Lake Hallie (WQOW)- A local fire department thinks it's time for a new fire truck. The Chippewa Fire District in Lake Hallie says it wants to trade in two trucks that are more than 20 years old and replace them with a brand new one that would cost around $500,000. But that truck would be able to do the jobs it currently takes two trucks to do.
"Like driving your 20 year old car, there's been updates in technology," says Chippewa Fire District Inspection Chief John Andersen. "We try to replace the engines every 20 years.
The Chippewa Fire District says its first priority was getting new ambulances to replace old ambulances. Now that that's been checked off the bucket list, it can focus on getting a new fire truck. The plan is to put one new truck out on the road and take two off.
"We have an engine that is used in car accidents and medical emergencies, things like that," Andersen explains. "One of the engines is used on structure fires. So what we are hoping to do is take the tools off our rescue engine and put it on one engine. So we'll lose one truck and the other truck will go into reserve."
As you can imagine, the technology in fire trucks is much better now than it was 20 years ago. And the fire department says it's time to take advantage of it.
"The breaking systems are all different. You have stability control now. You have roll-over protection in the cab. You have airbags," Andersen points out. "Instead of using mechanical switches, we are using electronics. Just the ability to handle more situations, they've come a long, long way."
The Chippewa Fire District says it has budgeted for a new truck. But in order to purchase the new addition, it first needs to get permission from the Fire Board of Directors.
The board has called a special meeting for August 2nd and will most likely make a decision at that time.
