 kilometres on it, virtually looks like brand new – all the firefighters we’ve got would have no trouble taking that truck down the highway and servicing any community in this area if they needed it, but yet we’re being forced to take it off the road in a number of years.”

Holm, for his part, agreed.

“It’s something that I can tell you that is going to be coming up at our Saskatchewan Association of Fire Chiefs Convention because the City of North Battleford isn’t the only municipality that’s being affected by this,” he said.

“It will have some good discussion with our board of directors.”

Holm explained that they are also working on bringing it forward to the province.

“You’re 100 per cent right Councillor that the costs of the capital purchases within the fire stations is very, very high and you have to look of the sustainability of it in the future,” he said.

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julia.lovettsquires@pattisonmedia.com

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