Mineola council OKs $848,000 fire truck

By Phil Major
publisher@wood.cm
Posted 4/27/23

Mineola City Council gave the go-ahead Monday to purchase a new $848,000 tanker-pumper for the fire department.

Fire Marshal David Madsen gave a detailed look at the department’s fleet and …

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Mineola council OKs $848,000 fire truck

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Mineola City Council gave the go-ahead Monday to purchase a new $848,000 tanker-pumper for the fire department.

Fire Marshal David Madsen gave a detailed look at the department’s fleet and its needs.

He said fire truck prices are escalating rapidly. The pumper the department bought in 2009 for $400,000 would cost $700,000 today.

The truck the department is looking at will soon increase another $120,000 when the Cummins engine being used now is phased out.

The department has also been studying the need for an aerial truck for several years, with the cost ($1.8 million) and the inability to house it at the fire station the two main impediments.

By replacing two trucks, a 1996 pumper and a 2004 rescue truck, the aerial truck could be housed.

The need for an aerial will increase in coming months as a new four-story hotel and six three-story apartment buildings are added to the south side of town.

Madsen said the historic downtown area is also a concern. A ladder truck was brought in from Tyler for a 2000 fire that destroyed two buildings, which helped limit the fire to those two structures.

After discussion, City Manager Mercy Rushing suggested the city ask the county for financial assistance for an aerial truck since it would be the first to be called should there be a fire at the county courthouse.

Madsen said the closest aerial truck is in Lindale, and no Wood County departments have one.

Recommendations on how to pay for the pumper include using some of the fire truck reserve fund of $160,000 as a down payment and financing the balance for 20 years.

The $52,000 the city receives from the county for fire fighting would go toward the estimated $68,000 annual payment.

A truck that could be sold or traded in is also part of the package.

The payments could begin next year, though the truck would not be ready for delivery for two years.

Madsen noted that prior to the pandemic and the manufacturing-related issues, trucks could be delivered in six months.

Orders for aerial trucks are as long as three years out.

Recommended life for a fire truck is 25 years, Madsen said, but expects the new one to be in service for at least 30.