The Oregon State Fire Marshal is awarding new fire engines to 76 fire agencies. Six of them are in Central Oregon.
The state is offering three different vehicles: type 3, type 6 and water tenders.
These are the Central Oregon Districts and what types of vehicles they are receiving:
- Bend Fire Department – Type 6
- Sisters/Camp Sherman Fire District – Type 3
- Cloverdale Fire District – Tender
- La Pine Rural Fire Protection District – Tender
- Jefferson County Rural Fire District #1 – Type 3
- Crooked River Ranch Rural Fire Protection District – Type 3
RELATED: 5-year, $65 million Bend Fire levy heading to May ballot
RELATED: Bend Fire hires 9 new firefighters in hopes of securing levy
The one that might benefit the most is the Cloverdale Fire District. The majority of the staff at this station are volunteers.
Chief Thad Olsen told us the new truck will replace Cloverdale’s 23-year-old recycled cement truck.
“In [the old truck’s] previous life, it was a cement mixer that was retired and we had it built up,” said Olsen. “This frees us up to be able to send something that’s reliable. It’s new. It’s safe.”
Cloverdale will get a Type 6 engine, which is more suited for wildland fires.
“All three of these apparatus help with all kinds of fire suppression. The ones that maybe more specialized to wild land fire would be the type 6 engines which are the smaller ones. They can get into a lot of places, but at the same time, all of them carry water,” said Alison Green, a public information officer with the Oregon State Fire Marshal.
Without this help from the fire marshal, this new engine would not be a possibility for Cloverdale.
“I’m imagining that it’s probably close to $400,000, and with our small budget, we couldn’t capture something like that,” said Chief Olsen.
The chief added staff will have an easier time driving the new truck since it will be an automatic transmission, instead of a manual like the cement truck.
The department told us they hope to accept the new engine by next summer. In the meantime, the 23-year-old truck will continue to be on the job.
