Photo: Facebook / County of Grande Prairie

By Liam Verster

County Fire Service

New custom fire trucks will soon serve County of Grande Prairie

Nov 8, 2019 | 6:04 AM

Brand new, bigger, and better equipped fire trucks will soon be operating in Bezanson and La Glace.

County of Grande Prairie’s Regional Fire Service’s Chief, Dan Verdun, says the new trucks will replace two that are nearing the end of their service life.

“Through legislation, service life on fire trucks is dictated by multiple legislation and standards. Front line engines, the best practice is 15 years, and these trucks are both at that 15 year time frame, so that’s why we’re replacing these fire trucks.”

The new trucks, which will be custom built by the Canadian company Commercial Fire Equipment, will be bigger than the current trucks, with more room for the crew and more storage space for equipment. They will also have new technologies on board, like bigger electronic pumps and additional lighting. But what Verdun is most excited for is the updated safety features.

“What’s happened in the last 15 years, technologically, is that there’s been a lot of advancements in safety features. So an addition of multiple restraint systems, airbag systems, roll over protection, stability control, all of these things that we kind of take for granted in our personal vehicles, have now been enhanced in fire trucks.”

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Verdun went before County Council on Monday to ask for approval to go forward with the purchase, and the motion passed unanimously .

The procurement department will now go over the contract, make sure everything is in order, that the designs are built to withstand Grande Prairie weather and climate, and that all the necessary details are finalized.

The trucks cost $642,000 each, but Verdun says taxpayers don’t have to worry about footing the bill.

“We have reserve funding that takes care of this. So, when we buy a fire truck, 15 years ago, we start putting money away to pay for this eventual replacement. So the funds that are allocated to purchase these fire trucks are actually coming from a reserve fund.”

The trucks need to be manufactured, which Verdun says will take between 300 and 400 days, and he expects they will be ready and operational by the end of 2020.