Why do we need to buy a new fire truck?

This is a question that almost every taxpayer wants to know. Why do we need a new fire truck when the old one looks so good? Hopefully I will answer this question for you. Communities fire protection capability are judged on a point system by the Fire Underwriters Survey. From this report, insurance companies determine what the risk of controlling a fire is by the responding fire department and set insurance rates accordingly. There are a number of factors that are considered, but in the case of fire apparatus, the main points are the size, type, construction and density of the building stock within the town. In our last survery conducted in 2001, it was determined that we required 2 front line pumper trucks in Station 1 and 1 front line pumper truck in Station 2. In addition, for every 8 front line pumper trucks a fire department has, it must have one spare pumper. Fire Underwriters also required we have an aerial device. To be considered a front line pumper truck, it must be no more than 20 years old. A second line truck can be no older than 25 years. When 204 (the Mack pumper) reached 20 years of age, it was downgraded to a second line truck. It was replaced with 203 (the current aerial ladder truck) As this vehicle is equipped with both a pump and a ladder, it is counted as both a front line pumper and as our aerial device, thus we saved money by buying only one truck. A bigger ladder was purchased as we new that within a few short years, larger buildings would be constructed in Sooke (the first is now under construction as the Prestige Hotel). Now that 204 is almost 25 years old (it is a 1985 model) it is time for its replacement. We must now decide if we should buy a new fire truck or purchase a used vehicle (less than 10 years old) to replace the truck. This is being analyzed to determine what is the most cost effective way to do this. While a used truck may be cheaper to start with, when you amortize the cost over the life of the vehicle, quite often the cost of a new vehicle can be the same or sometimes even cheaper than a used vehicle when calculated on a per year cost. Oh, and for the record other vehicles like a tanker truck cannot exceed 30 years of age or they are not counted either. So, there are your choices: buy a new fire truck when their life span expires or face higher insurance costs. What would you choose?