Bella Vista City Council considers buying new fire truck

BELLA VISTA — The City Council discussed at a recent work session buying a fire truck to replace an aging one on loan from Benton County.

The Pierce Class A custom pumper, priced at $464,346, would take the place of a 2005 International, Councilman John Flynn said. The 2005 truck, he said, is on loan at no cost to the city aside from maintenance, but maintenance is becoming expensive.

Council member Jim Wozniak said the truck is one of several the county bought and distributed to several volunteer departments and small departments.

“They weren’t the best trucks,” he said, “and we’re talking 10 or more years ago.”

Deputy Fire Chief Bryan Wolfgang said the new truck would be assigned to Station 3 on Glasgow Road.

The old truck isn’t a proper fire truck, but a commercial truck outfitted with pumping apparatus. While it’s a capable truck, it wasn’t built for the kind of use the department puts it through, he said.

“It’s more designed for a volunteer department that runs a couple hundred calls a year in it, not like we use it,” he said.

In the past month, $1,600 has gone into upkeep, he said.

If the department owns its truck it can control its fleet more, he said.

“The county could call us tomorrow and pull that truck from us just like that,” Wolfgang said. In that scenario, he said, the department would need to use a 2003 Kenmore truck it has as a backup, meaning the city wouldn’t have a backup available.

If the department buys the new truck, he said, the county truck can be used as a reserve unit while the new truck will function as the primary unit.