Fire departments set up truck loan across border

TEXARKANA — With its fleet of firefighting vehicles down by four under repair at once, the Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department has borrowed a reserve pumper truck from its Arkansas-side counterpart.

A variety of mechanical issues including brake problems and a malfunctioning motor reduced the Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department’s fleet of eight trucks — five front-line vehicles and three reserve — to four that are operable, prompting a call for help to the Texarkana, Arkansas, Fire Department, Texas-side Fire Chief Eric Schlotter said.

The Arkansas-side department was happy to help by lending one of its reserve vehicles, Arkansas-side Fire Chief David Fletcher said. The Arkansas department is left with two of its normal three reserve trucks, one of which itself is in need of work.

“That is kind of thin, but it’s not so thin that I wouldn’t help them out when we can, because you never know when we might have to reciprocate,” he said.

The Texarkana, Texas, Fire Department is fully operational, with all five fire stations staffed and ready to respond to emergencies, and residents will not see a difference in service, Schlotter said.

“It’s just a different vehicle, and most people don’t really pay attention to what color red the fire truck is that shows up,” he said. “It’s a fully capable vehicle just like any of our other reserves.”

The situation is somewhat unusual but not unheard of, both chiefs said. Schlotter said the situation was a matter of bad timing and noted that keeping such complex, heavy-duty vehicles in good repair is a continuous challenge.

“This isn’t the first time that things kind of stacked up on us. It always seems like Murphy’s Law, if it’s ever going to really jump on us, it’s with fleet issues,” he said. “Every fire department fleet that I know of deals with the same issues.”