Brooklyn Park Approves Buying Two New Fire Engines
The Brooklyn Park Fire Department is getting two new fire engines. The identical trucks, costing just over $643,000 each, will replace two aging trucks which are getting too rusty in the frame rails.
A third-party consultant advised the fire department that the rust will get worse and require the 16-year-old trucks to be replaced. The good news is that the new trucks have better anti-rust coatings, which should help prevent that problem from happening again.
The two new engines will be identical pumper trucks built by CustomFIRE in Osceola, Wis. That’s a different company than the one that made the rusting trucks. The city will pay just over $500,000 right away out of the general fund, with the rest being financed via a 10-year lease. The city will own the trucks outright at the end of the lease.
The City Council voted Monday to approve buying the trucks. Brooklyn Park City Council member Mark Mata was the lone no vote. He felt one truck would be sufficient for now and said the second could be bought later if needed.
Mata also objected to replacing trucks built in 2004 when another truck that was built in 1999 and due for replacement last year would remain in the fleet. Fire Chief T. John Cunningham explained that the older truck is less likely to become unusable before the newer ones because of the newer trucks’ rust problem.
