TEXARKANA, Texas - The Fire Department has ordered a new pumper truck at a cost of $635,000, but it will not be ready for service for almost a year.
Metro Fire Apparatus Specialists Inc. will custom build the new truck to order, a process expected to take about 11 months, TTFD Chief Eric Schlotter said. Most of the manufacture will take place in South Dakota, and Metro will finish the truck in Houston. The pumper will be assigned to Fire Station Nine on Summerhill Road.
The pumper will feature a number of improvements over the 2006 model it will replace. That older truck will be assigned to TTFD's reserve fleet, where it is expected to remain in service for about 10 more years. The city will sell an early 1990s model pumper now in the reserve fleet.
A heavy duty custom chassis is expected to reduce maintenance cost, and the truck's wheelbase - the shortest of any vehicle in the TTFD fleet - will make it maneuverable. Ninety percent of its parts can be purchased after-market, as opposed to available only from the manufacturer, which also will keep maintenance expenses low.
The truck's tank will hold 750 gallons of water, 50% more than the current truck's 500-gallon capacity. In many fire scenarios, pumper trucks begin putting water on a fire immediately upon arrival, while larger trucks set up and connect hoses to hydrants. The new truck's larger water capacity will allow it to do so for a longer time. TTFD also uses pumpers in situations, such as car fires on Interstate 30, where hydrants are not available.
The new truck's maximum pumping capacity will be 1,500 gallons per minute, but the typical rate during normal use is 125 gallons per minute per line, Schlotter and Assistant Chief Chris Black said.
Improved safety features include airbags and seats that do not absorb smoke or other carcinogenic contaminants from firefighters' protective clothing.
Metro will completely finish the new truck, installing all tools and equipment so it is ready to use upon the delivery. That was not the case with previous fire trucks purchased, which were unusable for up to six months after delivery as TTFD personnel worked to install equipment themselves, Schlotter said.
TTFD officers will inspect the truck at a couple of points in the manufacturing process and keep the public up to date on its progress via Facebook, Black said.
Payment for the truck will come from the city budget's capital replacement fund, which was instituted with a $1 million starting balance in 2009. The city invests large sums in the fund each year to cover maintenance and replacement costs for the entire vehicle fleet, including police cruisers and heavy road equipment.
The Fiscal Year 2020 budget approved by the City Council in September transferred $1.7 million from the general fund into the capital replacement fund. After about $2 million of expenditures from the fund this year, staff projects an end balance of $2.8 million.
Such planned expenditures are much preferable to constantly worrying about finding a funding source for new fire trucks or resorting to financing through bonds, which can result in an "upside down" situation, debt service that exceeds a vehicle's worth.
Black said he is thankful to the city and its citizens for their "good stewardship" of the Fire Department's vehicles and equipment.