City Council approves purchase of new wildland fire engine
The Marysville City Council unanimously approved the purchase of a type three wildland fire engine to replace one of the department’s older engines.
The new engine will cost $576,485 over a 10-year period with annual payments of $66,838 at a 2.78 percent interest rate. During Tuesday’s council meeting, Marysville Fire Department Chief Ron Karlen talked about the need for this purchase.
“This last fire season was pretty devastating for not just the people out there who were on the receiving end but for us and our equipment,” Karlen said.
MFD currently has two wildland fire engines, which are designed to assist in fighting wildfires. One is 27 years old and the other is 38 years old. Both were bought used, according to Karlen. The National
Fire Protection Association recommends that engines be retired after 20 years of service.
To replace the other engine, the city applied for a Community Development Block Grant, which is making its way through the approval process.
Karlen illustrated the wear and tear on the current wildland fleet by playing a video of one of the old engines trying to drive up a small hill while on a strike team this summer and the engine stopping and rolling back down the hill.
“Basically, we’re being told it’s a tired engine,” Karlen said.
Council member Brad
Hudson said during his time working at the fire department he experienced firsthand the engines having issues.
“It’s rather embarrassing when the fire department is broken down on the side of the road going to a call,” Hudson said.
Both old engines are difficult to maintain, are out of service for long periods, don’t have air bags or air conditioning, according to Karlen.
“During the Hollywood fire, both of these wildland engines were out of service at the same time, which was unfortunate,”
Karlen said. “So, we only had our quick attack vehicle to deploy which is the smaller vehicle.”
The department has an equipment replacement account that is made up of money the department gets from the state when it participates in strike teams during fire season. The money first goes into the city’s general fund and is then earmarked by the council to go into the equipment replacement account during the yearly budget process.
“If we can’t send an engine on strike teams during the summer then there’s a loss of revenue there, which was significant this year,” Karlen said.
The replacement account is projected to have a 2020/2021 fiscal year end balance of $548,450, according to Karlen.
“I think it’s a good project, I think it’s due for the fire department to get a replacement,” Mayor Ricky Samayoa said.
MFD Fire Inspector Andrew Hall said Thursday that it could take between six to 12 months for the new engine to get to the department depending on the backlog of the manufacturer that is based out of Florida.