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Bashaw hoping to win replacement for town fire engine

Town places bid on used unit being auctioned by Camrose
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Council approved bidding on a City of Camrose fire truck being auctioned off as the town hopes to replace its aging fire engine. Image: City of Camrose

Bashaw may soon have a replacement for its current town fire engine.

Bashaw Fire Department Chief Jordan Lee came before council at its June 17 meeting and came away with a commitment for financial support in a bid on a used fire engine being auctioned off by the City of Camrose.

The fire engine is a 1992 Volve FE Tilt Cab diesel automatic triple combination pumper fitted with a 1050 gallon per minute pump along with a 500 gallon water tank and 25 gallon foam tank. It was being sold off through a closed bidding process.

The town’s current engine is a 1982 International and has endured a number of issues in recent years. The department has been working to find a replacement since it completed its fundraising for a new rescue truck last year.

Lee explained the availability of this truck, and at starting price of about $20,000, makes it a near perfect opportunity to purchase a new-to-them unit.

“Our current town engine has not passed its pump pressure tests and would need at least $8,000 in repairs with no guarantee of how long it would last,” he told council.

“The truck does fit in our hall and some of our members have trained on this unit in Camrose, so we are familiar with how it works and operates. It would be a shame to miss out.”

Lee added that a bid was made earlier this year on a $12,000 unit that was in worse shape than the Camrose truck, but the winning bid ended up around $19,000. The other bonus is the Camrose unit will come with ladders, a monitor and other equipment.

“I’m fairly confident that we can get (the unit) and if the town will cover the added funds, it will mean the firefighter’s fundraising can be used to purchase other tools and equipment,” he said, noting that fund is presently sitting around $11,000.

CAO Theresa Fuller told council $20,000 was approved in 2018 for fire department capital spending and that about $27,000 remains in a reserve specific to replacement of the town fire truck.

Coun. Darren Pearson suggested pulling any extra money for the bid from that reserve, followed quickly by Coun. Rob McDonald stating, “let’s buy a fire truck.”

A motion approving the bid was carried unanimously. However, it wasn’t known when the town would find out if the bid was successful.

Fire status report

Lee also provided council a brief update, noting the department has responded to a total of 15 calls in 2019 — nine of those in Camrose County — and that the members are looking into purchasing gas detection monitors for use during incidents.

“I’ve also put in a request to Camrose County that, instead of purchasing two new sets of bunker gear, we use that money to buy wildland firefighting coveralls,” he said.

Doing that would provide around 12 nomex fire-resistant coveralls to use during wildland/grass firefighting and mean a lot less effort expended having to fight these fires in bunker gear.