Nampa Squad 51, as the vehicle is designated, is a two-person quick response unit that will be first to respond out of Station 1 (at 923 1st Street South) on medical calls.   

Nampa Squad 51 will be staffed with a driver/firefighter/paramedic and a captain. “While its primary purpose will be medical response, the squad will also be equipped with a small water tank and pump, along with firefighting gear on board,” said Nampa Communications Manager Amy Bowman.

Town Manager Grady Miller told the council staff failed to include an “owner’s allowance” in accepting the bid early this year.

 

The owner’s allowance would be used to cover and change orders or cost overruns. Miller said the allowance was not included because staff expected to be able to keep the project at or below the bid cost.

The federal agency announced this week that the department along Route 981, just north of Mt. Pleasant Borough, has qualified for a $1,082,500 rural development loan to construct a new fire station.  

Fire department president Lee Speer declined to release specifics of the construction plan because the fire company has not received formal notification that its loan application has been approved although the agency’s Secretary for Rural Development Anne Hazlett announced Wednesday that project was among 41 low-interest loans totalling $291 million approved in 18 states. However, he confirmed firefighters were eagerly awaiting word on it.

Department leadership had sought to buy a new pumper truck and replace a leaking tank on a water truck the department has owned since the 1990s. The two new trucks would have been built by Custom Fab and Body, an apparatus supplier located in Shawano County, for slightly more than $523,000 for the pair.

 

Last month, the fire board proposed taking $323,000 from the department's truck replacement fund to pay for the work, leaving a balance in the fund of around $60,000. The three towns' boards would then be asked to borrow the $200,000 difference to pay for completing the trucks.