One of Franklin’s fire engines will be heading for a complete refurbishment and equipment upgrade sometime this fall — a move that could give it another 15 years of service for the city.
City Council recently approved $240,752 refurbishment of Engine 16, the Fire & EMS Division’s 1995 Pierce fire engine, pending a full mechanical inspection of the vehicle. Fire Chief Jonathan Westendorf said if the fire engine passes that inspection, it will go through the refurbishment that is expected to take about three months after it’s received by the manufacturer.
Westendorf told council that officials believe the vehicle is mechanically sound, but many of the vehicle’s components are showing age and deterioration from 20 years of heavy use. He said refurbishing the fire truck could add 10 to 15 more years of service to the city.
“We feel there’s still a lot of value in this truck,” he said. “The truck has to be upgraded per NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) regs (regulations). It can’t be released back to the city without the required upgrades.”
Westendorf said refurbishing the truck would be more cost effective as it costs $475,000 to $500,000 to buy a new fire truck and that it would take about 12 months to have it delivered to the city. He said all of the fire trucks in Franklin’s fleet average about 20 years of age as the city has kept up on vehicle maintenance.
The city is also saving some money, about $8,000, as it is pre-paying the full amount for the refurbishment work.
During the refurbishment, there will be upgrades made to the major systems including the chassis; the interior cab and seating configuration that will include EMS equipment compartments; bodywork to include removing and re-configuring the rear of the truck to add compartment space and ladder racks, repairing a 4-inch body lean and removing water tank; inspecting and rebuilding the pump systems; working on the electrical system and low voltage lights, installing 12-volt scene lighting around the truck, upgrading the emergency warning systems to comply with NFPA requirements; and repainting and re-striping the vehicle.
Westendorf said the Division of Fire & EMS has already applied for a $500,000 federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant that would pay for 95 percent of the costs to replace the 1991 heavy rescue truck. He told council that the grant application is still pending and would be used to purchase a new combined rescue/fire engine that could be used for rescues and fire suppression.
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