"This truck is a first-out pump truck, so that means anything in town that catches on fire, this is the first one out the door" said chief Steve Jones, as he offered a look at the custom $425,000 KME truck (the vehicle cost another $125,000 to equip) that the town bought from money set aside in the budget since 2013. "This will be the most used truck in the station. It's a very important truck."
The engine is one of three vehicles the department sends out first on fire calls, according to Jones. There is another pumper at the substation on White Pine Drive and a 4-wheel drive truck that is the first out for fires on the mountains "where these big trucks can't get to," he said.
The pump truck that the new truck replaces downtown will be used at the substation on White Pine Drive. The pumper that currently services that station, which has been in use for nearly 25 years, will be decommissioned, according to Jones. Pump trucks last about 20 years, he said.