The Athens Fire Department is replacing a piece of frontline equipment with a new fire engine following approval at a city council meeting on Monday.
“We need good, safe, dependable equipment for us to do our jobs effectively,” firefighter Brook Bozeman said.
The new apparatus is a Pierce fire truck purchased from Siddons Martin Emergency Group to replace the 2008 model Fire Engine 2, at the North Athens Fire Station on Texas 19. The bid proposal for the truck and the equipment required to get it ready for service totaled more than $828,349.
Fire Engine 2 has been down for repairs and also failed the required annual pump certification test. The council had already budgeted for the new fire engine. The Pierce truck will be financed by U.S. Bankcorp Government Leasing and Finance, for a 10-year period at 2.97 percent interest.
Bozeman is a second-generation firefighter who has completed two years with AFD. He said one of the advantages of the Pierce truck is its military-style front-end suspension that makes it easier to climb a steep incline like the ones at the entrances of Burger King and Dairy Queen.
“You may not notice that in your vehicle that you drive every day, but the fire truck has a big bumper hanging out on the front end,” Bozeman said.
Bozeman said an apparatus committee met with officials from nine fire departments in Texas to confer about their respective apparatus.
Officials used several criteria to make the choice of a new fire engine. Those include service history, reliability, safety, functionality, cost benefit, warranty and location of service centers.
Fire Chief Russell Marshall said the fire engine is only one of the equipment issues he found after taking over the department.
“What I discovered was perplexing, astonishing and discouraging to have a city our size with overwhelming deficiencies in firefighting capabilities,” he said.
Bozeman presented an overview of equipment needs. The Quint 1 unit and Engine 2 are considered frontline equipment, he said. Engines 3 and 4 are reserve equipment. The reserve units are not sufficiently equipped.
In addition to the fire trucks, Bozeman said, 33 self-contained breathing apparatus cylinder units will come to the end of their 15-year service life this year. The department also needs updated extrication equipment.
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