Palm Beach council approves $1.1 million for new fire engine
Palm Beach Fire Rescue is getting a new fire engine.
The Town Council on May 14 unanimously approved spending up to $1.1 million on a new fire engine and any equipment to support its operations.
The new engine, set to be bought from Pompano Beach-based Ten-8 Fire and Safety, will not replace any of the department's current engines, Town Manager Kirk Blouin told the council. Instead, it will allow an older vehicle to be moved to a reserve position, he said.
"Some of these fire engines, when they go offline, sometimes they're out for extended periods of time," Blouin said.
When the reserve fire engine experiences issues and needs repairs, that could leave the town without a backup truck, he said. Having two fire engines for backup will allow the town's fire rescue department to have the same number of backup vehicles as its ambulance fleet, said Chief Sean Baker.
While it usually would take about 36 months for a new engine to be delivered, Ten-8 Fire and Safety is able to provide a vehicle much sooner than that because the company keeps a list of new fire service equipment that has not been delivered to a government agency, town staff said in a memo to the council.
The engine will come from Pierce Manufacturing's Stock Truck Program, the memo said. The town will pay for the new engine with money from its Equipment Replacement Fund.
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach council approves $1.1 million new fire engine
