Fire board approves two rescue truck pumpers

By Staff | May 4, 2016

John Wayne

The Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District has voted to purchase two fire pumper trucks. This comes after the arrival of new ambulances last week. But it will take more than 200 days before they arrive.

At the meeting held last Tuesday night, April 26, one of the new ambulances was fully equipped and waiting for a certificate to go online this week. It was blessed by the district’s chaplain in a ceremony outside Station 104 off of Sunshine Blvd. and W. 16th Street. The board and other members of the fire department watched as the chaplain blessed the new ambulance and offered a prayer for its future use and then joined the district’s chairman of the board and fire chief by sprinkling “holy water” on the ambulance’s exterior.

Meanwhile, the vote by the board was to authorize the purchase of two 2016 E-One Custom Rescue Pumpers by awarding to Hall-Mart RTC of Ocala, Fla.

Fire Chief John Wayne, who plans to retire in July, told the board the current engines to be replaced are “beyond a useful life” and that one of them was well over 10 years old.

The board had agreed some time ago to purchase new fire pumpers and money was budgeted for the purchase.

MEL TOADVINE One of the new ambulances for the Lehigh Acres Fire District that is expected to go into service this week. It was dedicated last week at Station 104, at 3102 S.W. 16th St., during a ceremony with Fire Chief John Wayne and Board President Cathy Kruze.

Actually, two of the class A pumpers are approaching the 20-year mark. Because the old ambulances have long exceeded their useful life, the purchase was agreed upon.

Because of this and the overall age of all of the other Class A pumpers in the District, the fiscal year 2015-2016 budget was approved by the board to include the purchase of two pumpers in the amount of $1,050,000 ($525,000 each).

According to the District the funding was approved from the Assigned Capital account in the 2015-2016 Budget.

A selection committee reviewed different manufacturers and their specifications and made several site visits to other departments using the various manufacturers to get live feedback and review the equipment in operation.

According to provided information in the agenda, the selection committee selected Hall-Mark RTC and the E-One Custom Rescue Pumper on a typhoon chassis as the best to meet the District’s needs. Delivery of the pumpers is 285 days after receipt of a purchase order by Hall-Mark RTC, which was expected to be made this week.

At the beginning of the meeting, the chief thanked the firefighters in Lehigh and other areas for helping to combat the 50-acre fire two weeks before in which one house was lost in the massive blaze. He noted that 11 other homes that were threatened were saved. A 15-year-old boy has been charged with felony arson in the case.

Board member Linda Carter urged the public to take this time to inspect the surroundings of their homes, especially those who live in or near a wooded area.

“This is the time to make sure your property is cleaned of brush and pine needles. She offered advice of preparing your property to survive a fire that may threaten your house and property.

The board was given copies of a color flyer to be distributed nationally for the job of Lehigh Acres fire chief. James Steffens of JTS Association was on hand to explain the flyer to board members.

Board President Cathy Kruze made some minor suggestions for the flyer and agreed with other board members that it looked good and Steffens promised to mail out the flyers this week.

Steffens also reminded the board that it needs to select three local community leaders to sit in on a review board for a new chief.

That effort should begin this week with the board contacting those in the community who would agree to be on the board, which is a screening method in suggesting the three top contenders to the board to interview to fill the chief’s position.

When Chief Wayne leaves in late June, the department will be without a fire chief.

This brought about a major discussion among board members as to who will operate the day-to-day business of the department.

Board members said it may take several months before a new chief is hired, but Steffens said he believed a new chief could be hired by mid-August and then it could take another four weeks for that person to make arrangements with his or her former employer to leave and move here.

Board President Kruze recommended going out of the fire department and hiring someone to run the department, but other members of the board disagreed, and after a lengthy discussion, it was decided to allow current battalion chiefs to step forward to help operate the fire district.

The agenda for the meeting was one of largest over the past several months. The meeting was only attended by a few members of the department.

: MEL TOADVINE One of the new ambulances for the Lehigh Acres Fire District that is expected to go into service this week. It was dedicated last week at Station 104, at 3102 S.W. 16th St., during a ceremony with Fire Chief John Wayne and Board President Cathy Kruze.