Catoosa to buy new fire engine at discounted price
The Catoosa County Fire Department will soon have a new vehicle in its fleet after county commissioners approved the purchase of a discounted fire engine during their Aug. 6 meeting.
During the meeting, Fire Chief Randy Camp explained that his staff has come across a well-priced truck the department could really use.
“We ran across a really good deal,” Camp said. “It’s a demo model that they use to show other departments what the truck would look like, so they offered a pretty good price on it. The truck has been priced at 358,600 and it’s from Triton Emergency Vehicles. The apparatus sells normally for $409,000.”
Camp explained that the truck has approximately 4600 miles on it, a 1500 gallon-per-minute pump, a 500-gallon booster tank, and a stainless steel body.
“The stainless steel body makes it worth even a little more — most of the trucks are aluminum or galvanized steel,” Camp said. “The stainless steel definitely has longer longevity to it.”
The new engine will be used to replace Engine 1, which currently has 101,000 miles on it.
Camp explained that in addition to the miles on a vehicle, he and staff also consider the number of hours the vehicles are used in the field.
“What we really look at in the fire service is the hours,” Camp said. “A lot of times the apparatus responds and just sits there and pumps, or it’s on a call or wreck for a couple of hours. Ours has 7,069, which if you calculate on a diesel engine times 60 — that motor has the equivalent of having 424,000 miles on it.”
Camp added that the older engine would be used for training so to not put so many miles on the newer trucks.
“This would come out of the 2014 SPLOST funds allocated for vehicles and equipment,” Camp said. “What’s left in the 2014 SPLOST is $977,414.”
Camp pointed out that most of fire engines in the current fleet are 2008 models and said he’d like to buy newer ones in the future at a clip of every other year to stagger the ages.
“The dilemma we’ve run into is that everything is aging at the same time, so our ladders are getting up in years too,” Camp said. “Those are things we’ll have to look at, and those are also things that are allocated in the 2019 SPLOST. Once that 2019 SPLOST cycle comes, we’ll stay in really good shape.”
When asked about the life expectancy of the vehicle, Camp explained the most fire engines have a about a 10-year shelf life.
“Typically 10 years is what they recommend — somewhere between eight and ten — then refurbish the apparatus and put it in reserve for another four or five (years),” Camp said. “But again, a lot of that depends on the use of the apparatus.”
The board unanimously approved the purchase 5-0 and Camp says the new truck will reside permanently at Fire Station 1 in Ringgold.
Spencer Hogg has joined the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority as the economic development project manager.
Spencer is a resident of Chattooga County and graduate of the University of Georgia.
Prior to joining the JDA he was employed by the United States House of Representatives, serving in multiple constituent service roles for Congressman Jody Hice and Congressman Tom Graves.
Melissa Skinner, a recent graduate from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, interned with the NWGAJDA and Top of Georgia during her last year of college. She will now expand her role to the administrative assistant for the JDA and as the marketing specialist for Top of Georgia.
Top of Georgia enhances the marketing efforts of the Joint Development Authority and allows private individuals and companies to contribute and enhance the economic well-being of the greater Northwest Georgia area.
“We are proud to add Spencer to our team as well as expanding Melissa’s roles so that the Joint Development Authority is better able to serve Northwest Georgia while increasing economic activity in the region,” said Chip Catlett, chairman of the Northwest Georgia Joint Development Authority.