Pumper trucks don’t always come cheap.
But the one parked outside the Columbus City Hall on Tuesday morning, the latest addition to Columbus Fire and Rescue’s fleet, was not a cost the city had to bear.
Mayor Robert Smith and Fire Chief Martin Andrews, along with city council members Stephen Jones, Pierre Beard and other city officials, presented the new fire pumper truck at a Tuesday press conference outside the City Hall.
The cost of the truck, which was valued at $563,679, was covered by both federal and state funds, Smith said. The city applied for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant two years ago, which covered $318,183 of the cost, while the state’s insurance premium tax rebate funds paid for the rest.
The program, which dedicates a total of $4.85 million in tax revenue collected on fire insurance policies to fund fire-and-rescue-related expenses each year, allocates the money to counties and municipalities based on the size of the population, according to state law.
Andrews said his department receives roughly $125,000 to $130,000 each year. The money can be used to buy equipment such as fire hoses, fire trucks and field stations, he said.
“We are very grateful to be able to bring to you our 2019 fire engine … at no cost to the city,” Andrews said. “I’m very proud of my command staff and everyone at the Columbus Fire and Rescue who made it possible.”
The new 2019 model, built by E-One Emergency Vehicles and Rescue Trucks, is expected to last for 25 years, Andrews said. It will replace a 25-year-old truck, which will be reserved for future use in case a frontline pumper fails.
With the new truck, the city will now have nine fire trucks in service and two on reserve, Andrews said.
The new truck is the city’s first fire truck equipped with a GPS system, which allows the department to pinpoint the truck’s whereabouts, Andrews said.
“We can document where it goes,” Andrews said. “If something is wrong (with the truck), it will alert me on my cell phone.”
If the truck malfunctions or has certain parts that need to be replaced, Andrews said, local auto shops can also fix it at a lower cost.
“We could take it to a local vendor … and let them work on it instead of getting charged $125 an hour by an E-One representative,” he said.
The new truck will be able to seat six firefighters, he said. It can pump out 1,250 gallons of water per minute and already carries 750 gallons of water on board, whereas the old truck carries 500 gallons of water on board.
The truck will be put into service in one or two weeks, Andrews said, and it will be housed at the new Fire Station 4 near Airline Road.
“Just to have this truck here and to come at this time,” Andrews said, “we are very, very happy.”
Yue Stella Yu was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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