• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

 

Buying three new fire trucks at once could save money, help training, repairs, chief says

Posted at 2:25 pm September 2, 2013
By John Huotari 4 Comments

Oak Ridge Fire Department New Truck

An example of what the new Oak Ridge Fire Department engines could look like. (Photos courtesy ORFD)

Buying three new fire trucks at the same time could save money and make repairs and training easier, a city official said.

Firefighters would only have to train on one truck, rather than on three different versions, and mechanics would only have to learn to fix one, Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley told City Council members last week. When ordering parts, mechanics could order multiple replacements and have backups available.

The City Council will consider whether to buy the new fire engines during a 7 p.m. meeting on Monday, Sept. 9. The three new fire engines would replace trucks that are 15 years old and each have about 150,000 miles on them. Those vehicles would be used as reserves.

Oak Ridge Fire Department Old Truck

One of the three 15-year-old engines that the Oak Ridge Fire Department wants to replace.

The new trucks could be delivered in September 2014 and cost about $482,000 each. The city would pay cash for one and lease-purchase the other two.

Kerley said the city bought the old fire engines in 1998, and they cost about $286,000 each. He said costs increase on fire trucks after they exceed 100,000 miles. One mile in a fire engine is equivalent to about three in a delivery truck, the chief said.

The new trucks discussed during a Monday night work session last week have features designed to help firefighters battle smaller fires, such as in brush and cars, and make their jobs safer by, among other things, reducing their need to climb on top of fire trucks to accomplish certain tasks like winding up hoses.

Money for the new trucks was part of Kerley’s budget presentation to the Oak Ridge City Council earlier this year.

Here is a summary of the three old fire engines’ costs and mileage:

ORFD Fire Engine Mileage and Cost Chart


Here is a summary of repair and maintenance costs:

ORFD Fire Engine Repair and Maintenance Cost Chart

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Darryl Kerley, fire engines, fire trucks, firefighters, fires, maintenance costs, mileage, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Fire Department

Advertisements

 



Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Some of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require significant time to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Comments

  1. Jason Allison says

    September 3, 2013 at 8:43 am

    Oak Ridge needs new engines without a doubt. Our current fleet spends more time in the shop than on the line. Numerous times they’ve had to return during a run due to mechanical issues. One other thing, I realize Oak Ridge is a first responder town but officials need to come up with a more cost effective solution than sending a whole engine crew.

    Reply
    • johnhuotari says

      September 3, 2013 at 4:33 pm

      On the subject of mechanical issues and while explaining the need for the new trucks, Chief Kerley said last week that the Fire Department had four trucks go down at the same time about two weeks earlier

      Regarding first responders, are you talking about medical calls?

      Reply
      • Jason Allison says

        September 3, 2013 at 10:30 pm

        Yes. And while I do understand and fully appreciate each call is an emergency in the eyes of the caller and that’s number one. My main concern is lift assist, especially without injury or the numerous calls to the same resident for the same issue. It seems as OakR idge needs to implement some kind of fees. I feel, and this is just me, the FD should work with these people on building a list of friends and neighbors to which they can rely. $250,000+ per engine is a lit of money and that’s not taking into account the maintenance. Oak Ridge has specialist units and they sometimes go unoccupied for a given shift. These are just my thoughts though.

        Reply
        • johnhuotari says

          September 4, 2013 at 4:32 pm

          I seem to recall that there was some kind of change in response procedures after 9/11. My general impression then was that the responses might be more comprehensive now than they used to be, but I don’t have the details.

          Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Government News

Anderson County Courthouse

Anderson County government offices closed Monday, Tuesday

Anderson County government offices will be closed Monday and Tuesday, July 3-4, to observe Independence Day. The offices will re-open at 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, July 5, a press release said. The Anderson County … [Read More...]

Fireworks show, music on July 4

Oak Ridge's annual fireworks show is scheduled to being at dark Tuesday, around 9:45 p.m. on Independence Day, July 4. There will be music before the show. The celebration, which is sponsored by the City of Oak Ridge, … [Read More...]

Library announces check-out changes

Ten days after celebrating renovations, the Oak Ridge Public Library has announced changes to its check-out procedures and policies that take effect on Saturday, July 1. Among the changes: The City of Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

USA Cycling Time Trial National Championships on Thursday

Oak Ridge Traffic Impacts Oak Ridge will host its fifth annual USA Cycling Individual Time Trial National Championships on Thursday, June 22. Elite cyclists nationwide will converge on the city, showcasing their skill … [Read More...]

Oak Ridgers celebrate library renovations

A standing-room-only crowd attended the grand re-opening celebration of renovations to the East Wing of the Oak Ridge Public Library on Tuesday. The renovations include a brand-new Children’s Room and bathrooms that … [Read More...]

More Government

More Police and Fire News

ORPD investigating fatal crash on South Illinois

The Oak Ridge Police Department is investigating a fatal crash on South Illinois Avenue that happened shortly before midnight Friday. In a press release, the City of Oak Ridge said a vehicle traveling south on South … [Read More...]

County sees increase in infant deaths due to unsafe sleeping practices

Anderson County Emergency Medical Services, County Mayor Terry Frank, and the chief medical examiner for both Knox and Anderson Counties are all urging the community—particularly parents and grandparents of children … [Read More...]

Briceville Fire Department celebrates new station

The Briceville Volunteer Fire Department celebrated its new fire station with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday. The ceremony included local residents and federal, state, and county officials, a press release … [Read More...]

Officers searching for suspect in fatal shooting

Officers are searching in Virginia for a suspect in a fatal shooting in Anderson County on Tuesday. The shooting was reported on Moores Gap Road in Heiskell, east of Clinton near Interstate 75, according to the … [Read More...]

DOE conducting controlled burns on Oak Ridge Reservation

The U.S. Department of Energy is conducting controlled burns of grassland areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation through mid-April, weather permitting. People may see smoke from this activity. However, smoke in Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

More Police and Fire

Recent Posts

  • ORPD investigating fatal crash on South Illinois
  • SNS on hiatus for upgrade
  • County sees increase in infant deaths due to unsafe sleeping practices
  • ASAP of Anderson welcomes new executive director
  • Briceville Fire Department celebrates new station
  • Officers searching for suspect in fatal shooting
  • Oak Ridge to host movie premiere of ‘Oppenheimer’
  • Oak Ridge Schools to host panel discussion, documentary screening for ‘Oppenheimer’
  • Sam Bush to headline Summer Sessions concert
  • Anderson County government offices closed Monday, Tuesday

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2023 Oak Ridge Today