New Fire Apparatus is Placed in Service at DCFD
January 2, 2012
On April 19th of this year, the City Commission gave the go-ahead to purchase a new fire apparatus. There was money allocated in the Municipal Equipment Replacement Fund (MERF) to purchase this much-needed piece of equipment for the fire department when the 2011 budget was approved in August of 2010,
The Commission approved the bid from Pierce Manufacturing Inc./Conrad Fire of Olathe, Kansas, in the amount of $404,178.00; however, negotiated discounts brought the actual cost to $388,357.00 under a lease-purchase agreement. Soon after the contract was signed, construction of the fire apparatus began.
“It was a very interesting process as we were able to see the progress of the fire apparatus being built,” stated Fire Chief Kevin Norton. “They sent us weekly pictures on-line so that we could see the entire process of building our fire apparatus from the ground up.”
The new fire apparatus replaces a 1990 Ford L9000 Smeal model that has 89,000 miles and 2,900 hours on it. There are a couple of options being considered at this time as to what should be done with the 1990 Ford model.
The fire apparatus arrived in Dodge City on Wednesday, December 7th. Since that time, the firemen have been receiving training on the specifics of all of the options placed on the new apparatus as well as equipping it with the necessary equipment.
“We are very pleased to have been able to add this new piece of equipment to our fleet,” said Norton. “This kind of investment will help us provide the fire service our growing community deserves.”
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